Solar Access Assessment in Dense Urban Environments: The Effect of Intersections in an Urban Canyon

Abstract

Abstract:The urban canyon model has been recurrently used as a basis for many solar access studies. However, its conception as endless structures disregards the effect of street intersections, despite being characteristic elements of urban fabrics. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of street discontinuities on solar access over building façades. The potential of crossings to increase the available radiation has been assessed through computer simulations in dense urban environments in a Mediterranean location. For the cases studied, results show that local effects of an intersection almost disappear beyond a specific distance for each aspect ratio, which can be helpful to determine the suitable level of detail for solar analyses at an urban fabric scale.

Climate and Urban Morphology in the City of Barcelona: The Role of Vegetation

“…This is due not only to the inclination with which the Sun's rays fall on the surface of the Earth but also to the amount of atmosphere they must pass through [11][12][13]. In order to determine the direction and inclination of the radiation at each moment, we must know the relative position of the Sun and of the plane in question.…”

“…It is preferably in three types: short-wave (ultraviolet) radiation, visible radiations and long-wave (infrared) radiation. This set of radiation affects the outer limits of the Earth's atmosphere with an approximate irradiation value of 1400 W/m 2 , which is called the solar constant [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]20]. The cities mentioned above have different levels of incidence as far as solar radiation is concerned.…”

“…Solar radiation is an essential element for the development of any kind of life on the planet [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. It is both a factor and a climatic macro feature in which the direction of the incidence of radiation depends on the relative movements of the Earth and the Sun [20].…”

“…Previous studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] have validated that it is one of the greatest mitigating tools. The radiation, orientation and incidence in the urban canyon influence to a great extent how this urban space could behave that is why they are important variables of study [9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Correlations between GIS-Based Urban Building Densification Analysis and Climate Guidelines for Mediterranean Courtyards

“…In the same line, Jurelionis and Bouris [4] applied computational fluid dynamics methods in order to calculate surface pressure distributions on building surfaces for three city models and two wind directions. From another perspective, Garcia-Nevado et al analysed the solar performance at the urban canyon intersections [5].…”