(July 18, 2012  El Segundo, CA)  CyberCity 3D, Inc™, a leader in 3D GIS modeling for the built environment, announces the initial adoption of its online Solar Resource Maps™ for three city partners: Charlotte, NC; Chula Vista, CA and Philadelphia, PA. These solar resource distribution maps, powered by Esri Community Maps™, display highly detailed solar roof resource features on a user-friendly maps “platform” served via the cloud.

Solar maps created from CyberCity 3D buildings feature accurate measurements from each roof section or “polygon” along with the orientation “azimuth” and an easy-to-understand solar potential or “score”. Households and businesses with rooftop solar are becoming their own increasingly self-sufficient micro-utilities. This GIS solar resource solution moves the nation another step toward smart, renewable energy.  

The introduction of CyberCity 3D Solar Resource Maps follows Esri’s recent announcement of its ambitious cloud offering to create data-driven maps and map services for government and enterprise users.

“Easy to understand solar information fulfills a need for all city sustainability plans. Renewable energy in the form of solar rooftops, along with increasing demand for a greater understanding of the geospatial environment, are dominant trends today,” stated Kevin DeVito, CEO of CyberCity 3D, Inc.

CyberCity 3D rooftops are measured precisely from high resolution, stereo aerial images as opposed to satellite ortho or oblique images that tend to cause distortions in their measurement results. CyberCity 3D high-resolution data (with up to 6 inch accuracy) provides the foundation for incorporating variables such as solar panel output and ever-changing financial incentives. In addition, the data is available as a personal geo-database file, so shading modules can also be incorporated.

Jim Querry, GIS Director for the City of Philadelphia, indicated that his GIS team was able to quickly analyze over 7,500 buildings in a 7 sq. km. area and ultimately identify over 17,000 roof structures (32%) that exhibit excellent solar potential.  "This is remarkable.  Being able to perform this level of analysis this quickly is only possible because of the high level of roof articulation and accuracy in the CyberCity 3D product.  This will certainly open all kinds of possibilities for assessing future solar potential across the City."  

Chula Vista GIS Manager Bob Blackwater’s program was implemented as an offshoot of an earlier 3D building planning project. “We were able to get all roof measurements on the western section of our city into a useful, personal geo-database format and publish our solar map in literally two days-- to the delight of our sustainability stakeholders,” Blackwater shared.

The City of Charlotte used the solar resource information in a Green Tour application developed for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The solar data is part of Charlotte's new GIS Services Platform that extends the breadth of GIS with easy capabilities to create maps and apps. Corporate Technology Program Manager Twyla McDermott said, "Our solar resource map service for uptown Charlotte is just the beginning of the use of 3D data as we model the natural and built environments to promote sustainability."

By utilizing CyberCity 3D building information, cities will now be able to provide accurate roof measurement data to solar installers, sales organizations and individual structure owners seeking to explore the economics of solar energy. The source data can be utilized for rapid proposal development and to pre-qualify properties for deployment.

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