Estimating Solar Power Potential of an Area
Updated: Aug 22, 2021
Power of Technology aside, what many of you may find compelling about this case is the ability to address a 'specific yet complex' problem statement using an 'elaborate yet structured' approach. Much like those tricky interview questions - 'What is the market size for razor blades in India?' where you've got only macro data to work with at the beginning and where you are evaluated on (the rigor of) the methodology of deriving the estimate more than (the accuracy of) the estimate itself.
So here's the trick question for you - Estimate the annual solar power generation potential in the locality you live in.
If you feel so, spare a couple of minutes to think over it before you watch the 4 minute case video on this very topic. What information would you need? Which factors / parameters / constraints would you consider in your analysis? Would your method be practically feasible to accomplish?
Spoiler Alert: In the case video, we've solved the question using just three resources -
a) A Digital Surface Model (DSM depicts elevation values of the ground and features on the ground such as buildings, trees, lamp-posts etc.)
b) Outline of Buildings in the Locality and
c) A powerful Location Analytics platform to assist us with the computation.
(The videos are best viewed in Youtube's HD setting either on PC or on Landscape mode in Mobile Phone. You can reduce / increase the play speed as per your viewing preferences.)
Case Video: Estimating Solar Potential in a Locality
I hope you found the methodology used in the case video to be interesting. Our answer (not included in the case video) is -
Map Layer Statistics
The electricity generation potential in our area of study is 20,710 MWh annually.
Needless to say, there are multiple ways to refine the output of this model. We can add more parameters (we've ignored public spaces), relax or strengthen the constraints (spot and remove water tank areas, other constructions from the rooftops) etc.
There a wide variety of tools available for solar computation within the location analytics platform. You may read more about it here.
To know more about how location analytics can help the increasingly vital Renewables industry, refer to the technology page here.
Update: 19th October 2020: See a real site video on how drones help in asset inspection on a solar farm -
Wonderful, isn't it?
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Regards,
Arpit Much Thanks to Learn ArcGIS for the training material. Study has been done on Esri's ArcGIS Pro Location Analytics Platform.