Hannover

Hannover Publishes an Online Solar Atlas

Citizens of Hannover pondering the idea of solar panels on their house have now a powerful ally. At a click they can check whether their roof is suitable for a solar plant. Just in time for the UN climate conference in Durban on November 28, the city of Hannover has published its new solar atlas on www.solaratlas-hannover.de, which helps to judge the suitability of a house for solar energy production.

Graphic Presentation of Solar Suitability

	Marktkirche

The solar atlas offers detailed information about suitable surface areas to interested house owners and potential investors. It contains a graphic presentation of all rooftops in Hannover and their "solar suitability": highly suitable roof surfaces are represented in red, suitable surfaces in orange and partly suitable surfaces in yellow. Unsuitable surfaces are marked in grey. Owners who do not wish any information to be published in the solar atlas may object.

Ambitious Climate Campaign

With the solar atlas and a pertaining solar campaign the city of Hannover intends to boost the share of renewable energies and contribute to climate protection. Until 2020, it plans to mount 1 Mio. square meters of solar panels, producing 100.000 megawatt hours of sustainable energy every year. This equals today's demand of 70.000 people and corresponds to saving 77.000 tons of CO2.
Hannover disposes of about 32 Mio. square meters of rooftop surfaces, on 7 Mio. of which solar plants could be erected in the long run. The programme is very ambitious: the 1 Mio. square meters means 16 times today's surface of solar panels. Hence, the solar atlas is an important instrument for reaching this objective.

Free Energy Consulting by the City of Hannover

	Solar plant

Those considering a solar plant can get free consulting by the Hannover Climate Protection Agency, have their building evaluated by a neutral energy consultant and obtain an estimation of the rentability of a plant. The city is interested, too, in the large roof surfaces of industry and trade. It is currently setting up a consultancy service for this group, which it will offer to companies from 2012 onwards.
Furthermore, the city will put owners of especially "promising" roofs who are not interested in investing themselves in contact with potential investors looking for roofs to rent. Thanks to the legally secured compensation for sustainable energy, solar plants offer financial benefits – both for investors and for owners renting their roofs. What's more, the solar trade and local Hannover business thrive thanks to new orders. In the end, the campaign not only helps to protect the climate but supports regional business, too.

Links

For more information (in English) please visit:
www.hannover.de/klimaschutzallianz/english/index.html