Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can make a significant contribution to Europe’s energy transition. Realising this potential raises challenges at policy and electricity system planning level. To address this, the authors have developed a geospatially explicit methodology using up-to-date spatial information of the EU building stock to quantify the available rooftop area for PV systems. To do this, it combines satellite-based and statistical data sources with machine learning to provide a reliable assessment of the technical potential for rooftop PV electricity production with a spatial resolution of 100 m across the European Union (EU). It estimates the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) using country-specific parameters and compares it to the latest household electricity prices. The results show that the EU rooftops could potentially produce 680 TWh of solar electricity annually (representing 24.4% of current electricity consumption), two thirds of which at a cost lower than the current residential tariffs. Country aggregated results illustrate existing barriers for cost-effective rooftop systems in countries with low electricity prices and high investment interest rates, as well as provide indications on how to address these.
BODIS Katalin;
KOUGIAS Ioannis;
JAEGER-WALDAU Arnulf;
TAYLOR Nigel;
SZABO Sandor;
Bodis, K., Kougias, I., Jaeger-Waldau, A., Taylor, N. and Szabo, S., A high-resolution geospatial assessment of the rooftop solar photovoltaic potential in the European Union, RENEWABLE and SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS, ISSN 1364-0321, 114, 2019, p. 109309, JRC113070.
2019-08-13
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
JRC113070
1364-0321 (online),
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032119305179,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC113070,
10.1016/j.rser.2019.109309 (online),
