Photovoltaic assessment to achieve energy neutral buildings and cities in equatorial Andean climate

Energy is an important issue in the entire world and in under-development countries especially in these regions is where the main growth of energy requirements is expected. For more than fifty years ago Ecuador has been subsidizing fuels, considering that energy prices do have a huge impact on low-income families. Cities and buildings do play a relevant role in reducing energy requirements to import energy to urban areas in order to achieve the maximum energy self-supply capability in buildings and cities. This study describes shortly recent works performed in Cuenca to decipher the energy resources available and the capability to self-supply in Cuenca, Ecuador. The main results obtained show that photovoltaics (PV) in buildings is the best option, it could supply the entire power requirements in the city, and around 22 % of the electrical requirements of industrial high-consumption buildings, also for a single-family home it is only required around 7 m² of roof that corresponds around 10 % of a typical roof availability of a typical 2-floor house, and for higher education building it is possible to achieve the total power requirement with PV technology, but grid limitations imply limitations also to PV capability.