ICLEI member city Heidelberg (Germany) has taken the renewable energy movement online with a new information resource on solar roofs. With just one click, citizens can find out if their roof is suitable for solar thermal or photovoltaic panels. The municipality has high hopes for the tool, with aims to bring the number of households using solar energy from 3000 to 7500 by 2015.

“With the new online tool, we want to encourage our citizens to think about investing in a solar thermal or photovoltaic system, and provide them with basic information about their benefits and the potential for CO₂ emission reductions" said Mayor Eckart Würzner. Peter Erb, Director of Stadtwerke Heidelberg Umwelt, one of the project’s partners, added, "We want to bring the energy revolution to the local level and motivate homeowners and developers to work with us on this."

The resource contains information on the surface area needed for solar panels, as well as estimated money savings and CO₂ reductions. It has been developed within the context of Heidelberg’s climate protection campaign that has been running since 1992. The ambitious action plan further seeks to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2015 in comparison to figures from 1987.

For more information, click here [in German].