Global Rooftop Solar Suitability and Generation Potential Rasters

Raster data files detail the distribution of suitable areas for rooftop solar power generation and potential electricity generation worldwide. The dataset consists of TIF format files totaling 32.8 MB, authored by Wang and published under a CC BY 4.0 license in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of rooftop solar suitability from the global raster layers to identify high-potential regions.
• Estimate potential electricity generation values per pixel to model regional renewable energy capacity.
• Integrate the suitability rasters with urban land use data to assess city-level solar deployment opportunities.
• Use the global coverage to benchmark national or continental rooftop photovoltaic potential against the worldwide distribution.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage provides a worldwide perspective on rooftop solar potential.
• Data is openly licensed under CC BY 4.0, facilitating reuse and redistribution.
• Files are provided in the standard TIF raster format, compatible with common GIS software.
• Recent publication date of March 2026 indicates up-to-date analysis.

Limitations

• The 32.8 MB total size suggests a relatively coarse spatial resolution or limited thematic depth.
• Lack of detailed metadata on data sources, modeling methodology, or validation limits reproducibility.
• Raster format may require GIS expertise for proper analysis and interpretation.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Wang.

Collection Method

Results from analysis of rooftop solar suitability and generation potential; specific methodology unknown.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

Global.