Using LiDAR to Plan Solar Arrays on Rooftops (Extensive Final Project that involved using LiDAR technology to map out 3D rooftops (San Diego Viejas Arena) and calculate solar isolation to determine cost and efficiency of installing solar arrays on the rooftops) Created as a Final Project for a High School JMU Duel enrollment class

1. Solar Site JMU
Project
By Farris Ismati and Mark Leith

2. Solar Radiation Map
kWh

3. Solar Radiation Map with Cloud Coverage
kWh

4. Largest Universities
kWh

5. Map of San Diego State University Campus

6. The dark red areas range from 9.58-12.5 kWh/m2 per day
San Diego State University Insolation Map

7. 3D LIDar representation
of Viejas Arena

8. Profile Graph Title
Profile Graph Subtitle
400350300250200150100500
470
460
450
440
Elevation in Feet Line X
Profile Graph Title
Profile Graph Subtitle
250200150100500
474
472
470
468
466
464
462
Elevation in Feet Line Y
x
y

9. Roof Dimensions
• Roof Area is roughly equal to 8,000 m2
• The roof of the Stadium gets over 12 kWh/m2
• Roof Slope .069 meters(line x) and .09 meters (line y)
• Roof Slope changes from 4-5 degrees on lines x to y
8,000 m2
Top Down Viejas Arena
3D Representation of Viejas Arena
4 – 5 Degree Slope
11.59-12.57 kWh/m2 per Day
2.59 -3.01 kWh/m2 per day
x
y

10. Latitude 32.77
Longitude -117.07
Summer Adjustment
March 30 – September 12
Flat Roof
9.48 Degrees
With Roof Tilt
4.48-5.48 Degrees
Winter Adjustment
September 12 – March 30
Flat Roof
47.87 Degrees
With Roof Tilt
42.87-43.87 Degrees
Azimuth Angle must be 180 Degrees South
PV Panel Tilt

11. Solar Panel
• Model we used: Solar World SW 240 Poly
• Energy: 240 Watts = .24 kWh
• Price: $449.00 per panel
• Dimensions (Inches): Width 65.04, Length 39.41

12. Calculating Solar Array
Each Panel is 1.65 meters long
Each row has ½ a meter of space
Estimated 2,602 maximum panels can fit
on the 8,000 m2 roof. Depending on how
much money the school wants to spend
may reduce the amount of panels.

13. Solar Potential
• Equating to a 500 kWh System after calculating loss
of energy by transferring DC to AC. (An average of
20% energy loss)
• Total cost of the system without incentives
$1,168,298
• Most rebates and incentives can range from 30%-
70% off of the total system
• Average of 5.3 hours of peak sunlight every day
• Produces about 967,250 kWh annually

14. Conclusion
• Basic $.14 per kWh charged by the San Diego Gas
and Electricity company
• $135,415 subtracted from the total energy bill
annually
• Less than 8.7 years to pay back the total cost of the
system: NOT including rebates and incentives

15. Sources
Data
• http://www.grid.unep.ch/
• http://www.gisuser.com/content/category/10/83/41/
• http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/Index.asp
• http://www.energy.ca.gov/2005publications/CEC-500-2005-072/CEC-500-2005-072-D.PDF
• http://www.mapmart.com/Products/DigitalElevationModel.aspx
• http://zebu.uoregon.edu/1998/ph162/l4.html
• http://sdge.com/clean-energy/clean-energy-options/solar-pilot-programs
Sources
• http://www.calfinder.com/bid/solar-energy?SRC=Source108&SRC2=Source109&GID=4-
0&Pub_ID=3082&Landing_Page=bid-solar-energy&Sub_ID=&Click_ID=1272073
• http://www.getsolar.com/solar-calculator/index.php
• http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~guan/courses/176A_Summer06/lab5/lab5.html
• https://www.sandiego.edu/epic/research_reports/documents/060309_ASESPVPotentialP
aperFINAL_000.pdf
• http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgiSDEsktop/9.3/index.cfm?TopicName=Curvature
• http://www.nrel.gov/eis/imby/
• http://solarmap.lacounty.gov/solarDetails.html
• http://www.macslab.com/optsolar.html