Solar Potential Analysis of Bus Shelters in Urban Environments: A Study Case in Ávila (Spain)

The presence of shadows is one of the main disadvantages of photovoltaic solar panel installations in urban environments. This article analyses their effect on solar installations performed on urban elements where the use of solar energy can be considered novel: bus shelters. For this purpose, the P...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2023-11, Vol.15 (21), p.5189
Main Authors: Sánchez-Aparicio, María, González-González, Enrique, Martín-Jiménez, Jose Antonio, Lagüela, Susana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative energy sources
Analysis
Buildings
Bus shelters
Buses
Buses (vehicles)
Case studies
Charging
Cities
Clean energy
Clean technology
Electric vehicles
Energy charge
Energy consumption
Geographic information systems
Geospatial data
Green technology
horizon profile
Integrated approach
LiDAR
Light duty vehicles
photovoltaic energy
Photovoltaics
point cloud
Radiation
Renewable resources
Roofing
Shadows
Shelters
Solar energy
Solar panels
Solar radiation
Spatial data
Urban environments
Wind power
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Summary:The presence of shadows is one of the main disadvantages of photovoltaic solar panel installations in urban environments. This article analyses their effect on solar installations performed on urban elements where the use of solar energy can be considered novel: bus shelters. For this purpose, the PVGIS tool is used in combination with a new methodology for the extraction of the shadow horizon profile from LiDAR point clouds. The results show a 29.90% and 37% reduction of calculated solar radiation using horizon profiles derived from LiDAR point clouds of 0.5 pts/m2 and 1 pt/m2, respectively, versus no horizon profile. By taking shading into account, thanks to this study it is possible to make a more realistic prediction of the use of the electrical energy generated by the sun to cover urban energy consumption in bus shelters. Results show that the energy surplus produced overall allows these elements to be converted into charging points for light electric vehicles, allowing up to 35 units per day/bus shelter to be charged. The use of bus shelters as a place to generate clean energy through solar energy and charge light vehicles makes it possible to move towards sustainable and environmentally friendly cities.
ISSN:2072-4292
2072-4292
DOI:10.3390/rs15215189