Ever wonder what potential your roof has for solar power generation? To answer this question, now there is a new website, Roofray, that’s looking to help answer all of those queries using satellite data and a hands-on web site. This new online tool uses Google satellite data and info from the National Renewable Energy Labs to help users make good decisions about what sort of system to buy.

You start by entering an address, whereby Roofray pulls up the satellite image of the chosen building’s rooftop. You then can draw an appropriately shaped solar grid on your roof and enter the approximate roof slope (in one or multiple segments), which then RoofRay will calculate the array performance (YouTube video below). Data on square footage of the system, slope of the roof, power per square foot and total peak power all show up in a chart, and the info displayed depends on how big you’ve drawn your system.

After drawing the panels you can dive into metrics based on the size and location of your solar system, including projected performance, financial analysis, average monthly utility bill after solar is added, total cost summary and the time until the system pays for itself.

According to Roofray's Weblog, they are working on addressing the lack of current utility rates for a user's particular location. The best solution is to know your price per kWh and enter it in the corresponding field. If you don't know your local rates, Roofray will use your location's corresponding utility rate. If there isn't a corresponding utility rate, it will use your state average as published by the Gov't.

This site provides a great opportunity for the user to test out how good a home’s solar potential is before buying it. Try it out today.