Start a PV plan from Google Solar imagery

Google Solar is one of the building-geometry sources in 3D planning, alongside drawing the roof yourself, ordering a drone photogrammetry capture, and tracing over an uploaded image. When you start a plan from Google Solar, the editor opens with Google's aerial imagery as the ground layer, so you can read the roof shape and tilt straight from the map instead of building the geometry from scratch.

Note: 3D planning is the residential planning path. On commercial offers, the 3D editor is opt-in per variant and off by default.

Choose Google Solar as the building source

In the planning setup, the imagery options appear as cards. The 3D with Google Data card covers both Google Solar and the Google Earth view, and it carries an availability badge for each.

1. Open the planning setup for the variant.
2. Look at the 3D with Google Data card. It shows Google Solar: Available / Not available and Google Earth: Available / Not available.
3. Select the card. The editor opens on Google Solar imagery when Google Solar is available, and falls back to the Google Earth view when it isn't.
4. The 3D editor opens with the chosen imagery as the ground layer.

Pro tip: You don't pick the imagery layer yourself. Selecting the card resolves it for you — Google Solar first, Google Earth as the fallback. The card is greyed out only when neither is available for the address.

Read the roof and place modules

Once the editor is open on Google Solar, the imagery is your reference for the building. You read the roof shape, measure tilt, then cover the roof with modules.

1. Switch to Google Solar in the Layers panel if you need to confirm the map material.
2. Use the measure tool (ruler icon) to read roof tilt and dimensions off the aerial data.
3. Move to the Modules step and cover the roof. See the guide on planning PV modules in the 3D editor for the placement workflow.

Note: Google Solar gives you the imagery to plan against, not a finished roof. You still draw or confirm the roof geometry, set tilt, and place modules. Switch back to a 2D map material when a cleaner top-down view helps with drawing.

Switch the building source

Google Solar is one of four building sources. If it isn't available, or you'd rather work from a different base, switch to one of the others.

• Self-drawn — trace the roof outline yourself. The manual fallback when imagery isn't available. See the guide on planning PV manually with self-drawn roofs.
• 3D drone photogrammetry — reconstruct the target building from drone photos. See the 3D drone photogrammetry guide.
• External image — trace over an uploaded image such as an architect's floor plan. See the guide on planning PV on an uploaded image.

The Building AI layer is separate: it populates the surroundings — neighbouring buildings and trees — so they cast shadows in the simulation. It isn't a source for the target roof itself, and selecting it disables the Google Earth and Google Solar layers in the editor.

Things to know

• Availability is per address. Google Solar coverage varies by region. When the badge reads Not available, the editor falls back to the Google Earth view, or you switch to a different building source.
• Google Solar and Google Earth share one card. The 3D with Google Data card resolves to Google Solar when it's available and Google Earth otherwise. You don't choose the layer directly.
• It's an imagery layer, not a finished plan. Starting from Google Solar gives you aerial data to read tilt and shape from; you still confirm the roof geometry and place modules.
• Building AI is a different thing. Building AI fills in neighbours and trees for shading. It isn't a source for the target building, and it's mutually exclusive with the Google layers in the editor.

Need help?

• Step-by-step questions about this flow → contact Reonic support.
• Feature requests or something missing → send a note to Reonic support.
• Bug reports → include a screenshot and the URL where it happened in your support email.

Last updated on August 4, 2026