Post carbon cities: A geospatial assessment for the solar potential of Turin

With the rapid change in the sustainable development of cities and the many incentives induced by the European Union, the energy sector, governments, and private companies were encouraged to join the movement, mainly using solar-powered sources in urban areas. Analysis of the area using satellite-derived images has given some values for solar irradiance but the images alone are not sufficient to sustain a long-term solution. To understand how to get more accurate results, the work combines satellite images with modeling solutions. This paper presents the results obtained moving from a regional level to a city scale. The study delves into the energy potential of Torino by simulating the city, it identifies the regions with the greatest capacity for solar energy generation. The results show that most of Torino has the same solar potential, considering that the metropolitan area is flat, except for the hill surrounding Torino on the East side, the analysis further reveals the correlation between the buildings and their approximation to the city center, these variations are strongly related to fewer governments restrictions and availability of the usable area. In conclusion, the potential energy production of Torino is moderate considering only the building's roofs as the medium, this potential however needs to be integrated into other sources in future studies.