Media release

From: The University of New South Wales

With support from the Australian Government, the Australian PV Institute (APVI) and UNSW Sydney are proud to launch SunSPOT Version 3 with significant upgrades, more accurate estimates, a new user-friendly interface, and a version that is freely available across Australia without a council subscription.

“Finding out how much you can save with a battery, or what size solar system can fit on your roof, or getting estimates on the best system size for your electricity usage is simpler than ever and completely private,” says Dr Anna Bruce, SunSPOT Project Leader and Associate Professor of Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW.

“SunSPOT V3 has been built by engineers at UNSW’s world leading School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering specifically to help people understand what solar can do for them – not to sell them solar.”

“It’s the only independent tool tailored to your circumstances that’s publicly available in Australia. All other solar calculators seek to capture personal information and generate sales leads.”

“Now, with nationwide delivery and improvements to its usability and accuracy, SunSPOT will be able to help the vast majority of Australians confidently navigate the complex solar market.”

Previous versions of APVI’s flagship tool have only been available in areas where there is spatial mapping LiDAR data available and the local council has taken up a subscription. Now, with the support of the Australian Government, SunSPOT can be used for free, everywhere.

Dr Mike Roberts, SunSPOT Project Leader and Senior Research Associate in the School for Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW says, “Householders no longer need to depend on salespeople to educate them. With this latest version of SunSPOT, everyone can get reliable tailored answers to common questions about solar and batteries.”

In five minutes, SunSPOT users can find out what system size will give them the best return on their investment and get an estimate of the cost and annual savings.

They can also compare the costs and annual savings with different battery sizes, answering the question in everyone’s heads: “Should I get a battery?”

Dr Roberts says, “Around one in three Australian houses already has solar, and with current high electricity prices, many more households and businesses are interested to find out about how they can benefit from solar.”

SunSPOT’s clever mapping tool allows users to drag, drop and arrange groups of panels on their roof to see how many panels will fit and where they can go. Information about electricity use and prices are used to calculate the savings from solar and batteries, tailored to the site.

There are two versions of SunSPOT available: the premium version that involves mapping the area with LiDAR data and is paid for through a subscription by the local council, and the standard version that is available everywhere without the council subscribing.

The premium subscription-based version of SunSPOT identifies the best areas for solar panels with red dots on the rooftops.

Spatial mapping LiDAR data enables it to read the shape, slope and orientation of the rooftop. It can also estimate the amount of shading across the year on every 0.25m2 area on the roof, and the impact this has on bill savings. This is combined with Bureau of Meteorology weather data for the local area.

Users of both versions can add their smart meter data and electricity tariffs for even more accurate estimates if they want to.

For Local Councils:

APVI works with Local Governments to promote SunSPOT to their communities and, where there is LiDAR data available, councils can take up a subscription to the premium version.

Councils across Australia are encouraged to go to https://www.sunspot.org.au/solar-calculator-for-councils to find out more about this best-in-class solar calculator and share it with their communities to help lift solar uptake in their LGAs. Councils can download promotional materials at https://www.sunspot.org.au/solar-calculator-for-councils/#download

Councils can find out the benefits of subscribing to the premium version for their LGA here: https://www.sunspot.org.au/solar-calculator-for-councils/#benefits

Webinars for council staff

Council staff are invited to attend a webinar to learn how SunSPOT and APVI’s solar Installation dashboards can help stimulate and track solar uptake in the local government area.

About the APVI

The APVI is a not- for-profit solar research and analysis organisation committed to sharing information that informs and facilitates the rapid uptake of solar and related technologies in Australia.

For interviews contact:

SunSPOT Project Leaders Dr Anna Bruce 02 9065 9462 a.bruce@unsw.edu.au

Dr Mike Roberts 02 9065 0400 m.roberts@unsw.edu.au

For other enquiries contact:

Alison Potter

Council Liaison and Communications Lead sunspot@apvi.org.au

SunSPOT is proudly supported by the Australian Government and is a project of the Australian PV Institute and UNSW Sydney.