Make sure the right house is found
Before you trace the roof, check that the satellite view is centered on the customer’s roof and look at the date of the aerial image. A warning under the address tells you when the location or the image needs a second look.
A calculation on the neighbor’s roof looks perfectly fine — until the installer arrives. Thirty seconds of checking saves that.
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Check the pin is on the right roof | Google placed the address only approximately — on the street or the lot, not the roof. Look at the satellite view: is the customer’s house in the middle? If not, type the address again with the house number and ZIP, or pick it from the list of suggestions. |
| ZIP … not in reference table | Cali-Graf doesn’t have this ZIP code in its own tables, so the weather and shade estimate may fail. Check the ZIP; if it’s right, the home is likely outside the area Cali-Graf covers. |
| Address not found | Check the spelling and include the city and ZIP. |
The pin is one house off
The aerial image in the roof editor covers an area about 70 m (230 ft) across around the pin, so the next-door houses are on it too. If the pin landed on a neighbor, you can still trace the customer’s roof in the editor. If the house is farther away, find the address again; once a roof is drawn, Cali-Graf offers to start a new calculation for the other address.
Check the date of the aerial image
Under the address you’ll see, for example, Imagery Dec 2023 · high quality. The roof you trace is the roof on that date. If the home got an addition, a new roof or solar panels since then, or a tree was cut down, the image won’t show it — check on site or with the customer.
When the image quality is medium or low, the label is marked as a warning: outlines and heights are less sharp, so check the pitch of each face.
Check the utility
The utility in the same line comes from the home’s location. Compare it with the customer’s bill — especially near the border between LADWP and SCE. More in How the utility, rate zone and region are found.
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