Site Studio: Interactive Solar Site Mapping
Site Studio is SolarScope's advanced interactive mapping tool for solar site design and analysis. It combines satellite imagery, solar irradiance overlays, and utility grid data to give engineers and installers a comprehensive view of any solar development site.
Site Studio is available on Pro and Premium plans. Access it from your Dashboard by clicking Site Studio or navigating directly to the Site Studio tab.
What Site Studio Does
Site Studio provides a map-based workspace where you can:
- Draw solar arrays directly on satellite imagery
- Measure rooftop areas and calculate available panel space
- View irradiance overlays showing solar potential across the map
- Identify shading obstacles including trees, adjacent buildings, and topographic features
- Access utility grid capacity data showing available interconnection capacity by territory
- Export site maps as images or include them in PDF reports
Getting Started with Site Studio
Opening a Site
Navigate to Site Studio from your dashboard. Enter an address or click on the map to center on your target location. The map loads satellite imagery at street level resolution. Use the scroll wheel or pinch gesture to zoom to the rooftop level.
Drawing Arrays
Use the polygon drawing tool (top-left toolbar) to trace the outline of a rooftop section or ground-mount area. Site Studio calculates:
- Area of the drawn polygon (in square feet or square meters)
- Estimated number of panels that fit within the area (based on standard 2m × 1m module dimensions)
- Total estimated system capacity (kW DC)
You can draw multiple arrays on a single site to handle different roof sections, orientations, or ground areas.
Solar Irradiance Overlay
Toggle the Solar Irradiance layer to view a color-coded GHI map overlaid on the satellite imagery. This overlay uses NREL's National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) data to show spatial variation in solar resource, which is especially useful for large ground-mount sites where terrain shading may vary significantly across the site.
Utility Grid Data
The Grid Capacity layer shows utility territory boundaries and available interconnection capacity data sourced from FERC OASIS and utility-provided queue data. This helps developers identify locations where grid interconnection is feasible without expensive upgrades.
Click on any utility territory polygon to see:
- Utility company name
- State
- Estimated available capacity (where data is available)
Exporting from Site Studio
Click Export Map to save the current view as a PNG image. Pro users can include Site Studio maps directly in PDF project reports. The export includes all visible layers, drawn polygons, and measurement annotations.
Tips for Accurate Analysis
- Use at least zoom level 17–18 for accurate rooftop measurements
- Check the satellite imagery date in the map attribution — older imagery may not reflect current site conditions
- Use the measurement tool to verify polygon areas against known building dimensions
- For flat roofs, account for setbacks, HVAC equipment, and fire access pathways (typically reduce usable area by 20–30%)