{"id":775459,"date":"2026-10-21T06:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T13:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&#038;p=775459"},"modified":"2026-10-21T10:55:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T17:55:43","slug":"solar-rooftops","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/solar-rooftops","title":{"rendered":"Energy Needs and Empty Rooftops: Rethinking Business Power Potential"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[161912,160952,489232,163392],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-775459","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-energy","tag-infrastructure","tag-operations-management","tag-solar","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"As companies toss the couch cushions in search of cost savings and revenue opportunities, GIS teams could explore solar potential.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Recent news out of the energy industry could play a small role in addressing a big challenge: how and where businesses get their power.\r\n\r\nA company in Florida and another in California have created <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/2026\/04\/manufacturers-develop-non-penetrative-alternatives-to-ballasts-for-rooftop-solar\/\">new methods for installing solar panels on rooftops<\/a>, avoiding the weight and hazards of some traditional methods."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"<strong>Snapshot:<\/strong> Companies are sitting on\u2014or under\u2014vast swaths of solar potential. What happens when they start looking up?","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"That and other developments could change the energy potential of commercial and industrial buildings, many of which have prairie-flat roofs.\r\n\r\nLast year, two solar companies announced they would install 630 megawatts of solar power on the rooftops of more than 500 commercial and industrial buildings. It would be the largest rooftop solar installation in the US when finished, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/america-needs-more-power-its-warehouse-rooftops-could-provide-the-solution-58328d7c?mod=trending_now_news_5\">the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>.\r\n\r\nWith electricity demand expected to grow 39 percent by 2035<sup>1<\/sup>, executives are exploring all options to power their operations. But achieving solar success depends as much on geography as it does on breakthroughs in rooftop technology.\r\n<h3><strong>Is Solar Potential Taking Up Available Space? <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nWhile land for ground-based solar projects can be hard to come by, commercial rooftops are plentiful and often undeveloped.\r\n\r\nSolar installations can provide revenue or reduce costs, since owners can rent space to a solar developer who sells the power and shares the proceeds, or own the system and enjoy lower electricity costs. A plywood factory in India\u2019s Uttar Pradesh region recently commissioned a rooftop solar project expected to save the company more than $100,000 annually in electricity spend.<sup>2<\/sup>\r\n\r\nEnvironment America, an environmental research and advocacy organization, estimates that the more than 450,000 warehouses in the US <a href=\"https:\/\/environmentamerica.org\/resources\/solar-on-warehouses\/\">could power over 19 million average American homes<\/a> when topped with solar panels.\r\n\r\nBut not all roofs, locations, or geographic circumstances are the same. Commercial building owners and energy developers interested in the solar potential of their structures can take lessons from those who have installed solar above parking spots, on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/transforming-highway-row-solar-development\">interstate rights-of-way<\/a>, and anywhere else the sun may shine.\r\n\r\nThe effort often begins with a map.\r\n<h3><strong>Chasing the Sun with Spatial Analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIf some companies are looking up for new electricity-generation options, they may want to look well above their rooftops for guidance on whether solar makes sense.\r\n\r\nSatellites snap frequent, high-resolution images of the earth, creating a record of conditions around the world. Technology called a geographic information system (GIS) ingests such data and uses AI models to identify buildings, parking lots, existing solar panels, and other real-world objects."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"<strong>Related Reads:<\/strong>\r\n\r\nA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/a-gis-team-embraces-automation-to-speed-up-site-selection\">novel approach<\/a> to solar gains ground","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"For one consultant working on a solar parking lot project, these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/deep-learning-model-unlocks-potential-of-solar-energy-development\">pretrained models saved 20 hours per week<\/a> that would have been spent on manual classification.\r\n\r\nGIS-based analysis can help business executives understand their options. A company that operates a dozen distribution centers, for instance, might want a quick read on solar potential. GIS analysts can open the company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/nexttech-operational-basemap\">operational basemap<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ai-make-me-a-map\">ask an AI chatbot<\/a> to show how many cloud cover days each site receives per year, revealing the locations with significant solar potential.\r\n\r\nFor deeper assessments, analysts can leverage GIS to precisely calculate the size of roofs, use a solar radiation modeling tool to test how much sun a site receives, and review local incentives, regulations, and proximity to transmission lines.\r\n\r\n<strong>Calculating the Return on Investment<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSome innovative cities have taken the initiative to analyze solar potential. One Croatian municipality built <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/nexttech-solar-assessments\">a solar assessment app<\/a> allowing anyone to click on a building, discover the monthly electricity costs, and predict how large a solar system would be needed to cover those costs. The app makes investment calculations and predicts costs\u2014even estimating the total profit a system will generate by the end of its life cycle.\r\n\r\nAs organizations search for new ways to satisfy rising electricity demand, commercial rooftops are emerging as sites where unclaimed space can give way to revenue-generating or cost-cutting energy.\r\n\r\nFinding the rooftops that make the most financial and environmental sense for solar requires an understanding of location-specific conditions. With modern technology, that potential is getting easier to spot on a map.\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<p>\r\n\r\nCitations:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>\u201cElectricity demand growth: How will the grid keep pace?\u201d ICF<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cKanpur Plywood Factory Hopes to Save Big on Power Bills with Rooftop Solar,\u201d September 30, 2026, Mercom<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>"}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Solar Potential of Business Locations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Location analysts who excel at organizing business data may soon be tasked with assessing solar potential across real estate portfolios.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/solar-rooftops\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Energy Needs and Empty Rooftops: Rethinking Business Power Potential\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Location analysts who excel at organizing business data may soon be tasked with assessing solar potential across real estate portfolios.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/solar-rooftops\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-21T17:55:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/looking-up-for-new-business-energy-potential-card-826x465-1.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" 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