Launch Webinar: IRENA’s SolarCity Simulator - Assessing Rooftop Solar Potential

Virtual

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Population growth leading to an overload on existing infrastructure, place cities increasingly at the forefront of challenges in the quest for a global energy transition. These challenges call for innovative and collaborative efforts from stakeholders to consciously embrace sustainable energy practices to achieve carbon-neutral goals.

Advances in urban energy planning help relevant authorities to take advantage of technological development that access climate-friendly, affordable and reliable energy supplies through solar photovoltaic (PV) simulation tools.

The SolarCity Simulator, developed by IRENA, is an innovative web-based platform designed to support its member countries to fully explore the opportunities of deploying solar PV systems at the local municipality level.

The tool allows users to test policy instruments, incentive schemes, and system specification that could lead to potential economic savings as well as social-environmental benefits.

This webinar featured the launch of the platform and demonstrates how the tool has been utilised by homeowners, investors and project developers to assess the rooftop solar PV potential in areas such as Zhangjiakou, China; Castries, St Lucia; Victoria, Seychelles; and Kasese, Uganda.

Public and private stakeholders were convened on 29 June 2021. These included international experts, industrial associations, investors and project developers to explore the opportunities and challenges for urban solar potential assessment tools and data as well as their importance in market and project development for grid connected and off-grid rooftop solar PV projects.

The webinar also demonstrated the functionalities - how industry players can assess the potential for solar-powered homes and businesses, download time series datasets for off-line analysis, tailor policy and financial parameters to obtain key information for sustainable energy policy and decision-making on project installation.