Assessing combined object and mutual shading on the performance of a solar field

To make well-informed decisions on the implementationof solar energy on roofs within the urban environment, anew method was developed and described that couldsupport such decision-making. This method takes both themutual shading and shading from external objects intoaccount. The method consists of the following six steps:1) construction of the scene, 2) performance of annualsolar irradiation analyses, 3) performance of statisticalanalyses, 4) calculation of the energy output, 5)calculation of the parameters payback time and profit, 6)displaying the results. Analysing the data by setting ownpreferences will make more informed decision-makingpossible. The outputs from the method are mapsindicating which locations surrounded by objects that areprofitable for PV installations. Alternatively, the mapscan be used to show payback times for the PV installation.