Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring Walls

The deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on rooftops in urban environments utilizes the rooftop areas for electricity generation. Rooftops may provide a large amount of empty space that can reduce the use of land for large PV plant installations and other purposes. These deployments may enc...

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Main Authors: Joseph Appelbaum, Assaf Peled
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Urban Science
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/6/211
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author Joseph Appelbaum
Assaf Peled
author_facet Joseph Appelbaum
Assaf Peled
author_sort Joseph Appelbaum
collection DOAJ
description The deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on rooftops in urban environments utilizes the rooftop areas for electricity generation. Rooftops may provide a large amount of empty space that can reduce the use of land for large PV plant installations and other purposes. These deployments may encounter shading on the PV collectors from surrounding building walls, thus reducing the incident direct beam radiation on the PV collectors, resulting in shading losses. Moreover, walls and collector rows block part of the visible sky, reducing the incident diffuse radiation on the collectors, resulting in masking losses. The present study complements previous studies by the authors (see the references) by calculating the incident beam, diffuse and global radiation, and their distribution across the collector rows for four configurations of PV systems installed near obscuring walls. In addition, the article quantifies the shading problem by simulating the shading dimensions and their patterns caused by walls and collector rows. The article is of practical importance for designers of PV systems in urban environments. The simulation results indicate an almost uniform distribution of the incident radiation between the collector rows. On the other hand, the losses may reach 8 percent for a wall height of 4 m for the parameters used in the study.
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spelling doaj-art-5b1a045327b44e88a8b38c546b2d6d032025-06-25T14:29:48ZengMDPI AGUrban Science2413-88512025-06-019621110.3390/urbansci9060211Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring WallsJoseph Appelbaum0Assaf Peled1School of Electrical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, IsraelSchool of Electrical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, IsraelThe deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on rooftops in urban environments utilizes the rooftop areas for electricity generation. Rooftops may provide a large amount of empty space that can reduce the use of land for large PV plant installations and other purposes. These deployments may encounter shading on the PV collectors from surrounding building walls, thus reducing the incident direct beam radiation on the PV collectors, resulting in shading losses. Moreover, walls and collector rows block part of the visible sky, reducing the incident diffuse radiation on the collectors, resulting in masking losses. The present study complements previous studies by the authors (see the references) by calculating the incident beam, diffuse and global radiation, and their distribution across the collector rows for four configurations of PV systems installed near obscuring walls. In addition, the article quantifies the shading problem by simulating the shading dimensions and their patterns caused by walls and collector rows. The article is of practical importance for designers of PV systems in urban environments. The simulation results indicate an almost uniform distribution of the incident radiation between the collector rows. On the other hand, the losses may reach 8 percent for a wall height of 4 m for the parameters used in the study.https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/6/211PV systemwall shading lossesinter-row shading lossesmasking losses
spellingShingle Joseph Appelbaum
Assaf Peled
Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring Walls
Urban Science
PV system
wall shading losses
inter-row shading losses
masking losses
title Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring Walls
title_full Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring Walls
title_fullStr Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring Walls
title_full_unstemmed Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring Walls
title_short Solar Radiation on Photovoltaic Systems Deployed near Obscuring Walls
title_sort solar radiation on photovoltaic systems deployed near obscuring walls
topic PV system
wall shading losses
inter-row shading losses
masking losses
url https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/6/211
work_keys_str_mv AT josephappelbaum solarradiationonphotovoltaicsystemsdeployednearobscuringwalls
AT assafpeled solarradiationonphotovoltaicsystemsdeployednearobscuringwalls