This paper aims at estimating the potential of PV systems applied on buildings (BAPVs) within a typical Greek building block. For the purpose of the study a block located in the municipality of Thessaloniki in northern Greece was chosen. The block consists of multistory residential buildings of various heights and represents the typical Greek building block. A detailed shading study of photovoltaic (PV) systems in the residential building block was carried out and is presented in the paper. The shading study was carried out using the Google Sketchup and PVsyst software tools, leading to significant conclusions firstly about shading losses of PVs in multistory building topologies and secondly about the actual available areas for PVs in a typical urban building block Finally, an economic assessment of the PV systems examined was carried out, focusing on their feasibility and based on the feed-in tariff terms which have been enacted exclusively for residential PV installations since 2009. It was found that the majority of installations have a maximum six-year payback period. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.