Design and Energy Estimation of Roof-Integrated Photovoltaic Systems for Renewable Energy Access in Indian Context

The intensifying electricity consumption in the residential sector requires distributed solar photovoltaic sources. Conventional ground-mounted PV systems require large land areas. Therefore, researchers and policymakers focus on integrating PV systems over building surfaces. Roof-integrated PV systems are potential candidates for residential PV generation. The energy yield depends on non-uniform irradiance conditions due to building geometry and shading conditions. The present research aims to a generalized design and performance assessment for different roof-integrated PV systems. Flat, shed, gable, hip, and sawtooth roofs are modeled in Energy3D software. The region considered for this study is Basanti Colony, a densely populated settlement in Kolkata. The available roof area in the region is estimated at 6550.25 m
²
. The PV generation potential is estimated by the system advisor model. The influence of roof orientation on the energy yield is analyzed. The hourly and seasonal variation is calculated. The 648-kW roof-integrated PV systems generate 937.64 MWh of electricity annually. The energy yield ranges from 1125 to 1446 kWh/kW for different roof orientations. The generation is maximum in shed roofs due to maximum area utilization. The flat and single-sloped roofs have a maximum area utilization factor (0.892), followed by gable (0.446), sawtooth (0.425), and hip roof (0.319), considering only south-facing areas. Maximum electricity is generated in April (97.88 MWh). The energy generation is minimal in July (62.64 MWh).