Building rooftop photovoltaic potential in mountainous regions: a case study from the Pyrenees

(ENG) This paper describes a case study for the assessment of the energy generation potential of PV systems installed on building rooftops in two mountainous areas (Escaldes-Engordany in the Principality of Andorra and Tavascan in Catalonia). Their location, in the middle of the Pyrenees, means that the surrounding mountains generate shadows that can reduce significantly the PV potential. In this paper, a GIS-based 3D analysis is conducted to accurately represent urban areas and the surrounding topography. The results obtained show that the surrounding topography can reduce the PV potential significantly. Specifically, in our case study, this value ranges from 3.4% in Escaldes-Engordany to 12.8% in Tavascan. This study represents the first rooftop solar PV potential analysis conducted in Andorra and in the Pyrenees using high-resolution 3D models and establishes a methodology to conduct similar works in this and other mountainous regions.