The Impact of Building Shape and Density on Active Solar Energy Potential

37th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1968-1971 This work aims to assess the energy performance of future urban buildings in Algeria considering a significant integration of photovoltaics (PV). This is particularly relevant due to their considerable energy demand, as well as the expected growth of PV deployment in urban areas. The assessment of the PV energy potential of several simplified neighborhood configurations was carried out, considering two building shapes and two levels of proximity between buildings. For all studied configurations, the solar potential largely exceeds the electrical energy demand. Additionally, the density of buildings has a great impact on electricity demand and PV production, especially in façades. Each building shape has its benefits, either high PV production or low electricity consumption. The neighborhood configurations with circular buildings show optimal energy behavior in all the case studies with high PV production in façades ranging between 193 MWh/year to 209 MWh/year, and low electricity consumption, about 2790 kWh/ building.