Google is not one to let its innovative projects go by quietly. In fact, most of their what seen to be their strangest ideas like Project Loon or Google Glass receive wide attention and generate a number of headlines. However, these are only some of the more well-known projects. As well as all their big hitting projects, Google, or more specifically, Googlers are working on number of smaller project. A lot of these projects are their own personal ideas or developments and are often referred to as a Googlers “20% projects”.
what this means is that a Googler can work on a project that might fall outside of their immediate remit or job description, 20% of their time. More simply, one day a week. A number of these projects were recently brought to the public’s attention in a video made by other Googlers, Nat & Jo and today, one of the projects seems to be gaining much more attention and moving on to the next stage of its evolution with a more public rollout.
The project is Project Sunroof and in its simplest terms, is designed to allow homeowners to know how much direct sunlight their property receives. More specifically, how much solar energy their property might be able to generate. As a result, the tool can be used to provide those thinking about moving to solar energy, more information on whether it would be worthwhile for their specific property. The tool makes use of the already known data that Google has on individual property’s solar exposure and uses Maps to display the information. At present, the project is only usable by those who live in either Boston, San Francisco or Fresno. Although, Google are noting that it will become available across the country at some point in the the future and possibly even worldwide. Sunroof, not only provides you with the basic solar amounts though and instead, can offer direct information on how much you might save by switching to solar and even putting you in touch with nearby companies who will be able to fit the panels for you. Therefore, it is essentially a fully functional one-stop solution for those thinking of making the switch. Those interested in knowing more can head over to the Project Sunroof website or check out the video below.