How Much Can You Save With Solar Panels? Just Ask Google

If you're considering solar power but aren't quite sure it's worth the expense, Google wants to point you in the right direction. Tapping its trove of satellite imagery and the latest in artificial intelligence, the company is offering a new online service that will instantly estimate how much you'll save with a roof full of solar panels. On Monday, the company unveiled Project Sunroof, a tool that calculates your home's solar power potential using the same high-resolution aerial photos Google Earth uses to map the planet. After creating a 3-D model of your roof, the service estimates how much sun will hit those solar panels during the year and how much money the panels could save you over the next two decades. "People search Google all the time to learn about solar," says Google's Joel Conkling.