Vertical Solar PV Systems for Power Production and Thermal Performance in Tropical Building Envelopes in the Philippines

In warm and humid tropical regions, balancing thermal comfort and energy efficiency presents a significant challenge due to high cooling demands. Strategies to reduce energy use and integrate renewable energy into buildings have increasingly focused on achieving self-sufficiency. Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13, which call for access to sustainable energy and climate change mitigation, this study assessed the potential of facade-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to offset the cooling energy demand of buildings in the urban area of Quezon City, Philippines. A geospatial-computational workflow was developed utilizing QGIS 3.28 and Python 3.9 for LiDAR-derived 3D building model generation and hourly solar ray tracing. This workflow was used to estimate direct PV electricity generation and passive cooling effects from facade shading based on the ASHRAE radiant time series method. Results showed that east and west facades achieved the highest annual yields of up to 86 kWh/m2 and cooling load reduction by up to 7.3% due to the shading effect. Techno-economic analysis found several setups commercially viable, particularly installations on east–west walls with minimal self-shading and limited obstruction, focusing capital on the most productive surfaces. These findings support vertical solar PV as a complementary solution in dense tropical environments.