Coupled interactions between photovoltaic systems and urban thermal environment

With the rapid adoption of photovoltaic (PV) systems on urban building envelopes, the bidirectional interaction between PV systems and the urban thermal environment poses a critical challenge to coordinated urban energy transition and ecological livability. Existing studies largely focus on unidirectional impacts with highly divergent conclusions, and often overlook synergistic environmental effects due to a lack of holistic coupled analysis. This study explains contradictory findings on PV thermal effects across three dimensions (geography, installation, methodology) and proposes an actionable albedo-based discriminant criterion. It quantifies PV power loss under varied factor combinations and explores periodic pulsating flow for passive PV cooling and dust removal, filling a key gap in urban PV synergistic optimization. This work provides a theoretical basis for optimizing PV layout, O&M, and cooling/dust removal technologies across climatic zones, and guides deeper integration of PV into urban ecosystems.