Spotting Solar Panel Growth from Above
Finding renewable energy sources to celebrate Earth Day 2025
Today we celebrate Earth Day and all the goodness that comes from trying to make the world we live in a little brighter, a little cleaner, a bit more sustainable to exist in. And the focus for 2025? Renewable energy sources and clean electricity. What sprang to mind for us is something that catches our eye quite routinely in our imagery: solar panels. We can easily spot them with the naked eye but we also have AI algorithms designed to detect them on properties.
Solar panels are a clean and renewable energy source that many countries have provided tax incentives for to help encourage the proliferation of solar within many areas, most notably on properties. We decided to do a little digging in the 40+ countries we collect imagery in and find out where some of the most concentrated areas of solar panels on properties might be as a way to pay tribute to Earth Day 2025.
Harnessing the Power of the Sun for Properties
Many countries have gone all in on supporting solar, and what we discovered is some of the biggest pockets can be found in Australia, Germany, Japan, and the U.S., to name just a few. We did a little more digging to find the states or cities in these countries that seemed to have a heavily concentrated area of solar panels installed on properties. We pulled a few images to showcase these energy-conscious communities and then used our AI Elements information in Scripps Ranch, California, to break down just how many properties actually had rooftop solar.
Scripps Ranch, California
California has the most solar panels installed on properties compared to any other state in the U.S. with its abundant sunshine. It’s especially more prevalent the closer you are to the coast, such as in the case of Scripps Ranch which is in San Diego County. We used our AI data to extract information on the 5,741 properties in Scripps Ranch and found out that 2,882 were identified as properties with rooftop solar present. That’s just over 50% of the Scripps Ranch properties with solar! An incredible concentration of panels within this bedroom community.
Additional Solar Powerhouses
Beyond California, we discovered that Freiburg, Germany, is known as “Europe’s Solar City” and has the most solar panels among German cities. The Vauban district is particularly known for its high proportion of solar-powered properties.
Tokyo is the city in Japan that currently leads installation of solar on properties while in Australia, we found it was in Bundaberg, Queensland. We grabbed a few images from each of these cities to show you some of the neighborhoods and properties with rooftops full of panels helping to harness the power of the sun.
See Sustainable Energy with Imagery & Data
These few examples of communities peppered with solar panels on properties are just a small glimpse into what we are able to identify with our imagery and data. But with our coverage in 40+ countries and the growing interest in areas large and small to commit to more renewable energy sources, like solar panels, anyone with access to our imagery and data could find thousands upon thousands more properties with solar installed. Or ready for installation!
Either way, it’s clear that having an unobstructed view of the ground helps us see that many are working towards a future of clean energy. High-resolution imagery and accurate property analytics can help support those efforts, too. If you are interested in learning more, please fill out the form below to see how we can help you see the world in greater detail.
