The Rooftop Solar Potential Analyzer is an innovative web application that leverages advanced computer vision and deep learning techniques to assess the solar energy generation potential of building rooftops from satellite imagery. This tool provides accurate and actionable insights for urban planners, homeowners, and solar energy companies.
Assessing the solar potential of individual buildings in large urban areas is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. Traditional methods often involve manual surveys or simplified estimations, which can be inaccurate or impractical for large-scale implementation. There is a pressing need for an automated, scalable solution that can quickly and accurately assess rooftop solar potential across entire cities or regions.
Our project automates the process of identifying suitable rooftops for solar panel installation, estimating energy generation potential, and visualizing results through an intuitive web interface. This aims to accelerate the adoption of solar energy in urban areas by making rooftop solar potential assessment more accessible, accurate, and cost-effective.
▶️ Working Video: YouTube Video
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Building Footprint Extraction: U-Net architecture implemented in PyTorch for precise semantic segmentation of satellite imagery to identify building outlines.
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Roof Characteristic Analysis: Custom-designed Vision Transformer (ViT) model extracts key roof features such as orientation and usable area.
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Solar Potential Calculation: Integration of roof characteristics with location-specific solar irradiance + monthly average temperature data using a physics-based model to estimate annual solar energy generation potential.
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Web Application: User-friendly Streamlit interface allowing users to upload satellite images and receive detailed solar potential reports.
- PyTorch
- Computer Vision
- Deep Learning
- Streamlit
- Solar Energy Modeling
- Geospatial Analysis
- Use of Vision Transformer for roof characteristic extraction, enabling more accurate detection
- Integration of real-time solar irradiance + monthly avg temperature data for location-specific energy potential calculations
- Interactive visualization of results, using interactive graphs and plots.
This project addresses several key aspects of sustainable urban development and renewable energy adoption:
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Accelerating Solar Adoption: By simplifying the assessment process, we lower barriers to entry for homeowners and businesses considering solar energy.
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Urban Planning Support: Provides valuable data for city planners to assess and plan for large-scale solar integration in urban areas.
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Climate Change Mitigation: Encourages the transition to clean, renewable energy sources, contributing to reduction in carbon emissions.
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Economic Benefits: Helps individuals and businesses understand potential cost savings from solar installation, promoting economic sustainability.
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Energy Independence: Supports the move towards decentralized energy production, enhancing energy security and resilience.