The building sector has been a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Many researchers and practitioners have been utilizing photovoltaic (PV) panels as a measure to offset the negative impact of emissions. Solar irradiance maps, such as the Solar Resource Map developed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies, have been a useful tool for energy policymakers, designers, and engineers to evaluate the potential of renewable energy generation using PV panels. The existing solar irradiance maps provide information on Global Horizontal Irradiance and Direct Normal Irradiance. Given that horizontal photovoltaic installations on rooftops are insufficient to provide electricity for high-rise buildings to achieve net-zero energy, the vertical surfaces of buildings are becoming essential resources for mounting photovoltaic panels. This research investigates power generation potential on vertically mounted photovoltaic panels Through Simulations for 13,265 locations globally. The results show that vertical surfaces can receive plenty of solar irradiance for photovoltaic power generation, and for some locations, vertical surfaces receive as much or more solar irradiance than horizontal surfaces. The findings are expected to help stakeholders to better evaluate PV power potential, depending on the project site and whether vertical surfaces would be viable.
Wu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.