6533b873fe1ef96bd12d5822

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The potential of roofs in city centers to be used for photovoltaic micro-installations

subject

description

Abstract Currently in Poland, power engineering based on hard coal and lignite plays the dominant role. This significantly impedes the attainment of 15% share of energy produced from renewable sources by 2020 and has a negative impact on air quality in Poland. A solution to this unfavourable situation may be to develop renewable dispersed energy with particular emphasis on installations using photovoltaic. Strongly urbanized areas have high electricity demand, and at the same time low availability of areas where it is possible to locate renewable energy sources. In this study, the possibility of using roofs of buildings in city centres for the purpose of photovoltaic micro-installation was analysed. A case study was carried out for two selected districts of the city of Opole. Opole has sunshine conditions which are representative for Poland. The analysis of photovoltaic potential of roofs in urbanised areas was carried out using geographical information systems (GIS). The analysis showed a high photovoltaic potential of the two selected districts of Opole: the potential to generate locally almost 25% of the electrical energy required. The proposed method of determining the photovoltaic potential of roofs in city centres can be used in Polish conditions, as well as in Central Europe.