Evaluation of the photovoltaic potential in built environment using spatial data captured by unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

In this paper, a spatial photovoltaic (PV) potential evaluation method based on the combination of aerial photogrammetry and Geographic Information System (GIS) is proposed for PV potential evaluation of built environment (BE). The method can be applied to PV potential evaluation of not only building roofs, but also built environments such as carpark. The point cloud model of the studied field is established by processing images captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which are then imported into GIS to estimate the available area for PV installation based on sunlight analysis after offsetting the identified borders of the urban and ecological infrastructures. The PV potential is determined based on the installation configurations of PV modules. With the help of the PVSYST software simulation, the proposed method in this paper is used to evaluate the PV potential of a carpark and a rooftop of a building in Singapore. © 2019 The Authors. Energy Science & Engineering published by the Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.