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<div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" size="2" face="Tahoma">Hello all</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">We've been doing some work on estimating the number of solar PV panels that can be fitted on defined roof surfaces, which seems to be what's known as a bin packing problem. Given that we have polygons for the roofs
(thousands of them), does anyone have any knowledge of tools or algorithms which would be capable of integration with eg QGIS or PostGIS which would:</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">- iterate through a batch of polygons</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">- for each, determine the maximum number of fixed-dimension rectangles which could be fitted inside the polygon, working to a set of rules (eg border, orientation, alignement)</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">- ability to create visual representation of the result is nice to have but not essential</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">There's lots of stuff out there on bin packing, but can't find much in the GIS sphere. Any ideas appreciated!</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">many thanks</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">Antony</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="tahoma">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Antony Scott<br>
<b>Senior Associate (GIS)</b></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">: +44 (0)1934 864 844</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">: +44 (0)1934 863 650</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">: +44 (0)7866 455515</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">E-mail address</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">:
<a href="mailto:antony.scott@sustain.co.uk"><span style="COLOR: blue">antony.scott@sustain.co.uk</span></a></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Website</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">:
<a href="http://www.sustain.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="COLOR: blue">http://www.sustain.co.uk</span></a></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
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<br><P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT color=#000000 size=3 face=Arial>Sustain is a leading carbon reduction company. Our clients have saved</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT color=#000000 size=3 face=Arial><FONT color=#99cc33><B>3,489,948</B> </FONT><FONT color=#000000>lifetime tonnes of CO<SUB>2</SUB></FONT> through working with us (January 2011)</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P><FONT size=2>Sustain Ltd. Registered in England No. 3384793 <BR>Barley Wood Stables, Long Lane, Wrington, Bristol BS40 5SA, UK</FONT></P>
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