The Potential Impact of Solar Photovoltaic Installation on Local Circulation and Convection in Taipei

This study investigates the potential impact of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) installation on local convection in urban area. Rooftop solar PV system is a space-efficient option to deploy renewable energies in the crowded urban area. However, as the installation scale increases, unintentional impact on local climate may emerge. In particular, PV array deployment can change the surface radiative balance and thus enhance or reduce the urban heat island effect. The urban heat island effect has been hypothesized to influence afternoon thunderstorm activity in the tropical island, Taiwan. Therefore, temperature change due to PV installation may also alter the local circulation and convection. This research takes the Taipei City, which is a metropolitan area in northern Taiwan, for a case study. Citywide rooftop solar PV installation experiments are conducted by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model coupled with urban canopy model. Different PV conversion efficiency scenarios, including currently and future technology levels, are simulated to evaluate the potential impact on local circulation and convection.