The OpenPV Project: Mapping US Solar Installation

There are times in life when you feel lucky. You find a ten dollar bill on the sidewalk, you get a hole-in-one or it stops raining and sunshine bursts through the clouds at the very moment you step outside for a walk. Now, call us solar nerds if you will, but we’ve felt something akin to that since our resident solar guru Taylen stumbled across the OpenPV Project, an enterprise of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that tracks photovoltaic (PV) installations and market trends across the country using an unprecedentedly easy-to-use mapping tool.

For instance, I now know how many solar installations there are in my neighborhood in Portland. Better yet, I also know the average cost-per-watt of those solar systems, what size (kW) they are and even where they are located. It should be noted for individual users that privacy is a primary concern for the OpenPV Project. Only zip code information is requested for a specific installation and addresses are not used unless they are a matter of public record.

Immediately upon clicking the Explore button on the OpenPV website and launching the program, you’ll find several charts and graphs reflecting PV statistics and trends in the United States, as well as an interactive map that enables users to narrow the search and statistics down to reflect their state, city or neighborhood.

The Broader Significance of Mapping Solar Installations

Yet, as fun as it is to learn about PV installations in my neighborhood, OpenPV has a much broader significance for the solar industry. Brendan Heberton of NREL emphasized that very point to CalFinder Solar: “It is our hope that the OpenPV Project will provide all users with insight and easy exploration of current and past trends of the U.S. PV industry.”

Heberton went on to note that the mapping tool provides something different for each user:

• Interested homeowners can use the data to understand the market in their area.
• PV installers can use the tool for data management and visualization of their installations.
• Policy makers can track and understand the impact of different incentive programs and tax credits from every corner of the market.

“Until now,” noted Heberton, “all analysis and market trends for solar PV in the U.S. have been based off aggregate numbers and estimates provided by various users. The OpenPV Project is unique in that all of our data comes from specific installs.” The site was originally planned simply as a database of all those installs, but has since “ballooned” into the website you’ll find today, with such tools as the Market Mapper, contributor maps, personal data visualization and uploading and downloading of PV data.

The Beauty of Open Data

What sticks out most about the OpenPV Project is quite simply its openness. “The collaboration between public, private and government to create this database and the shared access to tens of thousands of data records is truly unique,” said Heberton. “Anyone can participate, we cannot stress this enough.” Indeed, not only do the folks at OpenPV Project want everyone to participate, they want to be swamped in data, for the more sources of data they have, the more credible the data becomes. “By receiving data on the same install several times, we have a greater degree of confidence in its legitimacy.”

Getting Involved

OpenPV has had a very positive response so far. While most of the data collected to this point has come through collaboration with various, larger incentive programs, public users and smaller organizations are already getting involved. Understanding the importance of these “smaller” users to the success of the project, OpenPV will be heavily targeting installers and other groups over the next few months.

“We encourage anyone who has information on solar PV (whether it is one system or thousands) to register with the project and upload!”

New Features in the Works

As unique and informative as the OpenPV Project already is, there is still a lot more to come. In the next few days, users will also be able to search the database for a variety of criteria, which should help zero in on specific installations. Eventually, you will have the option to edit data on the fly, comment on installs and flag installs that appear incorrect.

“We hope to continue to provide new ways to explore and visualize data,” said Heberton. “We are planning to release new features, analysis tools and visualizations very frequently over the course of 2010!”

Visit the OpenPV Project and Explore!

Posted on February 9th in Solar Information by Dan.