Abstract

Solar Potential Index Analysis in Philadelphia
Track: Renewable Energy
Authors: Hao Wang

A solar roof potential analysis of Philadelphia buildings would assist home owners and businesses in assessing whether their property was well suited for a solar project. Vendor, CyberCity 3D, delivered an articulated roof model for a 3 square mile pilot area of lower north Philadelphia, which included roof attributes of available area, pitch angle and solar azimuth. This dataset allowed us to develop a Solar Roof Potential based on the most opportune conditions for solar projects. The potential index was calculated for each roof feature of the pilot area and symbolized from based on the score. The results were made available internally for review on an ArcGIS Online interactive map that allows users to search for the solar potential index of a specific roof feature. The findings were shared with Philadelphia's Office of Sustainability for review which prompted a re-evaluation of the index to improve the accuracy.