Show HN: Helios – what plug-in solar could generate for any address in Britain

·Hacker News··

Plug-in solar panels (no electrician needed) have just become legal in the UK and will go on sale soon. Helios estimates how much electricity a typical installation could generate at a given address and what that's worth against your tariff.It uses UK government LIDAR data to reflect the actual skyline, so it knows whether there's a building or a hill blocking the sun.Caveats: - Outside LIDAR coverage (most of Scotland and Wales) it falls back to a synthetic horizon (less accurate). - Trees and recent developments (post-2022 or so) may not be in the data, and some address placements could be off (geocoding via OSM).Feedback on the shading model especially welcome.

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