One of the steps required to be carried out during the early-stage development of a solar PV system is calculating the amount of solar radiation, which is an essential parameter for identifying solar energy potential. In-situ measurement using a pyranometer instrument might be the most accurate solution to obtain the solar radiation value. However, it can only cover a limited area. Therefore, if the calculation of solar radiation is required for larger-scale areas, for instance, a village, district, or city, the in-situ measurement can be tedious and time-consuming.

This thesis highlights the prospect of GIS technology to be used for modelling the potential of solar energy in the urban area. High-resolution LiDAR point cloud data and atmospherical parameters from various open data portal are used in this research. The research area, in this case, is Morumbi district in São Paulo is chosen based on the building density characteristic and data availability. The result includes the amount of solar energy within a year, and other related components will then be visualized in an integrated spatial data infrastructure.