Urban Solar Energy Potential in Europe

Among the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals by United Nations, “Affordable and Clean Energy” aims at ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. However, in Europe there is not a precise understanding of the unleashed potential that could be achieved through the exploitation of solar and wind resources. This study presents an application to retrieve spatial explicit estimates of Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) through the use of data from geo-stationary satellites. The energetic demand of large metropolitan areas in Europe is then retrieved and compared with the potential production of energy for domestic use through solar panels. Results of this comparison are presented based on the assumption that only the 1 % of the built up area could be covered with solar panels, and hence devoted to energy production. Outcomes suggest that even such a little coverage, if spread systematically over urban areas can in most of the cases satisfy urban population domestic needs.