Climate change impact on photovoltaic energy output: the case of GreeceClimate change impact on photovoltaic energy output: the case of Greece Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2015-11-102014enSolar power is the third major renewable energy, constituting an increasingly important component of global future - low carbon - energy portfolio. Accurate climate information is essential for the conditions of solar energy production, maximization, and stable regulation and planning. Climate change impacts on energy output projections are thus of crucial importance. In this study the effect of projected changes in irradiance and temperature on the performance of photovoltaic systems in Greece is examined. Climate projections were obtained from 5 regional climate models (RCMs) under the A1B emissions scenario, for two future periods. The RCM data present systematic errors against observed values, resulting in the need of bias adjustment. The projected change in photovoltaic energy output was then estimated, considering changes in temperature and insolation. The spatiotemporal analysis indicates significant increase in mean annual temperature (up to 3.5°C) and mean total radiation (up to 5 W/m2) by 2100. The performance of photovoltaic systems exhibits a negative linear dependence on the projected temperature increase which is outweighed by the expected increase of total radiation resulting in an up to 4% increase in energy output. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Advances in Meteorology1-11 Panagea Ioanna Παναγεα Ιωαννα Tsanis Giannis Τσανης Γιαννης Koutroulis Aristeidis Κουτρουλης Αριστειδης Gryllakis Emmanouil Γρυλλακης Εμμανουηλ Photovoltaic energy conversion Photovoltaics photovoltaic power generation photovoltaic energy conversion photovoltaics Changes, Climatic Climate change Climate changes Climate variations Climatic change Climatic fluctuations Climatic variations Global climate changes Global climatic changes climatic changes changes climatic climate change climate changes climate variations climatic change climatic fluctuations climatic variations global climate changes global climatic changes