Solar Farm Suitability Analysis | GEOTalks 2025 User Conference

Gus Cooke demonstrates how Solar Analysis in Global Mapper Pro enables users to find ideal locations for agricultural, energy infrastructure, and construction projects.

In this session, learn how to leverage the Solar Analysis tool, along with other terrain analysis tools, to assess site requirements and determine the prospects of candidate locations.

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Timestamps:
[00:00] - Intro
[00:43] - Suitability analysis for solar farms
[01:46] - Requirements for the solar farm site
[02:46] - Overview: Identify suitable sites with tools in Global Mapper
[04:16] - Overview: Evaluate candidate solar farm locations
[05:58] - How to load data with built-in & custom data sources
[07:05] - Looking at the land parcels in Global Mapper
[07:21] - Extract areas of specific slope range(s) with the Vectorize Raster tool
[09:35] - Vector outputs from the vectorize raster tool
[09:45] - Perform spatial operations on the parcels & south south-facing slope
[10:35] - Results: South-facing parcels layer
[10:58] - Search vector data tool to refine our list of features
[12:01] - Refined results: South-facing parcels 10+ acres layer
[12:13] - Vector analysis: Are the results within a .2 mile boundary from power lines?
[13:18] - Powerlines buffer results
[13:45] - Evaluate candidate solar farm locations with solar analysis tools
[14:06] - Obtain source data and create a grid from 3DEP lidar data
[15:00] - Solar Shadow Calculations tool for solar analysis
[16:33] - Solar shadow calculation results & repeating process to include change over time
[17:22] - Calculating the average of the results year over year
[18:02] - Visualize parcel vector features based on shadow percentage
[19:12] - Results of the solar shadow analysis
[19:36] - Q&A: Are built-in maps free for commercial use? | Online data sources in Global Mapper
[20:32] - Q&A: How do I set up shadow calculations?
[21:14] - Q&A: Have you attempted to script this solar analysis workflow?
[22:14] - Q&A: Is there training available for custom raster calculation formulas?
[23:04] - Q&A: Why do shadow percent grids show meters as the unit of measure in the scale bar?
[24:18] - Wrap up