Technical potential for rooftop solar photovoltaic in commercial and residential areas in Saudi Arabia

The economic and social development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has led to a significant increase in its electricity consumption. The KSA is highly dependent on non-renewable sources of energy, but the government has recently formulated a new strategy to encourage an increase in the use of renewable energy sources. The purpose of this plan is to diminish the KSA’s reliance on fossil fuels and to reduce the air pollution. Currently, the global cumulative installed capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is expanding at an exponential rate. For residential and commercial installations, the saturation threshold for distributed PV installations is directly proportional to the availability of the physical roof area. This research assessed how rooftop PV generation in residential and commercial buildings can be used to reduce the electricity import from the national grid. This paper presents the methodology that was used to assess the rooftop PV potential in the residential and commercial areas of Abha city, KSA using real data. The results show that the PV production on the rooftop of a commercial building can meet more than 50% of the building’s total electricity consumption. Also, it was found that PV can meet the whole demand of residential buildings and there is surplus energy from the PV generation that could be stored for future use