Integrating Photovoltaic-Enhanced Cooling Strategies for Thermal Resilience and Renewable Energy Generation in Historic Urban Squares

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:The multi-temporal simulation methodology and combined thermal-energy assessment provide a framework for further research on heritage-compatible GX retrofits.

🏢実務担当者:Urban planners and architects can use the findings to design cooling and PV interventions in historic public spaces, balancing heritage constraints with energy targets.

🏛政策担当者:Policymakers overseeing heritage districts can consider this dual-use strategy to meet renewable energy and climate adaptation goals while preserving cultural assets.

The intensification of the urban heat island effect poses a critical threat to the preservation and habitability of compact historic districts. The Alameda de Hércules in Seville exemplifies this vulnerability, where the intersection of heritage protection and extreme Mediterranean summers limits conventional climate adaptation. This study conducts a multi-temporal evaluation of the square’s climate resilience, spanning from its configuration prior to major 21st-century renovations to its current state and future projections, proposing future interventions. By integrating advanced microclimatic simulation and high-fidelity energy modeling, the research assesses a dual-function strategy: the improvement of the thermal environment while implementing non-intrusive photovoltaic pavements (PVPs) for energy generation. Environmental parameters, including air temperature, mean radiant temperature (MRT), and the universal thermal climate index (UTCI), were analyzed alongside the renewable energy potential of the site’s mobility infrastructure. Four heritage-sensitive interventions were tested: PV-integrated bicycle lanes, shading canopies, reflective pavement, and permeable paved grass. The results demonstrate that the canopies and paved grass zones can lower surface temperature up to 3.7–4.3 °C, reduce UTCI stress up to 2.3–3.0 °C, and decline MRT up to 10.6 °C. These values correspond to the maximum reductions achieved in specific zones. However, the PVP can locally increase surface temperature by about 4.7 °C and the reflective pavements increase MRT by around 10.4 °C, while generating an estimated annual energy yield of 174.19 MWh. The analysis under future climate projections suggests that these strategies remain equally effective under future scenarios. These findings confirm that PV-integrated urban surfaces offer a viable, reversible, and replicable approach to retrofitting historic public spaces, harmonizing climate-adaptive cooling with decentralized energy production without compromising the site’s cultural significance.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9070261first seen 2026-07-28 04:59:58