Opportunity of rooftop solar photovoltaic as a cost-effective and environment-friendly power source in megacities

Mai Shi; Xi Lu; Haiyang Jiang; Qing Mu; Shi Chen; Rachael Marie Fleming; Ning Zhang; Ye Wu; Aoife M Foley

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104890

Opportunity of rooftop solar photovoltaic as a cost-effective and environment-friendly power source in megacities

iScience. 2022 Aug 8;25(9):104890. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104890. eCollection 2022 Sep 16.

Authors

Mai Shi^{1

2

3}, Xi Lu^{1

2

3}, Haiyang Jiang⁴, Qing Mu^{1

2

3}, Shi Chen^{1

2

3}, Rachael Marie Fleming¹, Ning Zhang⁴, Ye Wu¹, Aoife M Foley^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
² Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Tsinghua University, Beijing 10084, P.R. China.
³ Beijing Laboratory of Environmental Frontier Technologies, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁴ State Key Lab of Power Systems, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁵ School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT9 5AH, UK.
⁶ Department of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Ireland.

Abstract

Rooftop solar photovoltaics (RSPV) are critical for megacities to achieve low-carbon emissions. However, a knowledge gap exists in a supply-demand-coupled analysis that considered simultaneously RSPV spatiotemporal patterns and city-accommodation capacities, a pivotal way to address solar PV intermittency issues. Here, we developed an aggregated model for an RSPV + system by linking building-level potential assessment to dynamic optimization of building-related flexible loads. Taking Beijing, the capital city of China, as case in point, we show that annual RSPV potential in Beijing's Greater-Metropolitan area amounts to 15.4 TWh, all of which could be accommodated environmentally friendly and cost-effectively through the smart operation of electric vehicles and air conditioners equipped with thermal energy storage (TES). Additionally, the RSPV + system would reduce the 8.6 GW transmission capacity otherwise required for increasing electricity demand for 2035 in Beijing. The analysis offers an important reference for sustainable RSPV development in mega-cities in China and other countries globally.

Keywords: engineering; environmental management; solar terrestrial physics.