3. Residential Instructions  

 All residential site assessments should start with two POI flights:

Flight 1: Perimeter of property – “context flight”

• Image Range: 75 - 150

• Radius: POI flight should be inclusive of the house, plus any surrounding buildings, trees or structures that could cause shading on the proposed site of the solar project. 

• Camera angle: 35 – 45 degrees

• Altitude: Height of surrounding tallest structure or tree on site + 20 feet

• Overlap: >80%

• Speed: ~4MPH, or taking a picture every 3-4 seconds.

• Recommend App: DJI Go or Ground Station Pro.

• Tip: The entire building should be in the camera’s frame for every picture. The point of interest is the middle of the building.

Flight 2: Perimeter of structure / building – “detailed flight”

• Image Range: 25 - 60

• Radius: Inclusive of the house offset + 20 feet around it. 

• Camera angle: 25 - 30 degrees

• Altitude: Height of house’s tallest roof + 10 feet

• Overlap: > 90%

• Speed: ~4MPH, or taking a picture every 3-4 seconds.

• Recommend App: DJI Go or Ground Station Pro.

• Tip: This flight is designed to capture the features of the roof with more detail and granularity. 

If the site is more complicated, you will need additional “detailed” flights, or POIs designed to photograph obstructions, such as HVAC, chimneys, vent pipes and trees. These are site characteristics that cause shading to occur. 

Flight 3: Perimeter of Obstructions (e.g. HVAC / Attic Fan / Vent Pipe / Tree) – second “Detailed flight”.

• Image Range: 15 - 30

• Radius: Inclusive of the cluster of obstructions or a singular, large or tall obstruction, like a chimney, cupula, HVAC unit or vent stack. 

• Camera angle: 15 – 30 degrees

• Altitude: Height of obstruction on site + 10 feet

• Overlap: >90%

• Speed: ~2MPH, or taking a picture every 2-3 seconds.

• Recommend App: DJI Go or Ground Station Pro.

• Tip: Mapping the 3D features of obstructions is critical for solar surveying and producing a high quality 3D model. Identify the cluster of obstructions and fly a POI around them, with the center of the cluster in frame. You may need to fly 2 or even 3 total Obstruction POIs depending on the complexity of the roof.

You may need an additional POI(s) to map vegetation (e.g. one OR a cluster of trees) around the perimeter of the property. The circular flight may not be in the middle of the property; it can be anywhere on the property.