You can now Google your Home to see is Solar Right for you
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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Google has committed to funding over $2 billion in renewable energy projects. They state “We’re helping create a clean energy future that’s better for our business and the environment.”
Now through an effort coined ‘Project Sunroof‘ .. cleaver I know … Google is helping to shape your access to quick solar analysis on the rooftop of your home. You can assess the energy potential to see if solar is right for you.
Key Takeaways
- Google funds over $2 billion in renewable energy projects and offers Project Sunroof for solar analysis on homes.
- Project Sunroof allows users to assess solar potential and cost savings by entering their home address.
- The tool employs machine learning to accurately identify suitable areas for solar installations, reducing classification errors significantly.
- Currently, Project Sunroof is in pilot mode, available in select areas like the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and Fresno.
- Google plans to expand Project Sunroof and potentially accept referral fees for solar system adoptions.
Table of Contents
Project Sunroof is an online tool that allows you to enter your home address and find out how much of an impact solar panels would have on your home. For example, you can see how many hours per year your rooftop receives sunlight. In addition, you can estimate how much potential cost savings you could realize if you adopt a solar collection system.
See Also: Stop Wasting Money. Improve Your Sustainability at Home
Google Earth would showcase the imagery of your local neighborhood and separate out nearby surfaces from your rooftop. Providing a heat map of intensity you see a visual of solar impact on your home.
“At Google, we knew we had the expertise to do this well using Google maps and aerial imaging,” said Barry Fischer, a Google spokesperson. “Project Sunroof draws upon the same high-resolution imagery that powers Google Earth.”
Other Solar Assessment Options
There are other platforms that offer homeowners similar functionality which have been created by government agencies at local and state levels. Solar installation companies like Sungevity and the United States Department of Energy have also created such platforms. However, Google’s platform is said to be more intelligent.
How do I know that this technology is accurately assessing solar gains?
Well one aspect that stands out is called machine learning. The program recognizes the different surfaces around your home. It requires less manual input to call out the specific areas available for solar installations. Therefore, it is able to distinguish your driveway for example from your rooftop automatically.
Fischer offers some details on reducing the inconsistencies associated with other platforms by stating “Based on our testing, we found that using machine-learning techniques alone helped reduce classification errors by 75% compared to using traditional methods of determining the boundaries of buildings and rooftops.”
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This makes it more efficient and feasible to roll out to a larger audience. Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if this feature got incorporated into Google Maps in a few years.
However, until then this is still a pilot program under development. It is available only in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and Fresno, California areas.
Project Sunroof Coming to an Area Near You
To a greater extent, Project Sunroof could and presumably is being used to investigate the overall solar capacity throughout the United States.
The interface will also be able to estimate the size of the solar system based upon electricity utilization and billing rates. Additionally, you would be able to receive financial options for investing in the system. These are displayed on screen and considered by you.
Then you would be able to setup a consultation directly with Google’s solar provider partners—SunWork, Vivint, SunEdison, SunPower, or NRG Solar.
Offering you a complete and convenient one stop shop for getting the information you need on solar collection systems specific to your home. This happens without the door to door sales person trying to convert you over to solar.
I’m personally going to be investing in solar at some point in the future. But seriously, when it feels like every week someone is coming up to the door from different companies (sometimes the same) about my potential for going solar, it seems a bit much.
Google is … big surprise here … in the works to potentially accept referral fees for those who adopt solar energy systems.
They are also continuing to develop the Project Sunroof platform and expand the innovative online tool into other opportunities.
Neil has over 20 years’ experience on a range of large (15,000 sf) and small (500 sf) residential, non-profit, and commercial projects with a small business focus. He has two kids with his wife, Victoria, and loves family time camping, hiking, and traveling. While he grew up in New England, Neil is a diehard Buffalo Bills fan!
