Roof editor

Trace the roof on the aerial image, check pitch and fire setbacks, and lay out the panels.

Roof editor overviewThe roof editor is where you trace the roof on Google’s aerial image and place the panels. Tools are on the left, the selected face, edge or panel is on the right, and the editor saves every change on its own.
Aerial image and height dataThe roof editor uses two layers from Google Solar for the home — an aerial photo at about 10 cm per pixel and a 3D height map of the roofs and trees. You trace on the photo; the heights give each face its pitch and direction and show where shade falls.
Draw roof facesPick Roof (P) and click the corners of one roof face, then click the first corner to close it. Draw each face separately — shared corners and edges snap together — or trace the whole outline and split it with a line from edge to edge.
Select, move and delete facesPick Select (S) and click a face to open its settings. Drag a corner to reshape it, press Delete to remove it, and drag empty space to move the map. Undo brings back any change.
How neighboring faces connectFaces that touch should share their corners and edges exactly. From the shared edge and the Google heights Cali-Graf works out whether it’s a ridge, a hip, a valley or a wall — and that sets the fire setbacks and pathways along it.
Roof pitch: measured or set by handCali-Graf measures the pitch of every roof face from Google’s 3D height data. Check it in the face’s settings and change it only if the measurement looks wrong.
Roof face directionThe arrow on each face shows downhill — the way water runs and the panels face. Cali-Graf sets it from Google heights; if it looks wrong, select the face and press Next side or Reverse.
Edge types: eave, rake, ridge, hip, valleyEvery edge of the roof has a type — eave, rake, ridge, hip, valley, wall or pitch change. Cali-Graf sets it from the shape and the Google heights; select an edge to see why and to change it. The type sets the fire setbacks and pathways.
Fire setbacks on the roofFire setbacks are strips along roof edges where panels can’t go, so firefighters can work on the roof. Cali-Graf draws them as red hatching from the edge types and the rules of the city, and Fill roof keeps panels out of them.
Choose fire setback rules: California, City of LA or customIn Fire setbacks, pick the rules for the home — California code (CRC R329.6), City of Los Angeles (LAFD) or your own widths. Cali-Graf picks LAFD for homes in the City of LA and California code elsewhere.
Fire pathwaysCalifornia code asks for 36-inch pathways from the eave to the ridge on roofs with solar. Fire pathways on the right checks every face; Fill roof adds missing pathways by itself, and you can add or remove one on a rake, hip or valley by hand.
Add chimneys, vents and skylightsPick Obstacle and draw a rectangle, circle or polygon over a chimney, vent or skylight. Panels keep clear of every obstacle, with the clearance set in Fire setbacks. Selected obstacles can be moved, turned, reshaped or deleted.
Detect obstacles automaticallyDetect obstacles finds chimneys, vents and skylights inside the faces you drew from Google’s height data. Fill roof runs it the first time on its own. Check the result against the image and add what it missed.
Choose the panel for the layoutPanels are laid out in the size of the chosen panel. In the roof editor, pick Panels, press Change and choose from the list or search the whole CEC list. It’s the same panel as in the calculator.
Fill the roof with panelsFill roof (X) places as many panels as fit on every face that doesn’t face north — around fire setbacks, pathways and obstacles. Fill this face with panels does one face, north-facing ones too. Pick Best fit, Portrait or Landscape first.
Move, rotate and delete panelsWith Panels or Select, click a panel to select it, drag to move it, and use the arrow keys to nudge it 2 inches. Turn 90° switches portrait and landscape, the round handle turns it freely, and Delete removes it. Shift+click selects several.
Why panels turn redA red panel is out of place — it sits in a fire setback or pathway, on an obstacle, over the edge of the face, or it was laid out for another panel size. Red panels still count in the calculation, so move them or press Remove red panels.
Change the panel after the roof is laid outPanels on the roof are placed in one panel’s size. If you pick a panel of another size afterwards, the old ones turn red and the calculator stops. Press Re-lay out in the roof editor to place the new panel on those faces.
Sun mapThe sun map colors the roofs by how much sun they get in a year, shade from trees and neighbors included. Turn it on with Sun or the / key, and read each face’s number in its settings — the higher, the more power per panel.
Panels on a garage, ADU or second buildingTrace the faces of a garage, an ADU or any other building on the same aerial image, the same way as the house. All faces go into one calculation, each with its own pitch, direction and shade.
How the roof gets into the calculationEach save of the roof sends the calculator the panel, and for every face with panels its pitch, direction and the panel positions. Production is modeled per face with shade at each panel. Panels off the faces, on a face without a pitch or on top of another don’t count.
Keyboard shortcutsEvery shortcut of the roof editor on one page — tools, drawing, panels, view and undo. On Windows use Ctrl where the Mac uses ⌘, and Alt for ⌥.