Fixing solar panels to the roof of our home or office is a good way to cut down on the electricity bill but it’s easier said than done, first there’s the significant initial investment and then you have to be sure whether or not the roof receives adequate amount of usable sunlight for an investment in solar to be actually worth it. Google is leveraging its technologies to make it easier for you to figure out whether or not you should invest in solar panels.
Google calls it Project Sunroof, it uses Google Maps as well as navigation, satellite and sunlight data from Google to simplify for people just how much usable sunlight their roof receives and how much money they would save if they make the switch.
Project Sunroof is intended to be a “treasure map” for more green energy projects in the future, for now it’s available in Boston, Fresno and San Francisco but Google might roll it out for the entire U.S. if the initial response is good, perhaps even the rest of the world at some point.
The tool is quite easy to use, just enter the specific address of your building and it will calculate the hours of usable sunlight received each year as well as total square feet of space available on the roof for installation of solar panels.
It will then display an estimate of savings if solar equipment is leased or outright purchased and will also connected users directly with solar providers in that particular city.
Filed in . Read more about Google, Solar Energy and Solar Panels.