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Google's Project Sunroof Tells You How Well Solar Would Work On Your Roof

Posted by samzenpus on from the here-comes-the-sun dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Google's Project Sunroof aims to make the task of installing solar panels easier by providing financial advice and stats on what solar energy could do for you. The project is only available in San Francisco, Boston, and Fresno for now. Techcrunch reports: "To get started, you simply plug in your address and some data about your monthly electricity bill, and the tool will tell you what the recommended solar installation size is and how much it would cost to buy or lease the hardware. In case you want to go ahead with a solar install, the tool also lets you reach out to local solar providers. Google says these listings are sponsored, so chances are it'll get a bit of a kickback when it generates a sales lead for these companies."

4 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Not available yet... by Firethorn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Darn it: "Sorry, Project Sunroof hasn't reached this address yet."

    Can't say much about it then.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  2. Strange limitations by pla · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Annual insolation, even after considering weather, counts as a well-documented stat across the entire US. Why would they limit this to just a few key cities?

    Google says these listings are sponsored, so chances are it'll get a bit of a kickback when it generates a sales lead for these companies.

    Oh, riiight! "We don't have any partners outside those cities yet, so the rest of you can go fuck yourselves". Got it.

    1. Re:Strange limitations by bondsbw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you aren't willing to pay for alternative energy, then don't be surprised when you don't get it. Google helps advance that cause and all you can do is complain that they are a business.

      --
      All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
    2. Re:Strange limitations by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Local, state and federal subsides vary drastically only a few miles apart. That database would tax googles servers.

      That's right. The subsidies are required to make this look good. It is, after all, sponsored by installers. The calculator naturally assumes everything is optimum, and doesn't get very detailed when it comes to additional expenses that may be incurred during installation. It also assumes 2.2% per year rate increases, which is not necessarily going to happen.

      I did a spot check on their Redwood Ca numbers. They calculate using solar insolation equivalent to 5 hrs/day, but real numbers are about 4.7 hrs/day.