Local Climate Zone-based urban analysis for rooftop PV and cooling retrofit strategies

Transitioning to sustainable urban energy systems is a priority challenge for mitigating climate change effects. Building-integrated photovoltaics present a promising urban strategy by incorporating solar energy yield into the built infrastructure. Nevertheless, photovoltaic deployment should align with local microclimatic conditions and urban morphology. This study introduces the integration of Local Climate Zones into a novel morphological urban classification framework to provide an indicative assessment of building-integrated photovoltaic potential and cooling strategies at the city scale. The urban area of Ioannina was classified into distinct Local Climate Zone types via the Local Climate Zone Generator platform, based on 110 training areas. The available rooftop surface area of the buildings and the photovoltaic electricity generation were estimated for each Local Climate Zone type. The results suggested that the city core is dominated by compact mid-rise structures (Local Climate Zone 2) (25% city area). Conservative estimates of photovoltaic output in compact urban zones (Local Climate Zones 2–3) were 89.03 GWh/year. Moreover, the photovoltaic output was improved with Photovoltaic/Thermal retrofit at Local Climate Zone 2 roofs (7.0% efficiency gain) and Photovoltaic/Radiative Cooling films at Local Climate Zone 3 roofs (3.3% gain). Similarly, the Net Present Value results indicate that the economic performance of the retrofit strategies depends strongly on electricity self-consumption, electricity price, and technology-specific costs, highlighting their potential contribution to climate-responsive urban planning.