Solaira Simulated demo output
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Type an address to see how much sunlight a pole there is estimated to capture.

Every dot on the map is a pole on New York City's public pole reservation list. You can also click any dot or street.

Estimated solar capture, past 12 months

kWh/m²

Confidence band (simulated): to kWh/m²

W/m²

Confidence band (simulated): to W/m²

Whole day today
kWh/m² ( to )
Cloud cover right now

Poles needed to run a -bike station

poles

In the darkest month () it takes .

Share of a bodega's electricity use cut by

%

kWh a year, or a year ( a month)

Confidence band (simulated): to a year

One pole covers about %. Covering all of it takes about .

Solar panels on each pole

Most Citi Bike stations do not charge bikes today, because staff swap the batteries. This shows what a station that charged its e-bikes on site would need. With no battery on the pole, plan for the darkest-month number.

Assumes the poles' output can be credited to the bodega's meter, for example through community solar. Savings use one flat price, so real bills with demand charges and fixed fees will differ. The starting price is the New York statewide commercial average from the EIA (February 2026); NYC is likely higher.

How these numbers are worked out

Electricity per pole = yearly sunlight x panel area x panel efficiency x system efficiency. Poles are rounded up to whole poles.

    All capture figures and confidence bands are simulated for this demo.

    Poles: NYC public pole reservation data. Sunlight: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Map: OpenStreetMap contributors, CARTO. Street View: Google.

    Google Maps
    Street View of the pole location

    Street View, aimed at the pole. Imagery from Google.