Satellite Solar Assessment vs. Site Visits: Quoting Rooftops Remotely

For years, quoting a rooftop meant sending someone to the site with a measuring tape and a ladder. Satellite-based assessment changes the economics of the sales cycle — letting you qualify and quote a roof before anyone leaves the office.

What satellite assessment gives you

• Roof measurements and usable area from current aerial imagery.
• A real panel-layout that places modules on the actual roof planes.
• Annual sun-hours and a per-panel output estimate, including shading.
• A system recommendation sized to the customer’s usage.

Where a site visit still matters

Remote assessment is for qualifying and quoting — not for replacing the final survey. Structural condition, roof material, wiring runs, shading from new obstructions, and exact mounting details still need eyes on site before installation. The win is that you only spend a truck-roll on deals that are already qualified and priced.

How it shortens the sales cycle

When you can assess and quote in the first conversation, you respond while the customer is still interested. You stop driving to sites that were never going to convert, and your closers spend their time on proposals, not measurements.

The accuracy question

Good remote assessment is cross-validated. SolarIQ combines Google’s Solar API with PVGIS, NASA POWER and NREL PVWatts, so the production estimate isn’t resting on a single model. The result is a quote you can stand behind before the final survey confirms it.