Google Maps can now tell you if it’s worth installing solar panels on your roof

[Agschmid]

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Google wants to help you harness the power of the sun. A new service called Project Sunroof aims to provide a "treasure map" of solar energy with the help of Google Maps. Sunroof gives homeowners detailed information about how much solar power their roof can generate and how much money they could save on electricity costs by adding solar panels.

Sunroof uses data from Google Maps that previously had no practical application. For instance, Sunroof uses Maps’ 3D-modeling to calculate the amount of space a building’s roof has for solar panels. The service also analyzes the positioning of the sun over the course of a year, as well as the type of cloud cover and temperature the neighborhood usually experiences. It even considers the amount of shade cast by nearby objects.

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Switching to solar energy can be a win-win scenario for many households. Harnessing a free power source can help save money on the electric bill while ever-so-slightly decreasing the world's dependance on greenhouse-gas-producing fossil fuels. But it's possible your home doesn't get enough sunlight, and it can be hard to know exactly how much money you'll save. Sunroof can tell users how many hours of usable sunlight they'll get a year, as well as how much available space they have for solar panels on their roof.

If a family decides those cost-saving benefits are good enough, Sunroof will suggest installers nearby who can load the panels. Installing solar panels isn't cheap, costing upwards of $20,000, but the average homeowner can save about $20,000 by switching to solar energy — if their home is in the right spot.

Right now, Project Sunroof is only available for people living in Boston, San Francisco, and Fresno, but Google plans to expand the service to the entire country.

Source.

[Historic NY]

1. I'm in NY and the company I have used google to do the same thing...

[Agschmid]

2. It's a pretty cool program, I'm a bit too far outside Boston to take advantage of it...

But I know we get a ton of sun and have a great South facing roof, so at some point we will take the leap.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. Hint: Don't chop down a tree giving you shade to install solar panels.

[Sherman A1]

4. Interesting

Thanks for posting.

[JDPriestly]

5. I love this. Can't wait until they do this for Los Angeles.

Seems to me we should be among the first to get this service. We are huge. We get a lot of sun (hardly anything else this year), and the information I have received so far on this has been confusing. So I'm ready to do this. Where is Google for the Los Angeles area? Hey! We should be pretty easy to figure out.

[newfie11]

6. Wonder how long it will take for them to find western SD

This will be interesting to see.

[FLPanhandle]

7. I'm in Florida, can't I just assume it'll be worth it?

[LeftyMom]

8. Wouldn't the big worry would be if they'd blow away?

Not joking, genuinely curious how rooftop systems fare in tropical weather.

[herding cats]

9. I support this.

I hope it expands quickly beyond the three major cities it's now available in. I'd do it in a heartbeat if I knew it would be worthwhile where I am.