Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) serves as a pilot project user and customer of the Solar API. TEPCO has utilised the API to create “Suncle,” an online rooftop solar energy simulation tool. Homeowners can input their addresses into Suncle, enabling them to visualise their residences on a map and customise solar installation parameters, including cost estimates, local subsidies, savings projections, and environmental impact assessments. This information, now easily accessible within seconds, eliminates the need for on-site installer visits, simplifying the decision-making process for potential solar adopters.
Masami Jenkins, Director, Environment & Social Business Design Lab, TEPCO says “By inputting an address, homeowners can locate their residence on the map, and adjust their electricity bill and solar installation size as they wish. They can find out installation costs, local subsidies available, cost savings, break even point, and how much impact their solar installation could have on reducing CO2, all in a few seconds. To get these figures without Suncle, they would need to have installers visit their house.”
