San Francisco Launches Solar Energy Mapping Website

A solar mapping web tool was recently launched for the city of San Francisco.  Its actually pretty cool and addicting.  I liked scrolling over all the houses to see who is saving more per year with their solar panels.  It sort of reminds me of Zillow.com except the focus is on solar activity and solar statistics and not real estate.      

By partnering with CH2M Hill Enterprise Managemnt Solutions (EMS) and using Google Maps technology, users can type in an address in San Francisco which pulls up a map of the city.  Users then click on markers that designate various solar installations, which allow users to see what type of solar system is installed, the electric savings per year, what company installed the system on a particular business or residence and who are the solar-powered business leaders.  Owners of solar panel systems can even write a blurb about how much they like having them.  The website is also tracking city specific stats like total installations in the city, total annual savings and total CO2 reductions. 

I think what EMS and the city of SF are doing is really cool and it could catch on in cities across the country.  Think about it.  Wouldn't you love to see where the solar panels are in your neighborhood?  Not only that, but you can find out what type of electricity savings your neighbors are experiencing with virtually the same weather patterns and sun exposure.  Tinkering with a site like this begins with contemplation, then envy, then desire, then ultimately purchase. 

I just wish this type of site was already integrated in with Google Maps or something similar.  From a consumer perspective, there are too many map services to keep track of.  I wish there was one place where you could look up an address, get directions, see what houses are for sale, how much people are asking for, see if they have solar panels installed, how much they are saving every year, get property tax information, find out school district boundaries, get aerial views, etc.  Maybe Google is working on this but it would be really cool to have a one-stop shop instead of having to go to 10 different sites. 

++Equity Green Solar Energy++
++San Francisco Solar Map++
++Via Renewable Energy Access++

Comments

[Garrett]

You know, I spoke too soon. I mentioned in the post above that I would like to see a site that aggregates information from a bunch of different maps and has them all in one spot. Well, there is such a place...or a company trying to develop one. I was thumbing through Business 2.0 and there is a start-up in Washington called FortiusOne that has launched GeoCommons, which allows users to create "mashups" or layers of data on a map. I didn't know this but because Google made their maps available for customization, programmers have been going crazy adding layers of information. Anyway, GeoCommons has 2 billion pieces of localized data--from census figures to school district budgets to water-contamination to traffic congestion hotspots. They have spent a lot of time making the maps easy to use but FortiusOne's CEO wants to make GeoCommons into a vast social network and make money selling adds against it.

Anyway, sounds like mashups are the way to go to get very localized, neighborhood information.

[Fred]

Check this Map out, has United States Interactive Carbon Footprint Map, illustrating Greenest States. This site has all sorts of stats on individual State energy consumptions, demographics and State energy offices.

http://www.eredux.com/states/

[Garrett]

Thanks Fred for the heads up...that's a great tool. I was a little sorry to see that my home state of Texas is leading the carbon footprint pack with 670 million tons of carbon pollution, almost double of what 2nd place California has at 388 million tons. Come on Texas, let's clean it up!

[westchester solar energy]

Solar energy can be a good source if utilized properly and i hope this will increase in near future

[florida rentals]

Just wanted to take time to thank you for this nice site. I found it by accident but I will return for sure. Lots of helpful information that I found very interesting. Thanks again.

[Garrett]

Thanks Florida Rentals.

[Robert]

Problems with the sf.solarmap are that it "assumes five (5) peak-sun-hours per day" when the actual figures for San Francisco, according to the 11 SFPUC monitoring stations, range from 4.1 to 4.6. And the sf.solarmap uses the same figure of 5 kWh/day, or 1,825 kWh/year, per kW system for electricity produced, although the actual output per kW system is only 2/3, possibly as high as 3/4, of the peak-sun-hours (insolation per square meter).

Using the webpage www.sfog.us/solar/sfsolar.htm insolation may be estimated for any location in San Francisco, and these estimates would be more accurate than those derived from the sf.solarmap.

[geography information source]

this map is so cool. this is very detail on how this works.

[Solar Power]

Thank you very much for posted this useful article!