The work described provided the platform on which subsequent successful EPSRC grant applications were based: the collaborative responsive mode project, Solar City: An Electrical Energy Supply and Demand Planning Tool for the Urban Environment (GR/N35687/01), which was rated by referees as Tending to Internationally Leading for its Research Quality and Scientific Impact; and Irradiation Mapping of 3D City Models for Building Integrated Photovoltaics: Feasibility Study (GR/R50509/01), which was rated by referees as Tending to Internationally Leading for its Research Quality and Internationally Leading for its Scientific Impact Aspects of the recently awarded consortium project Measurement, Modelling, Mapping and Management (4M): An Evidence-Based Methodology for Understanding and Shrinking the Urban Carbon Footprint (EP/F007604/1) also capitalise on the work. Gadsden's PhD work contributed to this paper. He was supervised by Rylatt, with Lomas as second supervisor. Rylatt was the lead author.