E.On and Google to bring Sunroof collaboration to British homeowners

E.On and Google are to bring their Sunroof platform to British households in the coming weeks as the companies hope to replicate the success of the solar modelling tool in Germany, where it has been used by more than 10,000 customers.

The firms came together a year ago in a partnership described as an “offensive on behalf of solar power”. This collaboration resulted in Sunroof, which uses Google Earth and Google Maps, 3D models and machine learning to provide an accurate estimate of a home’s individual solar potential.

The programme takes into account weather data, the position of the sun at different seasons, the area and inclination of the roof as well as the shade of surrounding buildings or trees to calculate how much sunlight falls on each roof during the year.

Software company tetraeder then calculates the determined amount of light into energy and the potential cost savings for customers, who in Germany can then request a solar system, with the option of battery storage.

E.On also provides a “sunshine guarantee” to ensure that the solar system achieves the calculated yields, with lower values met with financial compensation by the company.

The company says ‘well over’ 10,000 customers have requested an analysis of their roof's solar potential using Sunroof, which is said to have made a significant contribution to E.On's annual revenues growth of 150% in its solar business.

Both E.On and Google are hoping this success will be translated abroad, with Sunroof to be made available to homeowners in Great Britain in the coming weeks.

This is the latest sign of growing activity in the UK by the utility’s solar division, which announced its entrance to the UK’s solar and storage market with a new consumer-focused offering in April 2017.

Since then, the company has engaged in high profile advertising activity, launched an interest-free payment plan for its systems, and last month agreed to a supply deal with Viridian Solar to offer its Clearline fusion roof-integrated solar products.

Meanwhile, E.On and Google are also preparing a market launch in Italy, while the one-year programme in Germany will now be extended until the end of the year.