3D LOCAL SCALE SOLAR RADIATION MODEL BASED ON URBAN LIDAR DATA

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to obtain the direct, diffuse and reflected solar energy that reaches a generic point of an urban landscape regardless of its location on a roof, on the ground or on a façade. The vertical façades embody a discontinuity in a digital elevation surface function and most models fail in the determination of solar radiation for points on façades. The presented algorithm solves the problem in an integrated way: starting with a georreferenced LIDAR data cloud covering a 400 × 400 m2 urban area resampled in a 1m × 1m mesh, applies a new shadow algorithm over roofs, terrain and façades for each time frame, applies the Kumar solar radiation model for the calculation of direct, diffuse and reflected irradiation for each 1x1m raster cell on non vertical surfaces of roof and terrain, and calculates total and mean irradiation of each 1 meter wide column of vertical façade based on the illuminated area at each time frame. The results for each time frame are integrated for the wished time period from one hour to one year, being the time steps also selectable, allowing several kinds of solar radiation and shadowing studies. GIS were used to evaluate monthly averages of solar radiation for a particular location as well as to map the photovoltaic potential of the building façades and their roofs according to determined classes of potential.