A BEP Analysis of Energy Supply for Sustainable Urban Microgrids

The paper shows the use of GIS and other program to identify the technical and economic feasibility of a self-sufficient community in energy supply/demand, through the integration of ICT, intelligent infrastructure (smart grid) and the economic analysis of energy market constrains in housing property management, at the urban level. Here we report the development of a new methodology for assessing the potential capacity and benefits of installing rooftop photovoltaic systems in an urbanized area. It has been possible to analyze the climatic, morpho-typological and architectural characters of the place, in order to identify the optimal size and shape of rooftop area available for solar energy applications at different scales, looking for a minimum threshold to be discovered via an economic break-even point analysis. Computer simulation is included to predict the potential benefits of urban scale photovoltaic system implementation. G. Mangialardi wrote the first and the second paragraph, P. Balena wrote the third paragraph and C. Torre wrote the fourth and the last paragraph of the paper.