Photovoltaic potential estimation for various surface components of urban residential buildings based on Industry Foundation Classes data

Installing photovoltaic (PV) equipment on the building's surface reduces greenhouse gas emissions and additional land acquisition. However, existing methods for estimating PV potential primarily focus on roofs and the assessment of facades and windows is not detailed. This study proposes a method based on the Building Information Model and its standard Industry Foundation Classes to effectively estimate the potential area and location of PV modules on the building's surface and explore the PV potential in detail. The method was applied to residential buildings in Xinyi County, China, and the results show that the annual average energy generated through windows (47,589.793 kWh/year), roofs (141,126.304 kWh), and facades (284,060.393 kWh) constitute a significant amount, particularly the facades, which show significant potential as sources of solar electricity even under the influence of shadows. The rationality and feasibility of this method were verified by comparing it with ArcGIS and other relevant studies available in the literature. Next, we assessed whether the installation of PV panels on the building's surface still has certain operability under the serious shadows. For this purpose, a building with serious shadow shading was selected to analyze the demand and supply of energy. The electricity consumption of the selected building was found to be 131,785.898 kWh/year, which is significantly lower than PV potential (310,632.775 kWh/year), as calculated in this study. Thus, the efficient use of the building's surface for PV generation can meet not only the local electrical energy demand but also the excess energy generated can be sold for economic gain. The method proposed can provide new insights to energy software designers and developers, and the results can provide a reference for energy investors, building owners, and engineers to focus on the installation of PV panels on facades and windows, and formulate complex schemes of PV modules on different building components. This study proposes a PV potential estimation method based on the Building Information Model and its standard Industry Foundation Classes. This method effectively estimates the potential area and location of PV modules on the building's surface and may be used to explore the huge PV potential of building windows and facades.