Project Sunroof is a new online tool created by Google that provides homeowners with custom solar information for their home.

Installing solar panels in a domestic dwelling can be very unconvincing at face value. And who wouldn’t trust the all-knowing Google?

Project Sunroof was born out of Google’s “20 Percent” policy, which encourages employees like Elkin to spend 20 percent of their time on side projects, presumably to make Google more awesome.

Presumably, Vivint Solar will provide Google with some direct access to facts and figures for their local development options, and will benefit from being a suggested choice by the tool itself. He is now working full-time on Project Sunroof from the company’s branch office in Cambridge, Mass. And it calculates how much you’ll save depending on whether you opt to finance the solar array with a loan, by leasing, or by purchase.

The tool works using a combination of data already collected by Google, which is now a subsidiary of parent company Alphabet. The project is expected to begin in a small form and at present will be available only in three cities including Fresno, Boston and San Francisco. The analysis counts hours of usable sunlight per year based on day-to-day neighborhood weather patterns.

Then, it considers local electricity rates and solar incentives to compute an estimate for net savings with a 20-year solar energy lease.

The company claims that the price of solar panels are reducing and with that the use of solar panels will gradually become a much cheaper substitute to traditional power sources in the longer run.

The team found that the accuracy of estimates of a roof’s solar capacity was increased by reducing the computer’s chance of mistakenly including surrounding trees or lawns when calculating the rooftop’s exposure to sunlight.

But for homeowners specifically, the question remains: How can I tell if installing solar panels will be a worthwhile investment for my home?

I think many people around the Monterey Bay have concerns that solar won’t work for them because of fog and shade issues, especially those of us lucky enough to be surrounded by big trees. Such internal software tools have been around for years – Oakland-based Sungevity launched one in 2008 – but Google’s tool is immediately accessible without signing up and allows potential customers to shop around. Google also hopes to expand the project to additional regions.