2015, Google launched Project Sunroof, a map showing where parts of the houses have enough exposure to the sun so the solar panels are a sustainable energy source.
However, the original map was very limited, covering only the area of San Francisco Bay, Fresno, California and Boston. Now, however, Google has greatly expanded its work to cover 50 states in the US, with a total of 60 million buildings in its database.
The program uses images from Google Earth and Maps as well as some kind of mechanical learning to provide you with a better idea of how much sunlight every part of each roof gets. According to Google, weather conditions, changes in the location of the sun and the possibility of shade from nearby buildings are taken into account.
The result is a map that not only allows homeowners to easily assess whether they should think about installing solar panels on their roof but also offers a good picture of the country's solar energy potential.
In a blog post last week, Google shared some interesting data. For example, the company claims that 79 percent of all roofs analyzed are "technically sustainable" for solar energy. Of course, in some sunny regions such as Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, this number is rising to over 90 percent. Places like Pennsylvania, Maine and Minnesota have just over 60 percent sustainability, according to Google.
As for the city with the most solar potential in the US, this is Houston, Texas, which has an estimated 18,940GWh solar power potential annually.
Check the interactive map here. We hope that Google will expand its work in Europe soon!
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