Estimate rooftop solar potential for a building using Google's Solar API buildingInsights and dataLayers endpoints
domain: solar.googleapis.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Enable the Solar API on a Google Cloud project with billing enabled and generate an API key.
Call GET /v1/buildingInsights:findClosest with location.latitude/location.longitude to get the nearest building's roof segments, max panel count, and annual sunshine hours.
Call GET /v1/dataLayers:get for the same area to receive URLs to raw raster datasets (DSM, RGB, flux maps, hourly shade).
Fetch the actual GeoTIFF rasters from the returned URLs only if pixel-level detail is needed, since Data Layers is billed at a pricier Enterprise SKU than Building Insights.
Check the imageryQuality and imageryDate fields to confirm coverage and freshness for the target location.
Known gotchas
Coverage is imagery-dependent and limited outside supported countries/regions — check Google's coverage documentation before assuming a location works.
Default quota is 600 queries/minute per SKU, tracked separately for Building Insights and Data Layers.
EEA-billed accounts receive reduced response content under separate EEA terms as of mid-2025 — some fields may be stripped for EU customers.
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