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Solar & battery

Solar Roof Area Calculator

Roof area a system needs, and how much capacity a given roof will actually take.

Your numbers

%

Result

Result 378.0
Panels 18
Area needed 378 Square feet
Capacity that fits 10.0 kW
Usable roof after setbacks 525 Square feet
A 7.2 kW system is 18 panels needing 378 square feet of unshaded, unobstructed roof.

Usable roof is always smaller than measured roof. Fire code setbacks along ridges and eaves, access pathways, vents, chimneys, skylights and anything that casts a shadow all take space, and a quarter to a third is a normal loss.

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Questions

About this calculator

How much roof per kW?

Roughly 55 to 70 square feet per kW with current panels. Older or lower-efficiency modules need more.

Why do setbacks take so much?

Fire codes in most jurisdictions require clear pathways along ridges and setbacks from edges so firefighters can work on the roof. On a cut-up roof with several planes the loss can exceed a third.

The formula

area = panels x area per panel; panels = system watts / panel watts

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Estimating is the easy part

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