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A city-scale roof shape classification using machine learning for solar energy applications

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  • Mohajeri, Nahid
  • Assouline, Dan
  • Guiboud, Berenice
  • Bill, Andreas
  • Gudmundsson, Agust
  • Scartezzini, Jean-Louis

Abstract

Solar energy deployment through PV installations in urban areas depends strongly on the shape, size, and orientation of available roofs. Here we use a machine learning approach, Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification, to classify 10,085 building roofs in relation to their received solar energy in the city of Geneva in Switzerland. The SVM correctly identifies six types of roof shapes in 66% of cases, that is, flat & shed, gable, hip, gambrel & mansard, cross/corner gable & hip, and complex roofs. We classify the roofs based on their useful area for PV installations and potential for receiving solar energy. For most roof shapes, the ratio between useful roof area and building footprint area is close to one, suggesting that footprint is a good measure of useful PV roof area. The main exception is the gable where this ratio is 1.18. The flat and shed roofs have the second highest useful roof area for PV (complex roof being the highest) and the highest PV potential (in GWh). By contrast, hip roof has the lowest PV potential. Solar roof-shape classification provides basic information for designing new buildings, retrofitting interventions on the building roofs, and efficient solar integration on the roofs of buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohajeri, Nahid & Assouline, Dan & Guiboud, Berenice & Bill, Andreas & Gudmundsson, Agust & Scartezzini, Jean-Louis, 2018. "A city-scale roof shape classification using machine learning for solar energy applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 81-93.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:121:y:2018:i:c:p:81-93
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.12.096
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    2. Mohajeri, N. & Gudmundsson, A. & Kunckler, T. & Upadhyay, G. & Assouline, D. & Kämpf, J.H & Scartezzini, J.L., 2019. "A solar-based sustainable urban design: The effects of city-scale street-canyon geometry on solar access in Geneva, Switzerland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 173-190.
    3. Job Taminiau & John Byrne & Jongkyu Kim & Min‐Hwi Kim & Jeongseok Seo, 2022. "Inferential‐ and measurement‐based methods to estimate rooftop “solar city” potential in megacity Seoul, South Korea," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(5), September.
    4. Zhong, Teng & Zhang, Zhixin & Chen, Min & Zhang, Kai & Zhou, Zixuan & Zhu, Rui & Wang, Yijie & Lü, Guonian & Yan, Jinyue, 2021. "A city-scale estimation of rooftop solar photovoltaic potential based on deep learning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    5. Mohammad Mahdi Forootan & Iman Larki & Rahim Zahedi & Abolfazl Ahmadi, 2022. "Machine Learning and Deep Learning in Energy Systems: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-49, April.
    6. Mohajeri, Nahid & Perera, A.T.D. & Coccolo, Silvia & Mosca, Lucas & Le Guen, Morgane & Scartezzini, Jean-Louis, 2019. "Integrating urban form and distributed energy systems: Assessment of sustainable development scenarios for a Swiss village to 2050," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 810-826.
    7. Castaldo, Veronica Lucia & Pisello, Anna Laura & Piselli, Cristina & Fabiani, Claudia & Cotana, Franco & Santamouris, Mattheos, 2018. "How outdoor microclimate mitigation affects building thermal-energy performance: A new design-stage method for energy saving in residential near-zero energy settlements in Italy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 920-935.
    8. Liao, Xuan & Zhu, Rui & Wong, Man Sing & Heo, Joon & Chan, P.W. & Kwok, Coco Yin Tung, 2023. "Fast and accurate estimation of solar irradiation on building rooftops in Hong Kong: A machine learning-based parameterization approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    9. Miguel-Angel Perea-Moreno & Quetzalcoatl Hernandez-Escobedo & Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno, 2018. "Renewable Energy in Urban Areas: Worldwide Research Trends," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, March.
    10. Liu, Jiang & Wu, Qifeng & Lin, Zhipeng & Shi, Huijie & Wen, Shaoyang & Wu, Qiaoyu & Zhang, Junxue & Peng, Changhai, 2023. "A novel approach for assessing rooftop-and-facade solar photovoltaic potential in rural areas using three-dimensional (3D) building models constructed with GIS," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    11. Singh, Devesh, 2022. "Renewable energy, urban primacy, foreign direct investment, and value-added in European regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 547-561.
    12. Aslani, Mohammad & Seipel, Stefan, 2022. "Automatic identification of utilizable rooftop areas in digital surface models for photovoltaics potential assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PA).
    13. Sun, Tao & Shan, Ming & Rong, Xing & Yang, Xudong, 2022. "Estimating the spatial distribution of solar photovoltaic power generation potential on different types of rural rooftops using a deep learning network applied to satellite images," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    14. Hou Jiang & Ning Lu & Xuecheng Wang, 2023. "Assessing Carbon Reduction Potential of Rooftop PV in China through Remote Sensing Data-Driven Simulations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.
    15. Gassar, Abdo Abdullah Ahmed & Cha, Seung Hyun, 2021. "Review of geographic information systems-based rooftop solar photovoltaic potential estimation approaches at urban scales," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).

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