The tool makes it possible for interested parties to get estimates on how many hours of sunlight their roof receives, how much area is available for solar panels, and how much a solar panel installation could save them over the years.
Project Sunroof now covers, at least partially, all 50 states and contains data on approximately 60 million buildings. For every building included in the data, the Project calculates the amount of sunlight received by each portion of the roof over the course of a year. The estimated sunlight is then translated into energy production using industry standard models for solar installation performance.
The analysis revealed, approximately 79% of the rooftops in the United States are viable for solar panels. It also showed Houston, Texas, has the most solar potential of any US city, followed closely by Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio and New York.
According to Google, if the top ten cities in the United States utilized their full solar potential, it would produce enough energy to power eight million homes.
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