#Business #Ideas

Project Sunroof by Google maps solar energy potential on your rooftop

Aleks Buczkowski
08.19.2015

This week, Google launched something really cool – Project Sunroof. It aims to help you checking if your house is a good candidate for installing solar panels.

The project has been initiated by Google engineer Carl Elkin as a part of his “20% project“. It is based on Google Maps  and aiming show you how much solar power your roof could generate. Google says that to calculate all this information, it uses aerial maps database, does 3D modeling of rooftops, takes into account any shadows cast by trees or nearby structures, and then runs that against all possible sun positions over the course of a year, as well as historical cloud and temperature patterns that might affect solar energy production.

Google-Maps---Sunroof-project

For now the service is only available in Boston, Fresno and the San Francisco Bay Area. In order to check your house’s status you need to enter your address. The map will show a location of your house and some numbers about how much money you’ll save if you lease or buy solar panels for 20 years. You can also slide down and check how much you’ll save over the course of 20 years in each purchasing option.

Google-Maps---Sunroof-project-2

Wind and solar energy are the fast growing energy sources, according to a report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration last March. President Obama also announced a new plan in early July to install solar panels on low-income households in an effort to power poor neighborhoods with technology that’s otherwise financially unobtainable.

We hope that Google spread the project across more cities around the world. It’s ready Geoawesome!

 

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#Business

Apple expands Maps Flyover coverage with 20 new cities

Aleks Buczkowski
08.19.2015

Flyovers

Apple Maps are getting better. No one can argue with that. Couple of months ago Apple finally introduced public transit to Maps. It is also working on its own Street View using Apple mapping vans. Already 34 of them are driving across US and Europe and the number of vehicles is growing fast.

But that’s not all. Last week Apple has extended its Map Flyover coverage with 20 new locations.

  • Aarhus, Denmark
  • Bobbio, Italy
  • Budapest, Hungary
  • Cádiz, Spain
  • Chenonceaux, France
  • Dijon, France
  • Ensenada, Mexico
  • Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Graz, Austria
  • Loreto, Mexico
  • Malmö, Sweden
  • Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  • Millau, France
  • Nice, France
  • Omaha Beach
  • Rapid City, SD
  • Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • Sapporo, Japan
  • Strasbourg, France
  • Turin, Italy

The Flyover technology comes back to 2011 when Apple acquired C3 Technologies – a Swedish Company specialized 3D modelling based on combined in aerial imagery and Lidar scanning. Flyovers resemble 3D buildings in Google Earth but the production process is done semi-automatically and its based on actual images and shapes rather than sketching, which makes it look more realistic.

I strongly believe that with new Apple mapping vehicles the company is working on the combination of areal data with street level data to make a detailed 3D model of the world. We should see the effects in 1–2 years. I can’t wait to experience it.

Here is a full list of all available Flyover cities as of August 19th, 2015:

Australia, New Zealand:
  • Auckland
  • Canberra
  • Christchurch
  • Dunedin
  • Nelson
  • Perth
  • Sydney
  • Melbourne
  • Wellington

Canada:

  • Calgary
  • Montreal
  • Surrey
  • Toronto
  • Vancouver

Denmark, Finland, Sweden:

  • Aarhus
  • Copenhagen
  • Gothenburg
  • Helsingborg
  • Helsinki
  • Linköping
  • Malmö
  • Odense
  • Stockholm
  • Roskilde
  • Visby

France, Monaco:

  • Bordeaux
  • Chambord
  • Chenonxeaux
  • Côte d’Azur (including Marseille, Nice)
  • Dijon
  • Le Mans
  • Lyon
  • Paris
  • Perpignan
  • Millau
  • Monaco
  • Mont Saint-Michel
  • Montpellier
  • Nimes
  • Reims
  • Rennes
  • Saint Etienne
  • Saint-Tropez
  • Strasbourg

Germany, Austria

  • Berlin
  • Graz
  • Cologne
  • Hamburg
  • Karlsruhe
  • Kiel
  • Linz
  • Munich

Ireland:

  • Cork
  • Cliffs of Moher
  • Dublin

Italy:

  • Ancona
  • Bari
  • Bobbio
  • Rome
  • Milan
  • Turin
  • Paestum
  • Perugia
  • Venice

Japan:

  • Sapporo
  • Tokyo

Hungary, Czech Republic:

  • Brno
  • Budapest

Mexico:

  • Chichen Itza
  • Culiacán
  • Ensenada
  • Guadalajara
  • Teotihuacán

The Netherlands:

  • Rotterdam

Portugal:

  • Braga

Spain:

  • Alicante
  • Almería
  • Badajoz
  • Barcelona
  • Cáceres
  • Cádiz
  • Cordoba
  • Jerez de la Frontera
  • Huelva
  • Madrid
  • Sevilla
  • Valencia

South Africa:

  • Cape Town
  • Durban

United Kingdom:

  • Belfast
  • Birmingham
  • Edinburgh
  • Glasgow
  • Kingston upon Hull
  • Leeds
  • Liverpool
  • London
  • Manchester
  • Wolverhampton

United States:

  • Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  • Albany, NY
  • Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  • Arches National Park
  • Arlington, MA
  • Arlington, TX
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Austin, TX
  • Bakersfield,CA
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Baton Rouge, LA
  • Beverly Hills, CA
  • Boise, ID
  • Boston, MA
  • Buffalo, NY
  • Century City, CA
  • Chicago, IL
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Cupertino, CA
  • Dallas, TX
  • Denver, CO
  • Fort Worth, TX
  • Green Bay, WI
  • Honolulu, HI
  • Hoover Dam, AZ
  • Houston, TX
  • Indianapolis, IN
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • Long Beach, CA
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Memphis, TN
  • Miami, FL
  • Milwaukee, WI
  • Minneapolis, MN
  • Modesto, CA
  • Mayagüez, PR
  • Mount Rushmore, SD
  • Nashville, TN
  • New Orleans, LA
  • New York, NY
  • Oakland, CA
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Ponce, Puerto Rico
  • Portland, ME
  • Portland, OR
  • Providence, RI
  • Rapid City
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Saint Paul, MN
  • Salem, OR
  • San Antonio, TX
  • San Diego, CA
  • San Francisco, CA
  • San Jose, CA
  • San Juan, PR
  • Santa Monica, CA
  • Seattle, WA
  • Stanford University, CA
  • Stockton, CA
  • Tacoma, WA
  • Tulsa, OK
  • Zion National Park, Utah
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