Spatial Analysis of Rooftop Solar Energy Potential for Distributed Generation in an Andean City

Urban energy systems in Andean cities face growing pressure to accommodate rising electricity demand while progressing toward decarbonization and grid modernization. Residential rooftop photovoltaic (PV) generation offers a promising pathway to enhance transformer utilization, reduce emissions, and improve distribution network performance. However, most GIS-based rooftop solar assessments remain disconnected from operational constraints of urban electrical networks, limiting their applicability for distribution planning. This study examines the technical and environmental feasibility of integrating residential PV distributed generation into the urban distribution network of an Andean city by coupling high-resolution geospatial solar potential analysis with monthly aggregated electricity consumption (MEC) and transformer loadability (LD) information. A GIS-driven framework identifies suitable rooftops based on solar irradiation, orientation, slope, shading, and three-dimensional urban geometry, while MEC data are used to perform energy-balance and planning-level transformer LD assessments. Results indicate that approximately 1.16 MW of rooftop PV capacity could be integrated, increasing average transformer LD from 21.5% to 45.8% and yielding an annual PV generation of about 1.9 GWh. This contribution corresponds to an estimated avoidance of 1143 metric tons of CO2 per year. At the same time, localized reverse power flow causes some transformers to reach or exceed nominal capacity, highlighting the need to explicitly consider network constraints when translating rooftop solar potential into deployable capacity. By explicitly linking rooftop solar resource availability with aggregated electricity consumption and transformer LD, the proposed framework provides a scalable and practical planning tool for distributed PV deployment in complex mountainous urban environments.