This web mapping application and the underlying modeled solar radiation data were produced under a project awarded to the University of Northern Iowa GeoInformatics Training, Research, Education, and Extension (GeoTREE) Center in 2015-16. The ISAM tools are sponsored by grant funding through the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Energy Office, and are free and available for public use. A full description of the procedures used to model solar radiation and more information concerning this web application can be found by clicking the Detailed Explanation button below.
The ISAM application is meant to serve only as an investigative screening tool. The ISAM application should not be used for solar installation design or in place of an onsite assessment.
To start, enter an address to zoom to an area of interest. Use the Draw a polygon tool (below layer control in upper right) to draw an area of interest in order to derive statistics on modeled solar radiation in that area. There are five counties (Johnson, Polk, Pottawattamie, Scott, Story) where existing building footprints are included based on publicly available data from Iowa GIS Data Repository. You can turn the buildings layer on/off through Buildings in Layer control (upper right). When zoomed in to a city level, a user can select modeled solar radiation values within the building footprint. The summary graph displays total kilowatt hours (kWh) modeled per month for the building or area of interest drawn. Summary statistics are provided below the graph.
Several relevant information links are provided below. For any technical questions regarding the data or web application, contact John DeGroote.