New Delhi: With the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) establishing a firm foothold as a front-runner in the competitive space race, it has also made sure that other spheres that require attention don't remain forgotten.


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Setting benchmarks with every initiative, ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC) has developed a 'Solar Calculator' android app for the computation of solar energy potential.


The app has been developed at the behest of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India and is a very useful tool for installation of PV solar panels for tapping solar energy.


ISRO's website states that computation of solar energy potential is essential to select the locations for solar photovoltaic (PV) thermal power plants. The use of remote sensing observations from geostationary satellite sensors is ideal to capture space-time variability of surface insolation.


The app, as per ISRO, provides monthly/yearly solar potential (in kWh/m2) and minimum/maximum temperature at any location. It also displays the location on the satellite image and provides azimuth / elevation angles as well as day length over different time periods in a year.


Major features of the app include:


  • The App provides solar energy potential (in kWh/m2) at any given location
  • The required location can be keyed in or can be obtained through GPS
  • It gives monthly and yearly solar potential processed using Indian Geostationary Satellite data (Kalpana-1, INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR). It also offers monthly minimum and maximum temperature to calculate realistic solar potential
  • Location is displayed on image with satellite data in the background
  • It also provides azimuth and elevation angles, and day length over different time periods in a year.
  • Obstruction of sunlight due to terrain is also calculated using Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
  • It also suggests optimum tilt angle for solar PV installation
  • This App needs internet connection to calculate the results
  • Complete report can be saved as a PDF file