Abstract
Photovoltaic (PV) panels directly convert sunlight into electricity; but, sunlight also heats the panels, negatively impacting their efficiency. Green roofs are vegetative layers grown on rooftops, mainly to provide added insulation on the roof to save energy. Green roofs also cool near-surface air temperature. Hence, the joint installation of PV panels and green roofs may potentially lead to higher efficiency of PV panels in certain climates. We develop a two-stage stochastic programming model to optimally place PV panels and green roofs under climate change uncertainty to maximize the overall profit from energy generated and saved. We calibrate the model using the literature, industry reports, and the data from different, at times conflicting, climate projections. We then conduct a case study for a mid-size city in the U.S., perform extensive sensitivity and robustness analyses and provide insights.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 101986 |
| Journal | Omega (United Kingdom) |
| Volume | 90 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2020 |
Funding
The authors thank Jon M. Hathaway and Thom Epps for assisting with data collection and extraction, and providing insights. We also thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation Grant CMMI-1634975 .
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Science Foundation | CMMI-1634975 |
Keywords
- Climate change
- Energy savings
- Renewable energy generation
- Stochastic optimization
