Research landscape and hot topics of rooftop PV: A bibliometric and network analysis

Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system, as part of the renewable energy development strategy to guarantee energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas, has received a lot of attention during the last decade. To provide an up-to-date and systematic research landscape of the rooftop PV field, this study conducted the bibliometric analysis, collaboration network analysis, co-citation analysis, and hotspots detection based on 595 articles collected from the core collection database of Web of Science. The results showed that the number of publications per year in this field has increased steadily since 2015. The USA was the most important contributor in this research field in terms of quantity (number of publications) and impact (number of citations). The co-authorship communities were obtained by collaboration network analysis, and the international collaboration is expected to be further strengthened according to the research focuses of each community. The key knowledge base and the main hot topics of the rooftop PV research field were identified from co-citation analysis and keywords co-occurrence network. Furthermore, based on the literature review, a detailed analysis of the main topics was provided for a better understanding of the current research trends and opportunities. This study can be served as a strategic review of the rooftop PV field to help relevant researchers carry out in-depth research in the future. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study provides an up-to-date and systematic research landscape of the rooftop PV field, revealing a steady increase in publications per year since 2015, with the USA being the most important contributor. Collaboration network analysis identified different co-authorship communities, with a potential for further international collaboration. Hot topics and key knowledge base of the rooftop PV research field were identified through co-citation analysis and keywords co-occurrence network analysis.