Solar energy modelling over a residential community in the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Abstract

Solar energy is an abundant source of renewable/sustainable energy, which has an enormous potential in reducing the foot print of the greenhouse gases. In this paper, we presented a modelling framework of estimating solar energy over a portion of a residential community of Sandstone in the northwest of Calgary, Canada. We calculated the actual daily incident solar radiation as a function of latitude, day of year, and possible day light hours; and also employed high-resolution remote sensing images to calculate the effective roof area for installing photovoltaic cells. Strong relationships (r2:0.910.98) were observed between the ground-based measurements and the modelled actual incident solar radiation at three test locations in Alberta. Over the portion of Sandstone, 1706.49m2 roof surface area was suitable for potential installation of the photovoltaic cells. With 15 efficient photovoltaic cells, our analysis revealed that we might be able to produce significant amount (i.e., in the range of ∼67-100) of electrical energy needs of the residents of Sandstone community during the period between April and September. © 2011 Quazi K. Hassan et al.