The Effect of Urban Trees on Residential Solar Energy Potential

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 41 - 49
• Main Author: Ko, Yekang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국조경학회 28.02.2014
• Subjects: 조경학
• ISSN: 1225-1755; 2288-9566
• DOI: 10.9715/KILA.2014.42.1.041

This study spatially assesses the impact of trees on residential rooftop solar energy potential using urban three-dimensional models derived from Light Detection and Ranging(LiDAR) data in San Francisco, California. In recent years on-site solar energy generation in cities has become an essential agenda in municipal climate action plans. However, it can be limited by neighboring environments such as shade from topography, buildings and trees. Of all these effects, the impact of trees on rooftop photovoltaics(PVs) requires careful attention because improper situation of solar panels without considering trees can result in inefficient solar energy generation, tree removal, and/or increasing building energy demand and urban heat island effect. Using ArcMap 9.3.1, we calculated the incoming annual solar radiation on individual rooftops in San Francisco and the reduced insolation affected by trees. Furthermore, we performed a multiple regression analysis to see what attributes of trees in a neighborhood(tree density, tree heights, and the variance of tree heights) affect rooftop insolation. The result shows that annual total residential rooftops insolation in San Francisco is 18,326,671 MWh and annual total light-loss reduction caused by trees is 326,406 MWh, which is about 1.78%. The annual insolation shows a wide range of values from 34.4 kWh/m2/year to 1,348.4 kWh/m2/year. The result spatially maps the locations that show the various levels of impact from trees. The result from multiple regression shows that tree density, average tree heights and the variation of tree heights in a neighborhood have statistically significant effects on the rooftop solar potential. The results can be linked to municipal energy planning in order to manage potential conflicts as cities with low to medium population density begin implementing on-site solar energy generation. Rooftop solar energy generation makes the best contribution towards achieving sustainability when PVs are optimally located while pursuing the preservation of urban trees. KCI Citation Count: 0