Satellite Data, Computer Vision and Advanced AI in Solar
How leveraging satellite data through computer vision and advanced AI would play a crucial role in optimising solar mapping.
One of the biggest hurdles to solar adoption is the limited information available to the customer. Although there is a wide range of literature available on solar energy, photovoltaics and their environmental benefits, it is all very general. Answering specific customer questions such as how much solar can I install, how much energy will it generate, how much will I save, what is the best place to install solar on my roof-top, what would be its environmental impact etc. all typically require in-depth research or employing consultants.
Can you imagine buying any product with such uncertainty about its specific benefits? Of course not! But it is true for solar and continues to be one of the biggest challenges in solar energy adoption.
Our objective at PowerMarket is to help potential solar customers find quick and easy to digest answers to some to most critical questions that anyone interested in solar is bound to ask. For the past 12 months, PowerMarket has been working with satellite data and optimising it for customer benefit.
One approach to answering such questions is to collect high definition 3D data using drones or aircraft, creating elevation models of regions to enable calculation of the solar potential of every rooftop one-by-one.
To us, such a process not only seems excruciatingly cumbersome and expensive, it was also likely to be limited to large cities. Not to mention, buildings, city profiles and vegetation around those buildings can change rapidly, so such data quickly becomes outdated.
Knowing these challenges, we decided to leverage satellite data through computer vision and AI. The results so far seem very promising!
Our starting point is for users to draw around the region or regions of their premises that they think might be suitable for solar:
An initial pre-feasibility estimate is calculated assuming that all of the selected region(s) are fully suitable for solar panels.
To dig deeper and obtain a more realistic estimate of solar potential, PowerMarket’s advanced AI can be applied to the selected region(s):
Optimising installation area in the UK by applying AI to estimate roof slope and orientation, then calculating the number of panels that can be fit in suitable, broadly south facing regions and updating the estimated solar potential:
Optimising installation area by applying AI to analyse roof orientation
Optimising installation in the UK by applying AI to avoid obstructions on the roof-top
Optimising ground installation in India by applying AI to avoid obstructions
PowerMarket is being developed as a key tool for global solar demand and supply mapping.
PowerMarket is a product of SunReign Ltd, a UK registered company founded with a mission: sustainable energy for all. PowerMarket is an Oxford University Innovation and European Space Agency supported venture.
If you have a rooftop, carpark or an open field, you can evaluate its solar potential for free at https://www.powermarket.net and sign-up. Or, write to us at contact@powermarket.net
