As climate change intensifies, we must embrace renewable solutions like solar energy to combat greenhouse gas emissions. Harnessing the sun's power, solar energy provides a limitless and eco-friendly source of electricity, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Rooftops offer prime real estate for solar panel installation, optimizing sun exposure, and maximizing clean energy generation at the point of use. For installing solar panels, inspecting the suitability of building rooftops is essential because faulty roof structures or obstructions can cause a significant reduction in power generation. Computer vision-based methods proved helpful in such inspections in large urban areas. However, previous studies mainly focused on image-based checking, which limits their usability in 3D applications such as roof slope inspection and building height determination required for proper solar panel installation. This study proposes a GIS-integrated urban point cloud segmentation method to overcome these challenges. Specifically, given a point cloud of a metropolitan area, first, it is localized in the GIS map. Then a deep-learning-based point cloud classification model is trained to detect buildings and rooftops. Finally, a rule-based checking determines the building height, roof slopes, and their appropriateness for solar panel installation. While testing at the National Taiwan University campus, the proposed method demonstrates its efficacy in assessing urban rooftops for solar panel installation
National Taiwan University, Taiwan (Province of China) - ORCID: 0000-0002-1644-7400
National Taiwan University, Taiwan (Province of China) - ORCID: 0000-0003-1515-4187
National Taiwan University, Taiwan (Province of China)
National Taiwan University, Taiwan (Province of China) - ORCID: 0000-0003-3997-1907
National Taiwan University, Taiwan (Province of China)
National Taiwan University, Taiwan (Province of China)
Chapter Title
Building Rooftop Analysis for Solar Panel Installation Through Point Cloud Classification - A Case Study of National Taiwan University
Authors
Aritra Pal, Yun-Tsui Chang, Chien-Wen Chen, Chen-Hung Wu, Pavan Kumar, Shang-Hsien Hsieh
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3.104
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
CONVR 2023 - Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality
Book Subtitle
Managing the Digital Transformation of Construction Industry
Editors
Pietro Capone, Vito Getuli, Farzad Pour Rahimian, Nashwan Dawood, Alessandro Bruttini, Tommaso Sorbi
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0289-3
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0257-2
Series Title
Proceedings e report
Series ISSN
2704-601X
Series E-ISSN
2704-5846