Pricing the urban cooling benefits of solar panel deployment in Sydney, Australia.

ABSTRACT: Cities import energy, which in combination with their typically high solar absorption and low moisture availability generates the urban heat island effect (UHI). The UHI, combined with human-induced warming, makes our densely populated cities particularly vulnerable to climate change. We examine the utility of solar photovoltaic (PV) system deployment on urban rooftops to reduce the UHI, and we price one potential value of this impact. The installation of PV systems over Sydney, Australia reduces summer maximum temperatures by up to 1 °C because the need to import energy is offset by local generation. This offset has a direct environmental benefit, cooling local maximum temperatures, but also a direct economic value in the energy generated. The indirect benefit associated with the temperat

SUBMITTER: Ma S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5338272 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature