Assessing the solar irradiation potential for solar photovoltaic applications in buildings at low latitudes – Making the case for Brazil

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn Brazil, a low-latitude country characterized by its high availability and uniformity of solar radiation, the use of PV solar energy integrated in buildings is still incipient. However, at the moment there are several initiatives which give some hints that lead to think that there will be a change shortly. In countries where this technology is already a daily reality, such as Germany, Japan or Spain, the recommendations and basic criteria to avoid losses due to orientation and tilt are widespread. Extrapolating those measures used in high latitudes to all regions, without a previous deeper analysis, is standard practice. They do not always correspond to reality, what frequently leads to false assumptions and may become an obstacle in a country which is taking the first step in this area. In this paper, the solar potential yield for different surfaces in Brazilian cities (located at latitudes between 0• and 30 • S) are analyzed with the aim of providing the necessary tools to evaluate the suitability of the buildings' envelopes for photovoltaic use.

Review and critical analysis of early-design phase evaluation metrics for the solar potential of neighborhood designs

“…When a threshold is used, its value differs between countries and sources, e.g. the acceptable ratio of available to maximum irradiation for an optimally inclined and oriented surface ranges from 55% to 80% [9]. Assessment methods also differ in the number of metrics, as in the case of solar energy potential assessments based on solar maps, which offer from one output (i.e.…”

“…Many publications deal with a unique and specific criterion, for instance related to the daylight performance [51,35], or the photovoltaic (PV) and/or solar thermal (ST) potential [22,18,9,16]. Other studies also evaluate a unique metric, but one which is meant to represent the performance in a broader sense: Otis [33] and van Esch et al [49] measure winter and summer solar exposure in terms of radiation, with this measure being linked to the passive performance of buildings and the thermal comfort of outdoor spaces.…”

A Review on Effect of Building Integrated Photovoltaic Placement and its Potency in Generating Electrical Energy

“…The geometry of roof shape has an influence on the surface area that determines the number of PV modules that can be installed such as a hip roof. A comprehensive study conducted in the Southern hemisphere by Cronemberger [11] that observed the availability of solar potential yield in 78 Brazilian cities located between latitude 0° and 30° S (0° ≤ ø ≤ 30° S) to evaluate the suitability of the buildings' envelopes for photovoltaic. They identified optimal tilt angle of fixed surfaces in 78 Brazilian cities using secondary data that published by the World Radiation Data Center.…”

Assessment of solar radiation on diversely oriented surfaces and optimum tilts for solar absorbers in Malaysian tropical latitude

“…In this work, the value of q g is assumed to be 0.2 [16,41,50,51] for all months and locations due to the Malaysian weather of having less climatic changes and no snow cover throughout a year. The value is ordinarily satisfactory and accepted in most of the engineering practices as reported by other research works.…”

“…They proposed to alter the optimum tilt angle twelve times annually in which the output was quantitatively comparable to the daily changing optimum tilt angle. Cronemberger et al [41] evaluated the received solar radiation intensity on various surfaces of Brazilian building for photovoltaic application at latitudes between 0°and 30°S. They indicated the optimum value could be up to 9°above the latitude.…”