Sunroof, the Google search engine to switch to photovoltaics

The project allows you to measure the solar capacity of a home’s roof. It works by entering an address or precise area into the system

Sustainable eco and technological innovation have now become two sides of the same coin. Electric vehicles and solar panels are revolutionizing the way we move and live. And there is also a lot of curiosity about alternative energy systems and especially green.

Many people, also because of the costs becoming over the years more and more accessible, have begun, in fact, to show a certain interest in sustainable energy sources. And especially to ask themselves questions not only about installation prices, but also about the energy benefits that a house could get through solar panels. An answer to these questions could come from Google, or rather from a project first launched in 2015: Project Sunroof. What is it all about? Of a sort of search engine, active for now only in the United States but that should soon be made available for the rest of the world, which provides a series of data on the potential solar capacity of a house.

How Sunroof works

The operation of Sunroof is partly reminiscent of Google’s geolocation systems. In fact, Project Sunroof was created by combining data from Google Maps and Google Earth. To which 3D modeling techniques and machine learning were then added. The search engine, once you enter a certain address, returns a lot of information, useful if you decide to switch to solar panels. Calcola, ad esempio, la quantità di sole, in termini di ore, che in un anno ha colpito una determinata porzione di tetto.

Stime intelligenti

Le stime sono effettuate anche considerando possibili ostacoli che la fonte di energia rinnovabile potrebbe avere nelle vicinanze: alberi, palazzi e abitazioni che in qualche modo potrebbero diminuire la capacità solare del tetto. Il sistema, poi, trasforma questi dati in watt e fornisce anche delle previsioni sul risparmio che si potrebbe ottenere, in base alle informazioni calcolate, installando i pannelli solari.

solar-roof-2.jpgFonte foto: Solar City

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