Google launches solar power service in UK

Google launches solar power service in UK

UK homeowners can now verify how much cash they would save by installing solar panels on their roofs. Google has just released a new tool, in collaboration with power supplier Eon. It's called Project Sunroof, and it uses data from Google Earth and Google Maps to find out how much power a house could save with solar panels.

The principle is simple – by using data from these two platforms, as well as from weather data, it can calculate how much sun a roof is getting all over the day, and use that data to come up with an estimate.

The tool is not the first of its kind, though, with both Ikeas and Tesla having similar ones already operational. However, these tools required homeowners to supply extra data, like the shape of their roofs, or their homes.

Google says it can get rid of these steps with the help of Maps and Earth.

Project Sunroof 'minor the fences' for homeowners, with the help of Maps and Earth, says Jonathan Marshall, head of analysis at the non-profit organisation Power and Climate Intelligence Unit.

"By examining the roof shape, they will extract one of the steps that you would have to go through to get solar panels installed," Mr Marshall told the BBC. "The speed of the process means that if you're half-tempted by the plan, you're more likely to go ahead with it."

Project Sunroof has been working for three years now, in the US and Germany.