Integrating solar into territorial energy planning
A municipality cannot equip every roof at once. You have to choose. The choice involves far more than sunlight.
Massive photovoltaic deployment rarely runs short of resource. Sunlight is abundant and the available surface suffices. The problem sits in the decision. Which roofs, in what order, on what criteria, decided by whom.
The criteria share no common unit. Irradiation, usable area, self-consumption potential, roof complexity, payback period, heritage constraints, grid capacity, social acceptance. This axis applies multicriteria decision aiding to the problem. We elicit what stakeholders value. We aggregate the criteria in a form they inspect and contest. We sort large building stocks into ordered categories, instead of producing one opaque score. The method builds on ELECTRE TRI. We applied the method to Greater Geneva, some 265,000 buildings, and then to mountainous French territories.
Planning what comes next means knowing what stands today. Convolutional neural networks applied to aerial imagery detect existing photovoltaic installations building by building across French territory. We validate the results against distribution grid operator records. The datasets, the code and a public dissemination site are open. A cadastre serves no purpose if the people who decide never see the results.
