Evaluation of energy supply and demand in solar neighborhood

The paper presents a study of solar electricity generation and energy demand for heating and cooling of housing units’ assemblages. Two-story single family housing units, located in northern mid-latitude climate are considered in the study. Parameters studied include geometric shapes of individual units, their density in a neighborhood, and the site layout. The plan shapes of the housing units included in this study are rectangles and several variants of L shape. Site layouts studied are characterized by a straight road, a south-facing or a north-facing semi-circular road. Rectangular units and a site layout with straight road serve as reference for evaluating the effect of shape and site parameters. Results indicate that a significant increase in total electricity generation (up to 33%) can be achieved by the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems of housing units of certain shape-site configurations, as compared to the reference. The energy load of a building is affected by its orientation and shape. Increased heating demand by L variants (by up to 8%) is more than offset by annual electricity production of their BIPV systems (by up to 35%). Heating and cooling loads depend significantly on unit density in a site; Attached units require up to 30% less cooling and 50% less heating than detached configurations of the same site. Variation of surface orientation, particularly in curved site layouts, enables the spread of peak electricity generation over up to 6 h. This effect may be beneficial to grid supply efficiency. Energy balance assessment indicates that some unit shapes generate up to 96% of their total energy use. Neighborhood configurations studied generate between 65% and 85% of their total energy demand.

► The solar potential and energy consumption of various neighborhood patterns is investigated.
► The effects of housing units’ shapes, their density and the site layouts are studied.
► Heating and cooling loads depend significantly on unit shapes and their density in a site.
► Some neighborhood configurations studied generate significant percentage of their total energy demand.