Dual-use building rooftops for agrivoltaic applications in warm-temperate climates - A neutrosophic decision analysis

Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

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Abstract

Rooftop agrivoltaic systems offer a promising dual-use strategy for dense urban areas by combining photovoltaic generation with horticultural production. However, selecting an optimal agrivoltaic configuration involves multiple conflicting criteria (including PV yield, crop suitability, shading levels, and investment costs) affected by significant uncertainty in both climatic and agronomic parameters. This study proposes a neutrosophic multi-criteria decision-making framework integrating CRITIC-based objective weighting and MAIRCA ranking to evaluate alternative rooftop agrivoltaic layouts. A warm-temperate Mediterranean context (Naples, Italy) is considered, where dynamic seasonal weighting emphasizes crop performance during spring-summer and PV output in autumn-winter. Crop-light compatibility and seasonal photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) availability are evaluated through hourly shading analyses, while photovoltaic electricity generation is quantified using an hourly solar irradiance and module performance simulation. The neutrosophic representation allows expert judgments and performance indicators to include indeterminacy, improving robustness. The framework demonstrates that incorporating seasonal priorities and epistemic uncertainty leads to more stable and context-adapted rankings, supporting decision-makers in designing efficient rooftop dual-use systems.