NY Times: Mapping (the) Sun’s Potential to Power New York (City)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/science/earth/16solar.html?_r=1&ref=earth

Mapping Sun’s Potential to Power New York

By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: June 16, 2011

Two-thirds of New York City’s rooftops are suitable for solar panels and could jointly generate enough energy to meet half the city’s demand for electricity at peak periods, according to a new, highly detailed interactive map to be made public on Thursday.

http://nycsolarmap.com/">The map, which shows the solar potential of each of the city’s one-million-plus buildings, is a result of a series of flights over the city by an airplane equipped with a laser system known as Lidar, for light detection and ranging.

Swooping over the five boroughs last year, the plane collected precise information about the shape, angle and size of the city’s rooftops and the shading provided from trees and structures around them.

The map is at the Web site of the City University of New York. City officials said the information should advance efforts to increase the city’s reliance on http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/solar_energy/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier">solar power as part of its energy mix, reducing the metropolis’s greenhouse gas emissions.

…