Bitcomp, which merged with Sitowise in 2023, has been developing map products based on artificial intelligence models since 2019. The forest felling monitoring service provided to the Finnish Forest Centre was the first of these, and it helps to further monitor the felling of Finnish forests.

Solar screening data helps to identify potential project areas with objective and up-to-date calculation data.

– In recent years, we have also developed AI products that utilise satellite and spatial data for other sectors, such as companies operating in the field of renewable energy, says Sitowise's Product Business Lead Sanna Härkönen.

Solar screening data helps to identify potential project areas with objective and up-to-date calculation data. Data is collected automatically from several different sources and refined into an understandable form on the map template.

– The Solar data is part of a larger Smart Analytics and Maps product family, which our AI development team is constantly developing according to customer needs, Härkönen emphasizes.

One of the first users of the material is VSB Renewable Energy Finland Oy. The service facilitates the company's spatial planning and screening of suitable areas. According to Satu Lavinen, land use planner at Sitowise, the data will lighten the permit process especially for large project portfolios.

- Potential areas are identified earlier and with less effort, which makes it easier to find suitable locations even for large solar power projects of hundreds of hectares.

Area search is possible with several criteria

It is possible to limit solar data regionally and according to several different criteria. The land use category is the most important. The service highlights open forest areas, fields and peat bogs. Issues restricting the construction of solar parks have also been taken into account.

Solar screening data can be connected to the customer's own GIS system through interfaces.

- We have excluded areas with large elevation variations, roads and buildings, or power and power lines under which construction cannot be carried out, says Olli Nevalainen, GIS Specialist at Sitowise.

Spatial information is enriched with distance parameters. Colour coding indicates the distance to, for example, special transport routes and grid connection points. Clicking on the area also displays feature information, such as the annual amount of solar radiation. – Information on the number of landowners is also essential from the perspective of land lease agreements, Nevalainen adds.

Solar screening data can be connected to the customer's own GIS system through interfaces. In addition, the product is used with Sitowise's browser-based Louhi map interface. Data updates take place automatically approximately once a year.

Investors are interested in responsible operations

Up-to-date information is needed faster and faster as the number of industrial-grade solar farms increases. According to Motiva, the production capacity of solar power plants is increasing from 10 megawatts to 50–100 megawatts, and solar farms of more than 500 megawatts are planned.

Even though many operators are in a hurry to be the first to find suitable areas, sustainability issues cannot be forgotten.

- At the same time, the licensing of solar power areas will be renewed and competition will intensify, says Sitowise's Renewable Energy Account Director Sanna Mäyrä. Some projects are currently licensed with planning needs solutions granted by municipalities and some require an environmental impact assessment (EIA). 

- At the moment, zoning and permits are not progressing equally in different parts of Finland, and when the new planning guidelines of the Ministry of the Environment enter into force in the summer, projects may also require a partial master plan.

Even though many operators are in a hurry to be the first to find suitable areas, sustainability issues cannot be forgotten. The Solar service can be connected to the carbon map and diversity data of the Smart Analytics product family. According to Mäyrä, taking care of biodiversity in the planning area is in line with the Government Programme, which aims to reduce forest felling.

- Building solar farms on wasteland helps preserve carbon sinks and the most diverse areas in terms of nature, which is very important information for responsible investors. Support material can also be used to find compensation targets.

Additional features are constantly being developed for the material together with customers. Additional features can take into account, for example, energy companies' own project portfolios.