How solar is your roof?

Green is the hot buzzword and getting hotter all the time. More often than not though we are left wondering what we as individuals can do that will make a big difference in our wallets. This isn’t about solar powered battery chargers or some other doo-hicky that is labelled green. It is about making a difference with your home electricity costs that are always seeming to go up.

The problem is that not everyone can take advantage of solar energy as a way to lessen the grip of the power companies. So how do you find out? Well an engineering company by the name of CH2M Hill has come to the rescue with a mapping service that will tell you what the solar potential of your roof is – if you live in San Francisco that it.

CH2M Hill has launched a website, sf.solarmap.org , to showcase the company’s first mapped city – San Francisco. The site uses Google Earth to map the city and residents can type in their address which allows the site to zoom in on a satellite image of their rooftop. From there it will also display the information about the size and solar potential of the roof, as well as the saving that could be expected from solar energy.

The company plans on adding more cities to its map database.

[hat tip to EcoGeek]