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Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town

Population increase in African cities have made it hard to reduce their ecological footprint and attain self-sustainability. This made the United Nations to put forward the seventeen sustainable development goals. Three of these goals centre on provision of clean energy and reduction of reliance on...

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Main Author: Adeleke, Adedayo Kelvin
Other Authors: Smit, Julian
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics 2019
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access_status_str Open Access
author Adeleke, Adedayo Kelvin
author2 Smit, Julian
author_browse Adeleke, Adedayo Kelvin
Smit, Julian
author_facet Smit, Julian
Adeleke, Adedayo Kelvin
author_sort Adeleke, Adedayo Kelvin
collection Thesis
description Population increase in African cities have made it hard to reduce their ecological footprint and attain self-sustainability. This made the United Nations to put forward the seventeen sustainable development goals. Three of these goals centre on provision of clean energy and reduction of reliance on fossil fuels. It is therefore important for cities in Africa to chart a path of attaining sustainability. Consequently, the city of Cape Town is leading the drive for a greener city and self-sustainability in energy. Solar energy, which is regarded as a clean and renewable source of energy, makes it possible to generate electricity by using photovoltaics technology. However, the problem of creating awareness as to the potentials of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system persists. The study is aimed at using remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques in creating awareness about the potentials of building rooftops for solar photovoltaics installations in an urban setting. In achieving this, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and aerial imagery are sourced from City of Cape Town municipality to serve as the primary data input. Four phases of analysis are involved: (1) extraction of whole building roof outline and its roof planes, using the integration of LiDAR-derived products and aerial imagery, in order to determine the surface area of the roof planes. This is achieved by developing a unique two-in-one, object-based classification rulesets; (2) estimating and validating the global solar radiation incidence on each roof plane, using a LiDAR-derived elevation model in a python script utilizing the GRASS script library; (3) evaluating the solar photovoltaic potential of each roof plane, using inputs from two previous phases to create a solar photovoltaic potential database; and (4) deploying the solution online to create awareness, by utilizing JavaScript and Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) to implement a map mashup, which incorporates tile map and table services. This results in a web-based solution, which can be queried to retrieve information about the solar photovoltaic potential of a building roof. From the results generated and the system developed, it becomes possible to remotely and sufficiently evaluate buildings in the city for solar photovoltaic potentials, designs and installations. Thereby reducing reliance on the fossil fuel generated electricity and improving the self-sustainability of the city.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29181
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:29.432Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics
publisherStr School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29181 Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town Adeleke, Adedayo Kelvin Smit, Julian Geomatics Population increase in African cities have made it hard to reduce their ecological footprint and attain self-sustainability. This made the United Nations to put forward the seventeen sustainable development goals. Three of these goals centre on provision of clean energy and reduction of reliance on fossil fuels. It is therefore important for cities in Africa to chart a path of attaining sustainability. Consequently, the city of Cape Town is leading the drive for a greener city and self-sustainability in energy. Solar energy, which is regarded as a clean and renewable source of energy, makes it possible to generate electricity by using photovoltaics technology. However, the problem of creating awareness as to the potentials of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system persists. The study is aimed at using remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques in creating awareness about the potentials of building rooftops for solar photovoltaics installations in an urban setting. In achieving this, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and aerial imagery are sourced from City of Cape Town municipality to serve as the primary data input. Four phases of analysis are involved: (1) extraction of whole building roof outline and its roof planes, using the integration of LiDAR-derived products and aerial imagery, in order to determine the surface area of the roof planes. This is achieved by developing a unique two-in-one, object-based classification rulesets; (2) estimating and validating the global solar radiation incidence on each roof plane, using a LiDAR-derived elevation model in a python script utilizing the GRASS script library; (3) evaluating the solar photovoltaic potential of each roof plane, using inputs from two previous phases to create a solar photovoltaic potential database; and (4) deploying the solution online to create awareness, by utilizing JavaScript and Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) to implement a map mashup, which incorporates tile map and table services. This results in a web-based solution, which can be queried to retrieve information about the solar photovoltaic potential of a building roof. From the results generated and the system developed, it becomes possible to remotely and sufficiently evaluate buildings in the city for solar photovoltaic potentials, designs and installations. Thereby reducing reliance on the fossil fuel generated electricity and improving the self-sustainability of the city. 2019-01-30T12:20:27Z 2019-01-30T12:20:27Z 2018 2019-01-25T07:42:51Z Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29181 eng application/pdf School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Geomatics
Adeleke, Adedayo Kelvin
Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town
thesis_degree_str Doctoral
title Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town
title_full Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town
title_fullStr Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town
title_full_unstemmed Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town
title_short Web-based GIS modelling of building-integrated solar photovoltaic system for the City of Cape Town
title_sort web based gis modelling of building integrated solar photovoltaic system for the city of cape town
topic Geomatics
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29181
work_keys_str_mv AT adelekeadedayokelvin webbasedgismodellingofbuildingintegratedsolarphotovoltaicsystemforthecityofcapetown