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• There is a similarity in PV potential within similar urban block types in the same types. • A significant difference exists between the three different types of urban blocks in regards to PV potential. • The highest PV potential is exhibited by commercial blocks, followed by residential and then industrial blocks. • Different block types exhibit different proportions of PV potential in terms of rooftops and facades due to variation in urban form. Due to the ever increasing energy demand, PV utilisation in the urban scale has become an attractive solution. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the effect of urban block type on solar potential. There exists a requirement to analyse solar potential in the real urban context of Wuhan based on block function and type. Therefore, this paper studies a real case in Wuhan's urban context by selecting 15 cases of real urban industrial, commercial and residential blocks. The PV output was calculated for roofs and façades respectively. The results obtained showed obvious differences between the three type of blocks, where commercial blocks received the most total solar irradiation, followed by residential blocks, and then industrial blocks. Similarly, the distribution of solar irradiation on roofs and façades for each block was vividly different based on the block type, owing to differences in building forms based on block function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]