The urban densification process and increasing energy consumption make the urban environment one of the sectors with the highest impact on the world's energy balance, answering for 70% of the total energy consumption. The great advantage of photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion is the possibility of spatial and temporal coincidence of generation and consumption. In large cities, buildings present mainly vertical formats and there are not enough horizontal areas available for PV installation. The aim of this study is to assess the application potential of PV in building facades within different urban contexts, considering the impact of the surrounding built environment on solar radiation availability. Different occupation models were analysed, with varying architectural and urban parameters, through dynamic simulations using the plug-in Diva, for Rhinoceros. The PV conversion potential for each non-glass vertical surface was established and, finally, the Uniform models were identified as the most efficient ones. The results of the study indicate that the efficiency of the model is highly dependent on the type of surface available for the generation of PV (façades or façades and roofs). A similar behaviour was observed in Uniform and Mixed Models, as well as a decrease in the performance of Cloister Model due to a reduced roof area, even with the high daylight accessibility in the facades of the cloister.
Solar radiation; Photovoltaic generation; Integrated Systems; Urban environment; Generation
