An evaluation model the different components of solar radiation impinging on vertical surfaces in consolidated urban environments

ALEJANDRO MESA; MARIELA ARBOIT Y CARLOS DE ROSA

Singapore

Conferencia; PLEA2007 - The 24rd Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture; 2007

Passive and Low Energy Architecture Association

The availability of the solar resource within the urban structure essentially depends on the morphological features of its immediate environment. The precise knowledge of the access to the renewable climatic resource, would allow advancing on the planning of urban consolidation within the framework of a more sustainable development. Having as background the tool for calculating the areas insolated by the direct component of solar radiation, a graphic-computational model developed in the R+D unit, it was attempted to advance now on the search for a method that would permit determining the incidence of each component of the solar radiation (direct, diffuse and reflected) in the urban context. The graphic-computational model already operative, only takes into account the access to the direct component of solar radiation. In urban scenarios the diffuse and reflected components reach a significant relevance, even in clear days, but, due to the complexity of their features they are difficult to quantify. The paper presents the first results of a study aimed at evaluating the solar potential of urban environments in Mendoza’s Metropolitan Area (MMA), defining the radiation values of each component, corresponding to different typical and representative building densities in the city.