A procedure for estimating the photovoltaic (PV) potential of an urban region from LiDAR data using the Solar Analyst tool is described. The total PV potential of the 538 identified buildings is around 11.5 GWh/year for an installed capacity of 7 MW, which corresponds to 48% of the local electricity demand. It is shown that for a low PV penetration (about 10% of total roof area) the PV potential can be well estimated by considering no shade and local optimum inclination and orientation. For high PV penetration (i.e. covering all roof area available) the PV potential can be well estimated by considering a horizontal surface with the footprint area of the buildings. These results suggest a simple first-approximation estimation of the PV potential of an urban area without the need for a full 3D analysis of mutual shading on a Surface Digital Model. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.