Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal Performance
Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panel systems have become a key component in green building design, driven by new building sustainability measures advocated worldwide. The shading generated by the rooftop PV panel arrays can impact their annual heating and cooling load, as well as their overall thermal pe...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3429 |
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| author | Saad Odeh Luke Pearling |
| author_facet | Saad Odeh Luke Pearling |
| author_sort | Saad Odeh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panel systems have become a key component in green building design, driven by new building sustainability measures advocated worldwide. The shading generated by the rooftop PV panel arrays can impact their annual heating and cooling load, as well as their overall thermal performance. This paper presents a long-term experimental investigation into the changes in roof temperature caused by PV panels. The experiment was conducted over the course of a year, with measurements taken on four sample days each month. The study is based on measurements of the covered roof temperature, the uncovered roof temperature, PV surface temperature, ambient air temperature, as well as solar irradiation, wind speed, and rainfall. The results reveal that the annual energy savings (MJ/m<sup>2</sup>) in the cooling load due to the covered roof are about 26% higher than the energy loss from the heating load due to shading. The study shows that the effect of the rooftop PV panels on the house’s total heating and cooling load savings is between 5.3 to 6.1%. This difference is significant in thermal performance analyses, especially if most of the roof is covered by PV panels. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9cbf2cdce1534c9494b339d58a14c3f5 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj-art-9cbf2cdce1534c9494b339d58a14c3f52025-08-20T03:16:46ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732025-06-011813342910.3390/en18133429Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal PerformanceSaad Odeh0Luke Pearling1Sydney Institute of Business and Technology, Western Sydney University, Sydney City Campus, Sydney, NSW 2000, AustraliaMechanical Engineering, WSU Sydney City Campus, Sydney, NSW 2000, AustraliaRooftop photovoltaic (PV) panel systems have become a key component in green building design, driven by new building sustainability measures advocated worldwide. The shading generated by the rooftop PV panel arrays can impact their annual heating and cooling load, as well as their overall thermal performance. This paper presents a long-term experimental investigation into the changes in roof temperature caused by PV panels. The experiment was conducted over the course of a year, with measurements taken on four sample days each month. The study is based on measurements of the covered roof temperature, the uncovered roof temperature, PV surface temperature, ambient air temperature, as well as solar irradiation, wind speed, and rainfall. The results reveal that the annual energy savings (MJ/m<sup>2</sup>) in the cooling load due to the covered roof are about 26% higher than the energy loss from the heating load due to shading. The study shows that the effect of the rooftop PV panels on the house’s total heating and cooling load savings is between 5.3 to 6.1%. This difference is significant in thermal performance analyses, especially if most of the roof is covered by PV panels.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3429rooftop PV shadingthermal performanceheating and cooling load |
| spellingShingle | Saad Odeh Luke Pearling Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal Performance Energies rooftop PV shading thermal performance heating and cooling load |
| title | Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal Performance |
| title_full | Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal Performance |
| title_fullStr | Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal Performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal Performance |
| title_short | Experimental Work to Investigate the Effect of Rooftop PV Panel Shading on Building Thermal Performance |
| title_sort | experimental work to investigate the effect of rooftop pv panel shading on building thermal performance |
| topic | rooftop PV shading thermal performance heating and cooling load |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3429 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saadodeh experimentalworktoinvestigatetheeffectofrooftoppvpanelshadingonbuildingthermalperformance AT lukepearling experimentalworktoinvestigatetheeffectofrooftoppvpanelshadingonbuildingthermalperformance |