Developing a computational tool to assess shadow pattern on a horizontal plane, preliminary results

BIPV (Building Integration of PV) plays an important role in dense urban environments since most of the energy consumption takes place within cities. Nonetheless, this integration could be difficult to undertake because the shadows projected onto the PV by surrounding obstacles produces mismatches in the electrical performance of the PV modules. This paper presents preliminary results obtained with a computational model developed to evaluate the shading patterns on horizontal plane. The model was implemented in the Mathematica Programming Environment and includes a useful 3-D representation of the idealized building block in order to visualize the effects of its design parameters such as length, width, height, orientation and geographical location on the size and shape of the shaded area on the horizontal plane. These results are critical to design PV systems in urban conditions since it allows to minimize shading losses in urban PV systems increasing their electrical performance.