Solar Siting
As states continue to establish renewable portfolio standards, utility planners increasingly require more sophisticated tools to optimally locate and manage these new distributed renewable energy sources.  Distributed solar generation can enhance the utility’s portfolio, but the continued focus on costs necessitates that placement and installation of these resources be done efficiently, effectively and in the right place. 

Using high resolution elevation data, locational siting information and data customized to each home or business, IA can evaluate the solar potential of an area or set of individual locations based on latitude, elevation, slope, orientation, and atmospheric conditions, enabling you to find the most cost effective locations for distributed solar generation.   Linking this sophisticated solar analysis to a web interface, with extremely high resolution aerial photography and measurement tools, allows users incredible visual confirmation and analytical support for the cost effective and timely evaluation of sites.   

Solar irradiance varies at any given location due to differences in latitude, atmospheric conditions, elevation, slope, orientation, and shading from the surrounding landscape.  In addition, the position of the sun at a given time of day or year affects solar irradiance.  IA uses high resolution elevation data from LIDAR (LIght Distance And Ranging – laser sensors on low flying aircraft) to determine the elevation, slope, orientation, and shading from surrounding terrain at a given location.  In some cases this data my include buildings and other man-made structures.  Atmospheric conditions for typical timeframes are acquired from the National Solar Radiation Database.  The position of the sun in the sky at each tenth of an hour throughout the day, month, year, or any chosen time frame and latitude is then determined and the solar irradiance in watts per square meter is calculated for each selected location point or for every twenty foot cell in an area based on the topographic conditions at that location (elevation, slope, orientation, and shading).  This is not a one size fits all approach: each evaluation is uniquely developed based on the distinctive parameters of a service territory.

Using the web interface with extremely high resolution aerial photography can further reduce costs by preventing the need for extensive on site analysis of a given solar installation.  The user can access total annual solar irradiance for a given location and can view the actual rooftop being considered in high resolution to verify roof material and condition as well as local shading from trees that may not be accounted for in the initial solar evaluation.  Aerial photographs taken at an angle enable the building to be viewed from any direction, helping to confirm any shading effects.  In addition roof area and pitch can be measured on the aerial photograph and the solar irradiance over a given measured area of the roof will be automatically calculated when the area is measured.

Output from the analysis can include:

• Maps of solar potential across an area
• Solar irradiance “shapes” across a day, month, or year
• Total solar irradiance for a day, month, or year
• Total annual solar irradiance for a given measured area using the web tool
• Solar shapes can be used with DSMore to evaluate the cost effectiveness of distributed solar generation in concert with DSM measures.

Screenshots: Click image to enlarge.
Solar Irradiance	Satellite Screening	Solar Mapping