On the local warming potential of urban rooftop photovoltaic solar panels in cities

Understanding and evaluating the implications of photovoltaic solar panels (PVSPs) deployment on urban settings, as well as the pessimistic effects of densely populated areas on PVSPs efficiency, is becoming incredibly valuable. Thus, the deployment of low-efficiency, low-cost, and widely available PVSPs may diminish total solar reflectance, raising the risks of PVSPs-based urban heating, particularly during the summertime heatwaves. This study employs and assesses physical parameterizations that account for the impact of PVSPs on Sydney’s urban environment in the context of the mesoscale model weather research and forecasting (WRF). To account for the impacts of PVSPs, the parameterization presented in this paper assumes that PVSP arrays are parallel, detachable from roofs, and consist of a single layer. Results showed that increasing PVSPs can raise peak summer ambient temperatures by up to 1.4 °C and surface temperatures by up to 2.3°C at city-scale. Temperature variability was found between the city’s eastern and western parts due to the presence of PVSPs. In addition, local warming effects of PVSP were observed at urban district-scale as well. The large-scale deployment of PVSPs at local district-scale of the Sydney during a typical hot day caused air temperature to rise by 1.5 °C during the daytime and decrease by 2.7 °C at nighttime. The patterns of the city’s ambient temperature distribution were found to be strongly dependent on synoptic meteorological conditions and advection flow strength. The maximum increases in sensible heat flux and latent heat flux were 245.5 Wm(−2) and 11.5 Wm(−2), respectively. Wind speed may be raised by up to 1.2 ms(−2 )due to regional low effect over city domain. As a result, large-scale deployment of PVSPs promotes advective flow between the city and its environs. Modification of the PVSPs in Sydney results in an increase in planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights of up to 537.9 m above the city and may lower pollutant concentrations at ground level. The advent of sea breeze in the city’s eastern parts, which reduces the temperature of the coastal zone, along with inland westerly winds, which heat the city’s western zones, lessened the intensity of the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon induced by PVSPs warming. The findings of this study can be used to help policymakers make informed decisions about the use of PVSPs systems. PVSPs with a high solar reflectance in wavelengths that do not convert solar energy to electricity can be considered as an alternative solution to reduce local warming in urban environments.