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Project Sunroof by Google maps solar energy potential on your rooftop

08.19.2015

This week, Google launched something really cool – Project Sunroof. It aims to help you checking if your house is a good candidate for installing solar panels.

The project has been initiated by Google engineer Carl Elkin as a part of his “20% project“. It is based on Google Maps and aiming show you how much solar power your roof could generate. Google says that to calculate all this information, it uses aerial maps database, does 3D modeling of rooftops, takes into account any shadows cast by trees or nearby structures, and then runs that against all possible sun positions over the course of a year, as well as historical cloud and temperature patterns that might affect solar energy production.

For now the service is only available in Boston, Fresno and the San Francisco Bay Area. In order to check your house’s status you need to enter your address. The map will show a location of your house and some numbers about how much money you’ll save if you lease or buy solar panels for 20 years. You can also slide down and check how much you’ll save over the course of 20 years in each purchasing option.

Wind and solar energy are the fast growing energy sources, according to a report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration last March. President Obama also announced a new plan in early July to install solar panels on low-income households in an effort to power poor neighborhoods with technology that’s otherwise financially unobtainable.

We hope that Google spread the project across more cities around the world. It’s ready Geoawesome!

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Aleks Buczkowski

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Apple expands Maps Flyover coverage with 20 new cities

Aleks Buczkowski

08.19.2015

Apple Maps are getting better. No one can argue with that. Couple of months ago Apple finally introduced public transit to Maps. It is also working on its own Street View using Apple mapping vans. Already 34 of them are driving across US and Europe and the number of vehicles is growing fast.

But that’s not all. Last week Apple has extended its Map Flyover coverage with 20 new locations.

Aarhus, Denmark
Bobbio, Italy
Budapest, Hungary
Cádiz, Spain
Chenonceaux, France
Dijon, France
Ensenada, Mexico
Gothenburg, Sweden
Graz, Austria
Loreto, Mexico
Malmö, Sweden
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Millau, France
Nice, France
Omaha Beach
Rapid City, SD
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sapporo, Japan
Strasbourg, France
Turin, Italy

The Flyover technology comes back to 2011 when Apple acquired C3 Technologies – a Swedish Company specialized 3D modelling based on combined in aerial imagery and Lidar scanning. Flyovers resemble 3D buildings in Google Earth but the production process is done semi-automatically and its based on actual images and shapes rather than sketching, which makes it look more realistic.

I strongly believe that with new Apple mapping vehicles the company is working on the combination of areal data with street level data to make a detailed 3D model of the world. We should see the effects in 1–2 years. I can’t wait to experience it.

Here is a full list of all available Flyover cities as of August 19th, 2015:

Australia, New Zealand: