The Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE), a UK charity, has launched Solar Wizard, an online tool to help homeowners, communities and local authorities evaluate their rooftop solar potential.
Solar Wizard consists of two services. The first is a free, publicly accessible tool in which users enter their zip code and get a simple overview of how much energy solar panels on their roof could generate, how much it costs to install them and how quickly they could make up the installation costs through savings on their energy bill.
The second tool will help local councils and larger district, unitary and provincial authorities understand the viability of solar panels for their public buildings and assess how solar energy can benefit their climate emergency responses.
“Transforming the way we generate and use energy is crucial to tackling climate change, but many people don’t know where to start and there is a lot of misinformation and distrust about solar panels and other technologies,” said Jacob Hall, project manager for local involvement in CSE. “Solar Wizard breaks these barriers by giving everyone a free, fast and easy way to assess their solar potential at their fingertips.”
He added: “Our mapping interface is designed to support local authorities on their journey to a low-carbon economy. The map highlights the buildings with the best solar potential and supports the development of business cases through financial modeling.”
Stimulating solar energy on the roof
With large-scale solar farms an increasingly controversial topic among those who argue that land should be prioritized for agriculture, rooftop solar is in the spotlight.
A recent round of funding from the UK government has enabled the installation of solar panels on public buildings across the UK, including hospitals, schools and community organisations. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has abolished planning permission requirements for rooftop solar installations in a bid to boost uptake of the technology.
Community owned solar is finding success in some parts of the country, with Bristol Energy Cooperative recently launching a new share offering to raise £1 million, which will be used to power a further 1MW of solar to add to the cooperative’s portfolio.
However, community solar still faces significant barriers. Speaking at the UK Solar Summit in London earlier this month, Connie Duxbury, founder of Croydon Community Energy and community manager at Younity, argued that a “lack of awareness” is holding back the community solar sector in Britain.
