Old imagery, a new roof or trees that are gone
The aerial photo and heights show the home on the date in the top bar of the roof editor. If the roof, the house or the trees have changed since, trace what’s there now, set the pitch by hand and, for removed trees, turn off Shade analysis.
The top bar of the roof editor shows when Google took the photo, for example Imagery Dec 2, 2023 · high quality. Anything that changed after that date isn’t on the photo or in the heights.
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Google heights are uneven on this face — check the pitch and pick it if it looks wrong. | A new roof, an addition or a tree over the roof can confuse the measured pitch. Check it on site and set it by hand — see Roof pitch: measured or set by hand. |
| Google has no roof or shade data for this house. … | Google has no height data to work out the shade at this home. Turn off Shade analysis and calculate again — a standard 3% is taken for shade instead. |
A tree that’s gone
Shade comes from the heights on the image date, so a tree cut down since then still shades the roof in the calculation. If it’s gone, or will be before installation, turn off Shade analysis — see Turn shade analysis on or off. If only some of the shade is gone, leave it on.
A new addition or garage
A part of the house that isn’t on the photo has nothing to trace on, so panels can’t be placed there in Cali-Graf. Design the roof you can see and plan the new part on site.
Panels already on the roof
If the photo shows an old solar system, trace the roof faces under it as usual. Ask the customer which panels stay, and leave that part of the roof empty.
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