Isro launches Solar Calculator app to calculate the effectiveness of installing solar panels

Isro has launched a Solar Calculator application, that allows for accurate calculation of the benefit of installing solar panels at any location in the country. The application allows for the calculation of solar energy potential, which is an important preliminary step for selecting appropriate locations to set up solar photovoltaic thermal power plants. The application has been developed by the Space Application Center facility of Isro, in Ahmedabad, at the request of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The Solar Calculator is very useful for setting up photovoltaic solar panels. A number of locations are available in the drop down menu, it is possible to directly click on a location in a map, or navigate using precise geographic co-ordinates. The solar energy potential of that location is shown in kWh/m2 or mJ/m2. If application can also acquire the location using GPS. The solar potential is calculated using data processed from Indian satellites, including the Kalpana-1, the Insat-3D and the Insat-3DR.

The information of the solar energy potential is accompanied by other useful information for setting up solar panels. An internet connection is needed to make the necessary calculations. There are visualisations and tables included for the duration of the days over the course of a year. If there are obstruction to sunlight because of terrain, that is calculated as well, using a digital elevation model. There is a suggestion for the optimum angle to set up the solar panels as well.

A report for any given location can be exported and shared as a .pdf file. The data can be viewed in three ways, as a table, as a graph, and as a map. In the map view, the direct satellite imagery is overlaid on the map along with the calculations of solar potential. The application is available on the web and for the Android platform . The Android application is a small file, less than 2 MB in size, but we were not able to get it to work. The application is not yet available on the Play Store or any other store. The solar calculator app provides similar functionality to Google’s  Project Sunroof .