A solar panel placement tool that finds optimal locations within a given radius.
| Phoenix, AZ (High Solar) | Denver, CO (Mountain Terrain) |
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npm install
npm run devOpen http://localhost:5173 in your browser.
- React 19
- TypeScript
- Vite
- Tailwind CSS v4
- Leaflet / react-leaflet
- Zustand
Solarized calculates daily solar energy potential (kWh/m²/day) for hundreds of candidate locations, then ranks them by output. It combines real-world irradiance data, terrain elevation analysis, and shading penalties to find optimal sites.
Irradiance values are fetched from NASA's Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) API:
API Endpoint:
https://power.larc.nasa.gov/api/temporal/climatology/point
Parameter: ALLSKY_SFC_SW_DWN — All-Sky Surface Shortwave Downward Irradiance
This provides monthly climatological averages of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, accounting for:
- Atmospheric absorption
- Cloud cover patterns
- Seasonal variations
The monthly values are averaged to produce a representative daily irradiance in kWh/m²/day. If the API is unavailable, a fallback value of 5.0 kWh/m²/day (approximate global average) is used.
Terrain elevation is fetched from the Open-Meteo Elevation API:
API Endpoint:
https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/elevation
Elevations are retrieved in batch for all candidate grid points, enabling efficient terrain analysis. The API returns elevation in meters above sea level.
Candidate locations are distributed across the search radius using:
Latitude conversion: 1° ≈ 111 km
Longitude conversion: 1° ≈ 111 × cos(latitude) km
Points are sampled uniformly within a circular area using:
r = radius × √(random)
θ = 2π × random
Terrain shading is estimated by analyzing elevation differences between neighboring points:
Obstruction Angle:
θ = atan2(elevation_diff, distance)
where distance is calculated using the Haversine formula.
Penalty per neighbor:
penalty = min(0.1, θ / (π/4) × 0.1)
Total shading penalty: Capped at 30% maximum reduction.
Each location receives a score combining irradiance and shading:
score = irradiance × (1 - shading_penalty)
Results are ranked by score and filtered to ensure minimum spacing (0.3 km) between recommended sites. The top 5 locations are returned with their coordinates and estimated kWh/m²/day output.
- Kasten, F. and Young, A.T. (1989). Revised optical air mass tables and approximation formula.
- Duffie, J.A. and Beckman, W.A. (2013). Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes.