New study on the urban climate impact of photovoltaics

The study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research:Atmospheres shows that angled photovoltaic modules on flat roofs can increase ground-level temperatures in the city by up to 1 °C during the day and lead to cooler temperatures at night. For this purpose, a photovoltaic model (UCRC-Solar) was coupled with the WRF weather model. The model was validated with measurements from a rooftop installation carried out in London, Ontario.

Yin, H., Krayenhoff, E. S., Voogt, J., Heusinger, J., & Aliabadi, A. A. (2025). Simulation of tilted rooftop photovoltaic panels at city scale: Novel measurements, model development and application in WRF. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130, e2024JD043133. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD043133