Page 13 - European Energy Innovation - spring 2018 publication

Spring 2018 European Energy Innovation 13

ROOFTOP PV SYSTEMS

this target [6]. New policies are needed
to enable a three times larger annual
market over the next 13 years, which is
needed to reach the target [7].

What options are available to install
the required capacity?

a) large-scale or utility plants, with
arrays of free-standing modules,
connected to the transmission grid,
and

b) PV located on roofs or facades of Fig. 2: The annual photovoltaic installations in the European Union
buildings.

Both have different economic
rationales: utility PV plants can take
advantage of economies of scale to
reduce investment and operational
costs, and the electricity generated can
be traded in wholesale markets.

Rooftop installations have higher
capital costs, but the electricity can
be consumed either wholly or in part
on site, so the value is related to the
relevant industrial or residential retail
prices. Rooftop PV also brings a better
geographical match between supply
and demand, a factor of increasing
importance as we progressively
electrify the heating and cooling and
the transport sectors.

Indeed, several studies suggest that Fig. 3: Distribution of available rooftop area for solar PV, aggregated at NUTS 2
roof space is not an issue, even for the region level as a function of population density and total population applied in 1
most ambitious scenarios. For instance km resolution [10]
the IEA 2016 Energy Technology
Perspectives reports an estimate systems already available in the JRC Energy and Climate Action Plans for
potential in EU urban areas for over
500 GW of PV [8]. This like many other we can study a range of potential 2030;
EU-wide studies relies entirely on
population density data as a proxy. scenarios relevant to EU policy
A more direct approach is to map
actual buildings right across Europe implementation: • at regional level, to support use of
using earth observation data. This is
what the JRC is currently working on, structural funds;
exploiting data from the Global Human
Settlement Layer (GHSL) initiative. With • at Member state level, for medium-
this we can estimate available rooftop
area in blocks of 10 m x 10 m across term planning e.g. in the proposed • at urban/city level, to promote
the entire EU in both urban and rural
areas. With ths data layer combined
with exsiting geographic information

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