| Project Sunroof | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mission statement | "Mapping the planet's solar potential, one roof at a time." [1] |
| Type of project | Solar Power Initiative |
| Location | Boston, San Francisco, and Fresno |
| Owner | |
| Founder | Carl Elkin |
| Established | August 17, 2015 |
| Website | www |
Project Sunroof is a solar power initiative started by Google engineer Carl Elkin. [2] The initiative's stated purpose is "mapping the planet's solar potential, one roof at a time." [1]
Project Sunroof primarily works to encourage the private adoption of solar energy by providing a set of tools to facilitate the purchase and installation of solar panels. Using high-resolution 3D imagery data from Google Maps to calculate shadows from nearby structures and trees and taking into account historical weather and temperature patterns, the Project Sunroof website calculates how much money a user can expect to save yearly by making use of solar power. [1] In addition, the Project Sunroof website also provides a list of local solar power retailers capable of installing solar panels in that area. [2]
Project Sunroof was created by Google engineer Carl Elkin as a 20% time project. While initially launching only in the cities of Boston, San Francisco, and Fresno, [3] the project now displays solar potential for 43 million homes in the US. [4] Google has previously invested in projects with solar energy provider, SolarCity. [5]
While the solar insights provided by Project Sunroof were initially used to support individual rooftop solar insights, additional uses for the data have been developed by Google.
On the Project Sunroof website, Google launched the 'Data Explorer' to allow users to view aggregated solar insights, such as the total number of buildings viable for rooftop solar, or the aggregated solar potential (expressed in megawatts) for entire communities or cities.
In September 2018, Google launched the Environmental Insights Explorer platform. [6] This tool was designed to make it easier for cities to measure their carbon footprint and take action in support of their climate goals. The tool provides estimates for a city's annual carbon emissions using detailed geospatial data derived from Google Maps. It provides an estimate of emissions from the sectors of Transportation and Buildings, and using Project Sunroof data, can also estimate the aggregated solar potential of an entire city to demonstrate the potential to offset emissions using solar energy.
Google's website for Project Sunroof only displays solar potential data homes and buildings in the U.S. However, Google has made its Project Sunroof data available for other countries through partnerships with other organizations.
In 2019, Google partnered with TEPCO Ventures, a TEPCO Group entity to curate innovation for its utility business, to utilize Project Sunroof data to produce solar potential estimates for buildings in Japan.
In 2017, E.ON, a European electric utility, launched a solar assessment tool in the German market powered by Google's Project Sunroof, [7] followed in 2018 by a launch in the United Kingdom. [8] At the time of this writing, it appears that the Sunroof-enabled websites for both TEPCO and E.ON are no longer available, suggesting the partnerships were not renewed.
In 2018, Google partnered with French energy utility ENGIE to launch Project Sunroof insights to ENGIE customers via the 'MyPower' tool in France. [9]
In 2020, Canadian energy software startup MyHEAT partnered with Google and the City of Edmonton [10] [11] to build a city-wide solar potential map and bring Project Sunroof data to Canada. This partnership received two awards: one from the Solar Impulse Foundation and one from Canada's Clean50.
ActewAGL is an Australian multi-utility joint venture company that provides utility services in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and south-east New South Wales. The company was formed in October 2000 between the Australian Gas Light Company and ACTEW Corporation, an ACT Government-owned corporation.
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eSolar is a privately held company that develops concentrating solar power (CSP) plant technology. The company was founded by the Pasadena-based business incubator Idealab in 2007 as a developer of CSP plant technology. The company aims to develop a low cost alternative to fossil fuels through a combination of small heliostats, modular architecture, and a high-precision sun-tracking system. In October 2017, an article in GreenTech Media suggested that eSolar ceased business in late 2016.
Wind resource assessment is the process by which wind power developers estimate the future energy production of a wind farm. Accurate wind resource assessments are crucial to the successful development of wind farms.
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Solar power in Nevada is growing due to a Renewable Portfolio Standard which requires 20% renewable energy by 2015, and 5% from solar power. The state has abundant open land areas and some of the best solar potential in the country.
The International Hydropower Association (IHA) is a non-profit, international organisation and membership association representing the global hydropower sector. IHA has members in more than 80 countries, including over 100 corporate and affiliate members working across sectors such as electricity generation, water management, construction, engineering and related industries. IHA also partners with international organisations, research institutions, governments and civil society. The association's mission is "to advance sustainable hydropower by building and sharing knowledge on its role in renewable energy systems, freshwater management and climate change solutions".
Different methods of electricity generation can incur a variety of different costs, which can be divided into three general categories: 1) wholesale costs, or all costs paid by utilities associated with acquiring and distributing electricity to consumers, 2) retail costs paid by consumers, and 3) external costs, or externalities, imposed on society.
EPB of Chattanooga, formerly known as the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, is an American electric power distribution and telecommunications company owned by the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. EPB serves nearly 180,000 homes and businesses in a 600-square mile area in the greater Chattanooga area and Hamilton County. In 2010, EPB was the first company in the United States to offer 1 Gbit/s high-speed internet, over 200 times faster than the national average over a fiber optic network. As a result, Chattanooga has been called "Gig City" and held up as a national model for deploying the world's fastest internet and the most advanced Smart Grid electric distribution system in the United States. On October 15, 2015, Chattanooga implemented the world's first community-wide 10-gig Internet service.
Solar power in Louisiana is ranked 34th for installed solar PV capacity as of 2017 by the Solar Energy Industry Association. The state's "solar friendliness" according to Solar Power Rocks has fallen to 50th place for 2018 as the state credit program ends and full 1:1 retail net metering is being phased out. Taxpayers still benefit from federal incentive programs such as the 30 percent tax credit, which applies to business and residential solar photovoltaic and thermal energy systems of any size.
Most of Kenya's electricity is generated by renewable energy sources. On 13 December 2019, Kenya brought online a new 50 megawatt (MW) solar plant in Turkana at the cost of $129 million, bringing her renewable energy to 90% of its power mix. With an installed power capacity of 2,336 MW, Kenya generates 870 MW hydroelectric power, 706 MW geothermal power, 253.5 MW thermal power and the rest from other sources. Kenya is the largest geothermal energy producer in Africa and was also the first geothermal-producing state in Africa when Olkaria I Power Station was commissioned in 1981, generating 45 MW. Seventy three percent (73%) of Kenyan households have electricity access. Currently, Kenya is building Olkaria I Unit 6 which will produce an additional 83 MW to the grid making it the 7th largest geothermal power producer in the world. Additionally, Kenya has the largest wind farm project in Africa with the Lake Turkana Wind Project Power Project. In March 2011, Kenya became the first country in Africa to open a carbon exchange, presenting 17 projects for registration to the U.N. Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism executive board. Kenya is also a signatory to the Paris Agreement and targets to reduce carbon emissions by 30% below business as usual by 2030 as determined in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The Renewable Energy Directorate under the Ministry of Energy is responsible for research and development of renewable energy technologies.
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