Shading effect and energy-saving potential of rooftop photovoltaic on the top-floor room

Rooftop photovoltaic panels can serve as external shading devices on buildings, effectively reducing indoor heat gain caused by sunlight. This paper uses a numerical model to analyze rooftop photovoltaic panels' thermal conduction, convection, and radiation in hot summer areas as shading devices. The researcher builds an experimental platform to verify the model, exploring the potential for energy savings of photovoltaic rooftop units in the Wuhan area. The results show that after installing photovoltaic panels, the delay performance of the roof increases by 0.5 h, the roof heat flux is reduced by 41.7%, the peak temperature of the roof is reduced by 22.9 °C, and the daily heat gain is reduced by 74.84%. Finally, this paper discusses the impact of high-reflectance and low-reflectance roofs on the shading effect. The study finds that low-reflectance roofs are more energy-efficient in the hot summer, as high-reflectance roofs lead to a 10.8% increase in indoor heat gain when the photovoltaic panel is installed. Finally, a quantitative method for evaluating the comprehensive potential for energy savings is proposed, considering the electricity generation gain of photovoltaic panels and the comprehensive energy-saving efficiency of photovoltaic roofs, which generates a total potential for energy savings rate of 61.06%. The model presented in this paper provides theoretical guidance for analyzing the comprehensive energy-saving effects of photovoltaic rooftop systems and reveals the potential for energy savings of rooftop photovoltaic panels as external shading devices.