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SolarView

Service type: 
Derived / Modelled Data
Platform: 
Climate

This calculator estimates the solar energy that can be collected by a solar capture device (solar panel) at a given address, panel direction and roof slope.

What does SolarView do?

SolarView gives an estimate of the available solar energy at a particular location for people considering installing a solar energy system. The program allows users to determine the amount of solar energy (insolation) that would be received at a given location based on local topography (landscape), orientation of the solar panels and other obstructions,such as buildings.

How does it do it?

The program combines an image of the local landscape with irradiance data from the nearest climate station. This is typically more than 10 years of "sunlight hours" data. You should be able to recognise the local landscape for each location entered into the system. The x-axis of the plot is in degrees bearing, i.e.west (-90°), North (0°), and east (90°). 

The 5 curves are the path of the sun on the 21 Dec (summer solstice) , 21 Jun (winter solstice), 21 Mar (autumn equinox), 21 Aug & 21 Oct  and the numbers indicate how much solar energy is available on that day.

SolarView