The rooftops of Canberra's CBD could yield power for up to 13,000 homes if businesses installed solar panels, a new study has claimed.

Research by the the Australian Photovoltaic Institute says at least a third of the roof space in the city's centre could house solar panels, generating big savings on power bills and on greenhouse gas emissions.

A mock-up of the Australian War Memorial covered in solar panels.

The institute has produced a map of Civic showing the potential for rooftop solar, and hopes to soon chart the rest of the ACT and Australia to encourage more people to install panels on their homes and businesses.

"The CBD at the moment has about 1.2 megawatts of solar installed and we've found there's a minimum capacity for 46 megawatts of solar on the rooftops of Canberra," Australian Photovoltaic Institute chair Dr Renate Egan said.