Inspiration
We are inspired by the numerous natural disasters we have interacted with as a people in a coastal city during changing climatic environments. We have on numerous occasions had to deal with hurricanes and power outages due to climate change. Additionally, the way the power grid works where we are, the grid was able to go out for numerous days during a snowstorm, so we found it really cool how solar panels can store energy in batteries to be far more favorable than fossil fuels.
What it does
Provide explanation as to why solar energy is beneficial for the environment and for the individual. Provide the user with an explanation as to why or why not their house is viable for using solar energy and give the amount of time it would take to pay off solar panel investment.
How we built it
Starting from the top, we built a web application using HTML and CSS as well as the bootstrap library. We used JavaScript for front end interactions with the Google Autocomplete Place API. For the backend, we used Flask where we integrated with the Google Sunroof API. In the Flask App, we utilised Jinja to be able to provide backend information to the front end.
Challenges we ran into
We ran into a lot of problems in how to integrate with APIs. They all had their own specific formatting and way of sending requests, so we had to figure all of that out. Probably the biggest challenge was when we had to learn a new language, JavaScript just so the frontend would work.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are incredibly proud of the way we are able to integrate so well with APIs. We used both the Google Autocomplete Place API as well as their Project Sunroof API. It feels super impressive to be able to autocomplete a place as you type into our form.
What we learned
The biggest thing we learned is how to properly integrate with the web. We had to learn JavaScript for front end, Flask for back end, and how to communicate with APIs, all in a span of a couple of hours.
What's next for Solar Energy Viability
We would like to add consideration for other factors that go into the viability of solar energy. There are special incentives in certain states and countries so using country data to find solar incentives could lead to even more accurate data.
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