Aerial mapping company, Bluesky has assessed the solar potential of 100,000 Housing Association properties across the UK.
Working in concert with resource efficiency company Sustain, Bluesky used a combination of high resolution aerial photography and detailed 3D models to ascertain the solar PV generation potential for individual houses.
Sustain uses the mapping process to send detailed reports to Housing Associations which show the cost benefit analysis of installing solar PV on their portfolio in addition to the potential impact on fuel poverty avoidance.
“By using Bluesky’s solar potential maps, we can assess more properties across wider areas than would otherwise be possible,” commented Matthew Landick, associate at Sustain. “We can then use this information to identify potential PV installation programmes based on geography, cost, and benefit to the Housing Association or even the resident. In recent projects we have also used this data to assess the impact of a solar installation on fuel poverty avoidance.
“The geographical outputs from Bluesky allow us to create far more interactive and user friendly deliverables for our clients than simply providing figures and spreadsheets, and enable us to analyse and aggregate the results in a more useful way, supporting decision making when taking works forward.”
The mapping process allows the companies to calculate the potential yield of each property based on number of modules, recorded roof aspect and slope. The algorithm also takes into account the location of properties in order to normalise the calculation from optimum, maximum, or average yield.