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Researchers Use AI To Map Every Solar Panel In the US (cnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the eyes-in-the-sky dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNET: There are about 1.47 million individual solar panel installations in the US. That number comes courtesy of an artificial intelligence system developed by researchers at Stanford University. The system is outlined in a study released Wednesday that describes how the AI setup analyzed satellite photos to figure out how widespread solar panel usage is. The report, called "DeepSolar: A Machine Learning Framework to Efficiently Construct a Solar Deployment Database in the United States" and published in the journal Joule, showed there are more solar panels out there than previously thought. The group plans to update the database annually and add other countries and regions in the future, the study says.

6 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. new industry needed by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 2

    We might need someone to start making solar panels that donâ(TM)t t look solar panels so they won't come around and tax you for having power. Also would probably look nicer.

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    Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  2. That's all?? by haruchai · · Score: 2

    Australia surpassed 1.5 million cumulative installs in 2016, Germany was at 1.7 million in 2017

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    Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    1. Re:That's all?? by haruchai · · Score: 2

      Germany has been increasing their CO2 output year over year and is spinning up coal plants. Nice "targets" but the US has more installed solar and wind and renewables than almost any country in the world.

      Per capita, per tonne of CO2 emitted and considering the impressive resources of both solar and wind, what the USA has done so far is not that impressive.
      China leads the world in solar heating for hot water with 70% of installed systems of the global total.
      America is now in 2nd place but with only 4.5% but Germany & Turkey were at that level nearly 10 years ago.

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      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
  3. Th-th-th-that's all folks! by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    You don't need solar panels when you have subsidized oil, coal, and nuclear power. Tax the middle class to support a welfare state for industrialists and energy moguls.

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    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  4. Eat the Rich ! by swell · · Score: 2

    According to the upcoming 2019 USA edition of Homeless Workers' CoOp Manifesto, 'Eat the Rich' chapter; this is how you find them. Maps of residential solar panels, swimming pools, private tennis courts and inaccessible ocean beaches. Members are encouraged to map their own locale via drones for inclusion in future editions. Don't forget that they are nicely fattened during the holiday season!

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    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  5. Re:How sure are you, and what do they mean by AHuxley · · Score: 2

    The way a solar panel "looks" when detected to just glass to cover the system used for heating water.
    Distinctive type of materials should be detectable and not get counted.
    Repeating grids and rows can be telling too. When not just one or two big panels.

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    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"