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Students Chen-Yuan Hsieh, Tzu-Ting Lin, and Yu-Chen Yeh of the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Information at Feng Chia University won first place in the university category of the 8th National Spatial Data GIS Competition on July 1 with their research project on an urban solar photovoltaic potential map. Their award-winning project has since attracted the attention of the National Land Surveying and Mapping Center, Ministry of the Interior and Academia Sinica. Through collaboration among academia, government, and industry, the student research has been expanded into a public service platform known as the 3D Building Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential Inquiry Service, which is available free of charge to the public.
The system currently provides coverage for Taichung City and is expected to expand to all six special municipalities in Taiwan by the end of August 2026.
Associate Professor Yi-Hsiang Hsu (left), of the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Information at Feng Chia University, guided students Chen-Yuan Hsieh, Tzu-Ting Lin, and Yu-Chen Yeh to win first place in the university category of the 8th National Spatial Data GIS Competition. The award was presented by Chia-Cheng Lin, Director-General of the Department of Land Administration, Ministry of the Interior (second from left).
With the implementation of the Standards for Installing Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation Equipment on Buildings, newly constructed, expanded, or renovated buildings with a floor area of 1,000 square meters or more are generally required to install one kilowatt (kW) of solar photovoltaic capacity for every 20 square meters of building area. To help the public, construction professionals, and the solar energy industry assess the suitability of individual buildings for solar installations, the National Land Surveying and Mapping Center under the Ministry of the Interior invited the award-winning student team to expand its research. System development and application transformation were carried out jointly by the Center for GIS, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Information at Feng Chia University, and GeoKnowledge Technology Corp..
The 3D Building Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential Inquiry Service integrates multidimensional spatial data from the Ministry of the Interior, terrain information, simulations of shadowing effects from surrounding buildings, and current land-use data. The system also incorporates practical parameters such as solar panel conversion efficiency, Performance Ratio (PR), rooftop availability factors, and government-announced feed-in tariff rates. These inputs are used to estimate the effective installation area, potential system capacity, electricity generation potential, and projected financial returns for individual buildings.
Academia Sinica, Feng Chia University, and the Ministry of the Interior have jointly launched the 3D Building Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential Inquiry Service, enabling users to check the solar installation conditions and power generation potential of individual buildings simply by entering an address.
According to Hsuan-Ming Liao, Associate Research Specialist at Academia Sinica and a key contributor to the collaboration, users can access the Academia Sinica 3D Spatiotemporal Information Integration Platform, select the “Building Solar Potential” function, and enter a building address. The system will automatically locate the building and display relevant information through a 3D building model. Users can directly view the estimated solar panel installation area and projected economic benefits, while the overlay function provides an intuitive visualization of solar power generation potential across different rooftop locations.
Associate Professor Yi-Hsiang Hsu of the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Information at Feng Chia University noted that the project originated from an undergraduate student research project. After being validated through a competition organized by the Taiwan Geographic Information Society, the concept was further developed through collaboration among government agencies, academic institutions, and industry partners into a digital public service accessible to everyone. The achievement demonstrates how student innovations can address national policy priorities and societal needs while highlighting the University’s interdisciplinary capabilities in spatial information and urban planning.
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