All over the world, countries and the people who live in them are looking for ways to tap into renewable energy. Solar power seems like one of the more obvious ways to reduce our environmental impact and maybe even save money, but the process of getting started serves as a deal-breaker for many of us. How much does installation cost, and will it even be worth it?

Since this is 2015, Google is one of the first places we turn to with these questions. Seeing this, Google has announced an initiative that will consolidate this information in one place. It's calling this effort Project Sunroof.

Project Sunroof works with Google Maps to show how much sunlight falls on a roof. Users can then see how much solar power they can generate the amount of money they can expect to save. Google also points them to an installer in their neighborhood.

As you might have guessed already, this service isn't yet ready for everyone. There are three-ish supported regions in the US. Boston, the home of the Project Sunroof team, is one. The San Francisco area, obviously, is another. The third supported area is Fresno, which is apparently home to one of the engineers' mom and ultimately isn't all that far from San Francisco. Like most of you, I don't live in any of these locations.

The team plans on extending Project Sunroof to the entire US, and maybe the world, but there isn't yet a time frame for either. Until then, we'll have to continue putting our questions into the search box.

Source: Project Sunroof