Burgas to give citizens digital tools to install their own solar roofs

The city will develop an open platform that will calculate every building's potential solar energy output as well as the cost of installation

Yesterday, authorities in Burgas, Bulgaria, announced a set of renewable energy measures during a forum with key stakeholders in the city. The forum included local business representatives and non-governmental organisations, as well as owners of multifamily homes, who local authorities identify as the main driver for expanding Burgas’ renewable energy production.

Furthermore, city officials also presented its SOLAR CITY project, which aims to blanket residential buildings with photovoltaic (PV) systems. The first stage which is already complete involved mapping the roofs in the city’s Meden Rudnik district and evaluating each roof’s potential solar energy generation capacity.  

The forum also aimed at presenting key actors in the urban ecosystem with the new mechanisms for financing renewable energy projects via the Bulgarian National Recovery and Resilience Plan. At the same time, the city announced the opening of an energy office, which should act as an information hub for both citizens and companies for funding schemes on energy efficiency projects.

Burgas - SOLAR CITY

According to a recent report by Bulgarian National Radio, Ivaylo Trendafilov, an expert at the Burgas municipality, explained that the Solar City project is aimed at citizens who want to install PV systems on their roofs.

Trendafilov said that authorities are working on creating a comprehensive map of the city, which will be publicly available via a digital platform. The map will allow citizens to, as he puts it, find their own buildings and see the potential energy yield of a PV system.

He continued by pointing out that not all roofs are created equal as the east-west, north-south orientation can cause considerable disparities. At the same time, the platform would also be able to calculate how many photovoltaic panels can be installed and how much that would cost, in addition to showing the saved carbon emissions.

Mapping out the city in this way would also help authorities reach a few sustainability goals. This will be able to provide them with the exact size of green spaces and all tree species in the city. Trendafilov said that after the project is complete, authorities will know the location of species and their sizes.

Using the data, the officials will then be able to determine the green space to build space ratio and access how green the city actually is. This would, in turn, help to inform them about the scope and goals of green initiatives in the future.