Screen a US solar site in seconds

SolarScope is a site screening tool for US energy projects. Drop a pin or search an address and it runs eleven checks on public data in seconds, then an AI analyst gives a short first read of the numbers. Use it to decide which sites deserve a site visit, a survey or a detailed study, not as one.

What it checks

• Solar resource: average daily sunlight (GHI) and its monthly profile, from NREL
• Transmission line: distance and voltage of the nearest line, from HIFLD
• Substation: nearest mapped substation, from OpenStreetMap
• Flood zone: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (high-risk A and V zones)
• Wetlands: USFWS National Wetlands Inventory
• Land cover: USGS Annual NLCD around the pin (cropland, shrub, forest, developed land)
• Protected land: USGS PAD-US and USFWS critical habitat
• Slope: USGS 3DEP elevation at about 10 m
• Prime farmland: USDA NRCS soil survey (SSURGO)
• Grid queue: projects waiting to connect in the county, from Berkeley Lab's Queued Up
• Utility: the electric utility serving the site (HIFLD, based on EIA-861)

How to read the verdict

The verdict is a count over the checks, for example “No red flags · 2 to look at · 9 clear” or “1 red flag · 1 to look at · 9 clear”. A red flag is a possible deal-breaker, such as a high-risk flood zone or a transmission line far away. “To look at” means worth checking before you go further. Zoning, parcels and hosting capacity are not checked.

Screening for

The same checks are rated for what you plan to build: Ground-mount solar, rooftop or carport solar, battery storage, data center, ev fleet or truck charging hub or land for a solar lease. A flood zone or a long grid connection weighs differently for a data center than for a solar farm, so the verdict follows the choice in the “Screening for” menu.

Who it is for

Solar and storage developers, land teams and brokers, analysts and consultants doing early-stage site selection, and teams looking for data center or EV charging sites with good grid access.

FAQ

Is it free?

You can screen 3 sites here without an account. A free account gives you a 14-day trial with everything included, no credit card; after that it is a paid plan (pricing).

Which areas does it cover?

The United States. Most checks use US federal data, so sites outside the US get only the solar resource.

Is this a feasibility study?

No. It is a first screen from public maps. Confirm grid capacity with the utility, wetlands with a delineation and flood status with a survey before you commit to a site.

What does the AI do?

It reads the loaded numbers for the site and summarises them; it does not invent data. With an account you can ask follow-up questions and compare saved sites.

How SolarScope works · Data sources · Docs · About us