Solar energy utilization potentials of railway station represented large-space buildings in various climates of China

Abstract:
Energy consumption intensity of large-space public buildings keeps getting significantly higher in China. With increasing popularity, solar energy utilization has been regarded as a necessary means to achieve green performance for railway stations represented large space public buildings. This study selected six typical Chinese cities, including Harbin, Urumqi, Lhasa, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, as climate representatives. Two typical railway station models representing both large and middle scaled large-space buildings were established, and the study examined both solar heating and cooling fractions for both adapting annual and monthly statistics, in aid of theoretical calculations and simulations. The results show that middle-scale railway stations represented large-space buildings have a higher potential for solar heating than large-scale ones. While the potential of active solar cooling is also higher in large-scale railway stations. Moreover, solar heating and cooling fractions turn more inadequate through extreme seasons. The research findings can act as valuable references for active and passive solar heating as well as active solar cooling within scaled large-space buildings across China and among similar climate zones globally.