The Solarchecker determines the solar radiation at the current location and calculates the ROI for a solar power system on the available roof area.
Considering investing in a solar energy system and want to know whether your roof is a suitable place for it? Since energy yields depend on factors such as local solar radiation, roof orientation, and roof surface inclination, the SMA Solar Checker, a new application for the iPhone, provides a quick way of finding out how much solar energy your system could provide.
The SMA Solarchecker reads information from a database to determine the solar radiation at a given GPS location. The application uses the phone’s magnetic compass to measure the roof’s orientation and its tilt sensor to determine the pitch. From these values it uses a mathematical model to provide a specific yield estimate in kWh/kWp/a.
Your only remaining task is to enter your available roof area or size of the system you’d like. The combined information is used to predict the potential annual energy yields and CO2 savings generated by your solar energy system.
Yet the SMA Solarchecker can do even more: it also lets you estimate the ROI you can expect from your PV system by simply entering the current revenue per generated kilowatt hour in addition to the system’s financing and maintenance costs. The app then uses that information to calculate net profit and anticipated returns.
Last but not least, the SMA Solarchecker suggests up to ten qualified solar energy specialists close to you – which means a solar energy system on your roof is not just a good idea, but it can also be quickly turned into reality.
By the way: users of the iPhone 3G (without compass feature) may also enter the orientation manually.