https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K281KZsBVvxzfbpK7D6jOl39VltqQrr0/view?usp=drive_link
WeeGrid: Community Solar for Belfast 2036 The Problem Solar panels are expensive. A typical household installation costs £5,000-8,000 upfront - a barrier that keeps renewable energy accessible only to those who can afford it. Meanwhile, entire streets of rooftops sit idle, collectively generating zero clean energy.
What if neighborhoods could pool together?
What We Built WeeGrid is a web platform that helps Belfast communities explore collective solar co-operatives. Enter your postcode, and we:
Map your neighborhood - Using OpenStreetMap data, we identify nearby buildings and calculate rooftop potential Calculate real solar yield - Live PVGIS API data shows actual energy generation for your location Model co-op economics - We simulate collective purchasing, shared battery storage, and loan-backed financing Validate feasibility - Multi-dataset analysis checks weather patterns, tree coverage, and local conditions Tell the story - Convert raw numbers into relatable impact (e.g., "powers 23 electric kettles simultaneously") The result? Households discover they can go solar for minimal upfront cost, achieve payback in 5-6 years, and collectively save thousands annually while slashing carbon emissions.
Tech Stack Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router), React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Recharts Backend: FastAPI (Python), Pydantic validation APIs: postcodes.io (geocoding), PVGIS (solar yield), Overpass (building clusters), Open-Meteo (weather analysis)
What We Learned
Community economics transform accessibility A £300,000 installation split across 150 homes (~£2,000 each) becomes achievable when paired with government green loans. Collective bargaining power + shared infrastructure = democratized solar.
Real data matters We started with fake numbers. Switching to live PVGIS solar yield and actual Belfast weather data made the results trustworthy and compelling.
Storytelling > spreadsheets Users don't connect with "4,200 kWh/year." They connect with "enough to power your home's lighting for 47 years" or "equivalent to 2.1 tonnes of CO₂ saved annually."
Challenges API reliability: Overpass API for building data occasionally timed out. Solution: robust error handling with graceful fallbacks.
Balancing realism with optimism: We model best-case scenarios (government loans, high participation) but flag these as assumptions. The goal is inspiration + transparency.
UI complexity: Showing 4 distinct steps (input → cluster → results → due-diligence) on one seamless page required careful state management and conditional rendering.
The Vision WeeGrid is a proof-of-concept for Belfast 2036, but the model scales to any city. Imagine neighborhoods across the UK using this to kickstart community energy co-ops - turning passive rooftops into collective power sources.
The future is local. The future is renewable. The future is collective.
(We even added a speculative "what if the co-op invested savings in Solana?" toggle - because why not explore every path to community wealth-building, even the moonshot ones.)
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