CIEMAT Publications

Abstract

The available surface area, the incident radiation and the final energy generation determine the utilisation of the solar potential of a roof. To establish this potential, at the level of an entire city or neighbourhood, it is necessary to have geographic information of adequate resolution and quality. In the case of Havana (Cuba), it has been necessary to design an ad-hoc methodology adjusted to the available data. Sentinel-2 images, Google Earth and OpenStreetMap cartography are the basic resources available for the development of this new methodology. The unit of representation will be the blocks. With the interpretation of the orthoimages, the building density and typology are analysed and the roof shapes are identified. The application of the NDVI vegetation index to the Sentinel-2 images allows the distribution of wooded areas that can generate shadows and limit the generation of solar energy to be assessed. These data provide a sufficient basis for estimating the potential solar collector area in the case study. The implementation of this methodology has made it possible to obtain a first approximation web map of the solar potential of the municipality of Guanabacoa (Havana), which will be followed by new areas in the rest of the province. The results obtained in its application show an optimistic balance for the solar development of the city.