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SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 9, 2019 — Following the introduction of Instant Design at Google Cloud Next ’19, SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) today launched its Design Studio, a web application that combines Instant Design technology, Google Cloud, and Google Sunroof data to deliver customizable home solar designs in seconds.
Historically, understanding a home’s solar potential required talking to a sales consultant or compromising with one-size-fits-all online calculators. Starting today, SunPower Design Studio gives U.S. homeowners the power to create their own solar system design automatically.
In less than 30 seconds, SunPower Design Studio provides a panel layout based on the home’s unique roof, shading, and energy potential. Homeowners can modify their design based on their energy needs, resulting in more accurate predictions of electricity bill and energy savings.
“With SunPower Design Studio, we’ve created a new solar buying experience,” said Jake Wachman, vice president, digital, SunPower. “We’re making solar accessible by enabling homeowners nationwide to envision solar on their home and understand savings at lightning-fast speeds. With SunPower Design Studio, we’re changing how homeowners go solar.”
SunPower Design Studio Experience
From a mobile phone or computer, homeowners enter their address and estimated monthly electric bill into the SunPower Design Studio web app. The application then presents a customized SunPower Equinox® solar design, including panels, a battery storage system, and energy production estimates.
Homeowners have the freedom to change the number of SunPower® panels on their roof, guided by a color code that identifies which panels will receive the most sun and therefore provide the most energy. As the homeowner adds panels – if anticipating an electric vehicle purchase in the future, for example – or removes them to meet current energy needs, projected energy production and potential electricity bill savings update in real-time. Visit the SunPower blog to see how it works.
SunPower solar experts are available via chat or phone throughout the SunPower Design Studio experience to answer any questions as they arise. When homeowners want to bring their design to life, SunPower will connect them with a local dealer from its nationwide network of certified installers.
New Technology Drives Continuous Solar Design Improvement
SunPower Design Studio is powered by the company’s proprietary Instant Design technology. By combining SunPower’s decades of solar system sales and design experience with data from Google Maps and Google Project Sunroof, Instant Design uses machine learning and high-resolution imagery to design solar power systems for residential roofs in seconds.
After entering an address, SunPower machine learning algorithms draw the home’s roof, detect obstructions such as skylights and vents, and determine solar exposure for every point on the roof. The software automatically places SunPower solar panels according to local construction code.
As with other SunPower-developed software, the company will release Design Studio to select dealers to enable greater marketing reach, improve homeowner understanding of solar, and shorten sales cycles. As the application learns with each new design, SunPower also expects to reduce system design costs compared to manual methods.
For a deeper dive into SunPower Instant Design technology, read SunPower’s guest post on Google Cloud’s blog.
Untapped Solar Potential, Now Accessible to Everyone
While the United States has surpassed two million solar installations according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, only 2 percent of eligible homeowners have installed solar. There are roughly 100 million future solar homeowners in the United States.
“At the current rate, we would need a century to create designs manually for all American homeowners who don’t yet have solar,” Wachman continued. “With SunPower Design Studio, we have the capability to deliver thousands of customized solar roof designs quickly, direct to the homeowner, drastically simplifying the solar experience, and encouraging more consumers to explore solar as a reliable, cost-effective energy option.”
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