Feuer Frei!
07-31-11, 10:16 PM
Installing Solar Panels?
This may interest you:
Before you install a solar panel you need to take a few things into account: the slope and orientation of your rooftop, whether there are any telephone poles or trees blocking the light, where the nearest transmission line is...sounds complicated, right? Good news: it’s about to get easier.
Geostellar (http://geostellar.com/) has developed a system that charts all this information in an easy-to-use, color-coded map that is accessible for free online.
Here's how the process works: The start-up company pools together information from various sources. The collected data includes weather reports, shadows, roof slope, location of transmission lines, property values, local prices of electricity, solar hazards, subsidies and relevant local legislation pertaining to solar energy, reports the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2011/06/03/03gigaom-using-big-data-to-make-solar-smarter-82669.html).
To top it all off, Geostellar combines the information with a technology called LIDAR (“light detection and ranging”), which is gathered by pointing lasers or infrared light from a low-flying airplane, explains Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0509/entrepreneurs-david-levine-solar-energy-geostellar-sun-king.html).
LIDAR creates highly-detailed solar maps that lets you know exactly how much sunlight your photovoltaic panels will be soaking up per day.
SOURCE (http://www.takepart.com/news/2011/06/10/pixels-of-sunlight-maps-that-help-you-plan-your-future-solar-panel-system)
This may interest you:
Before you install a solar panel you need to take a few things into account: the slope and orientation of your rooftop, whether there are any telephone poles or trees blocking the light, where the nearest transmission line is...sounds complicated, right? Good news: it’s about to get easier.
Geostellar (http://geostellar.com/) has developed a system that charts all this information in an easy-to-use, color-coded map that is accessible for free online.
Here's how the process works: The start-up company pools together information from various sources. The collected data includes weather reports, shadows, roof slope, location of transmission lines, property values, local prices of electricity, solar hazards, subsidies and relevant local legislation pertaining to solar energy, reports the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2011/06/03/03gigaom-using-big-data-to-make-solar-smarter-82669.html).
To top it all off, Geostellar combines the information with a technology called LIDAR (“light detection and ranging”), which is gathered by pointing lasers or infrared light from a low-flying airplane, explains Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0509/entrepreneurs-david-levine-solar-energy-geostellar-sun-king.html).
LIDAR creates highly-detailed solar maps that lets you know exactly how much sunlight your photovoltaic panels will be soaking up per day.
SOURCE (http://www.takepart.com/news/2011/06/10/pixels-of-sunlight-maps-that-help-you-plan-your-future-solar-panel-system)