SolarScout 🌞

Automated Solar Farm Site Assessment Tool

SolarScout is a geospatial analysis application that identifies and evaluates potential solar farm locations using OpenStreetMap data. The tool combines land-use analysis, exclusion zone filtering, and grid infrastructure proximity to generate a list of suitable sites.

Technology Stack

Backend:

• FastAPI: RESTful API with async support
• PostgreSQL + PostGIS: Spatial database for geospatial operations
• osm2pgsql: OpenStreetMap data import pipeline
• asyncpg: Asynchronous database driver

Frontend:

• Vue.js 3 (Composition API): Reactive UI framework
• MapLibre GL JS: High-performance vector map rendering

Infrastructure:

• Docker Compose: Multi-container orchestration
• Geofabrik OSM Extracts: Regional OpenStreetMap data source

Analysis Methodology

1. Data Preparation (prepare_data.sql):

   • Extracts candidate parcels (landuse: farmland, meadow, farm)
   • Generates exclusion zones from residential, natural, and protected areas
   • Indexes power grid infrastructure (transmission lines, cables)
   • Transforms all geometries to EPSG:25832 (UTM Zone 32N)

2. Spatial Analysis (analyze_sites function):

   • Buffers exclusion zones by configurable distance
   • Performs geometric difference to cut out forbidden areas
   • Filters results by minimum area threshold
   • Calculates distance to nearest grid connection
   • Scores and ranks sites based on area and grid proximity

3. Output: GeoJSON FeatureCollection with properties:

   • original_area_ha: Pre-filtering parcel size
   • suitable_area_ha: Post-exclusion usable area
   • grid_distance_m: Distance to nearest power infrastructure