This study examines the photovoltaic (PV) landscape-related literature indexed in the Web of Science database from 2005 to 2024, employing a combination of bibliometric analysis software and a manual review to analyze, explore, and summarize the development trajectory and future trends in PV landscape research. Over the past two decades, PV landscape research has progressed through three stages: the foundational stage from 2005 to 2008, during which studies primarily focused on the environmental impacts of PV installations; the developmental stage from 2009 to 2020, characterized by interdisciplinary integration, with research shifting its focus to the combination of PV systems with living and production environments, advancements in PV landscape technologies, and innovations in PV materials; and the maturity stage from 2021 to 2024, which has seen heightened requirements for energy conversion efficiency and stability in PV systems, along with the establishment of a systematic research framework for PV landscapes, enabling more diverse explorations of its development. Based on this analysis, this study summarizes key research frontiers in PV landscapes, including the impacts and assessment of PV installations on the ecological environment, the deep integration of PV systems with living environments, and the visual aesthetic impacts and evaluation of PV landscapes. Finally, this study proposes three future prospects for PV landscapes and briefly discusses the limitations of this research.

Modernization and industrialization have significantly increased energy consumption, causing environmental problems. Given that China is the largest energy user, the rise in building energy consumption necessitates clean energy alternatives. The purpose of this study is to summarize typical building models for primary and secondary schools in Hainan Province, and to use software to simulate and calculate the photovoltaic utilization potential of primary and secondary school buildings. In China, the government is usually the manager of primary and secondary schools, and due to their architectural characteristics, these buildings can be used to assess photovoltaic applications. The aim is to drive the application of photovoltaic systems in all types of buildings and promote urban energy reform. This study summarizes the types of primary and secondary school buildings in Hainan Province and analyzes them. It evaluates rooftop photovoltaic projects at the Second Middle School and the Siyuan School in Wanning City, Hainan Province, and uses PVsyst 7.2 software to assess the photovoltaic utilization potential. The results show that the optimal orientation in Hainan Province is south-facing, and the optimal inclination angle is 10° to 20°. The most favorable orientations of facade photovoltaic systems are 20° southeast or southwest. The longest dynamic investment payback period is approximately 15 years, and the environmental benefits are $0.012/kWh. The findings indicate significant potential for photovoltaic applications in primary and secondary school buildings. A combination of facade and rooftop photovoltaics can result in the zero-energy consumption of these buildings, reducing the pressure on urban power grids and achieving sustainable utilization.

To address the issues of poor thermal performance and high energy consumption in rural dwellings in cold regions of China, this study investigates multi-type energy-efficient retrofitting strategies for rural houses in the Hebei–Tianjin region. By utilizing a two-step cluster analysis method, 458 rural dwellings from 32 villages were classified based on household demographics, architectural features, and energy consumption patterns, identifying three typical categories: pre-1980s adobe dwellings, 1980s–1990s brick–wood structures, and post-1990s brick–concrete houses. Tailored sunspace design strategies were proposed through simulation: low-cost plastic film sunspaces for adobe dwellings (dynamic payback period: 2.8 years; net present value: CNY 2343), 10 mm hollow polycarbonate (PC) panels for brick–wood structures (cost–benefit ratio: 1.72), and high-efficiency broken bridge aluminum Low-e sunspaces for brick–concrete houses (annual natural gas savings: 345.24 m³). Economic analysis confirmed the feasibility of the selected strategies, with positive net present values and cost–benefit ratios exceeding 1. The findings demonstrate that classification-based retrofitting strategies effectively balance energy-saving benefits with economic costs, providing a scientific hierarchical implementation framework for rural residential energy efficiency improvements in cold regions.

Under the guidance of the “dual carbon” goals, building energy efficiency policies are currently in a critical phase of transitioning from “dual controls on energy consumption” to “dual controls on carbon emissions.” Based on the theory of policy instruments, this paper takes 26 building energy efficiency policy documents issued in Tianjin from 1991 to 2025 as samples. By comprehensively applying content analysis and social network analysis, it systematically examines the evolutionary trajectory, combination characteristics, and structural relationships of policy instruments over the past three decades. This study reveals that Tianjin’s building energy efficiency policy system demonstrates a phased transformation trend—shifting from singular control to diversified incentives and from energy consumption constraints to integrated carbon emission management. The structure of policy instrument combinations has been progressively optimized; however, there remains room for improvement in terms of policy synergy, continuity, and the role of market mechanisms. Consequently, this paper proposes recommendations for optimizing local building energy efficiency policies across dimensions such as instrument coordination, temporal allocation, and mechanism innovation. These suggestions aim to enhance policy implementation effectiveness, accelerate the transition towards energy conservation and carbon reduction in the building sector, and provide empirical references for similar cities seeking to optimize their “dual carbon” policy frameworks.