Many owners of buildings could benefit from a sunny roof by using solar panels or a solar boiler, yet do not realise the opportunity they are passing up. The Solar Map of Flanders, one of the regions in Belgium, shows how well a roof is ranked as a source of solar energy and how much a solar installation would cost and yield simply by entering an address online.
With VITO providing their expertise in processing big data as one of the collaborators, the initiative came up with a detailed survey of the entire landscape of Flanders. By combining all information, the Solar Map is able to provide an initial, objective estimate of the suitability of every roof for a solar installation, together with a calculation of the cost price and repayment time of solar panels and a solar boiler as well as the annual savings in energy costs and CO2 emissions. The creators of the Solar Map hope to encourage building-owners, be it families or large-scale consumers, to take the result of their calculation and install solar panels or a solar boiler on their roof in order to generate up to 3.7 GW in Flanders by 2020.
Original press release by VITO.