Newark rooftops could be used to yield a fifth of city's electricity needs

clipped from www.delawareonline.com Rooftop solar panels could provide Newark with more than a fifth of the city's total electricity, a University of Delaware researcher said Friday. Researchers from UD's Center for the Energy and the Environment used mapping software and a solar energy assessment program to determine how much rooftop space was actually usable for solar panels. They used aerial images to determine which houses would be best for panels, eliminating those with too much shading from trees, chimneys, nearby buildings or other obstructions. Flat-roofed buildings are ideal for solar, Zhou said, and Newark has plenty, with UD's many buildings and the city's industrial sector. South-facing roofs are also best, to catch the sun's rays most often. The team found that Newark has 5.8 million square feet of suitable, available rooftop real estate. Solar panels on that area could generate 77.9 gigawatts per hour of electricity, or 21 percent of the city's power usage in 2006, Zhou said.