What roof, electrical, and load details should I prepare before a solar site survey?

Before a solar site survey, gather four items: roof age and covering, a clear photo of the main electrical panel and its breaker directory, a recent utility bill that names the serving utility, and a short list of the loads you want running during an outage. Ask Solar Mike is a Utah Tesla solar and Powerwall 3 specialist focused on correctly sized backup for larger homes, including homes with 200A and 400A service panels. That packet is what lets the visit size the roof, the panel, and the backup plan against the actual house.

This page is the prep list. For the visit itself, start with what should happen during a Tesla solar site survey. Product context for the array lives on Tesla solar panels in Utah. Ask Solar Mike serves homeowners across Utah and confirms your serving utility as step one.

Why do roof, electrical, and load notes matter before the survey?

A satellite image shows roof planes. It does not show whether the main breaker is 200A or 400A, whether the dryer and well pump share a subpanel, or whether the furnace, medical equipment, and internet must stay up in an outage. Those details change conduit runs, gateway placement, and whether backup is whole-home or essential-load, and that architecture is confirmed at site verification.

Utah housing stock makes the packet more important, not less. South Utah County alone can place neighbors on Rocky Mountain Power, a city utility, or SESD depending on the meter. Larger homes on the Wasatch Front and in southern Utah often carry 400A service, EV chargers, and multi-ton HVAC. Ask Solar Mike focuses on correctly sized backup for those homes rather than a one-layout-fits-all drawing.

Ask Solar Mike handles design, contracting, permitting coordination and project management; installation is performed by licensed, insured crews under our Utah contractor license. Every system design is produced and reviewed by a licensed engineering firm. The survey is the field check those drawings rest on, which is why incomplete photos create redraws.

What roof details should I write down?

You do not need a roofing certificate. You need enough for the surveyor to stop guessing which planes are usable.

• Roof covering (asphalt shingle, standing-seam metal, tile, or other) and approximate age if you know it.
• A ground-level photo of each major roof plane, including the street face and the rear.
• Obstructions: chimneys, vents, skylights, dormers, satellite dishes, and existing equipment.
• Shading from trees, neighboring two-story walls, and ridgelines that sit high in winter sun.
• Attic access: hatch location, and whether someone can safely enter to see rafters and decking.
• Known leaks, recent reroof work, or a planned reroof.

Utah winters add a practical question the photos should answer: which planes hold snow and which get scoured by wind. Do not estimate annual production from those photos. The survey documents pitch, azimuth, setbacks, and access so engineering can use measured conditions, not a weather story.

If a plane is too steep, too shaded, or reserved for a future reroof, write that down. It is cheaper to drop a plane on paper than to discover it after the crew is on site. Ask Solar Mike is Tesla-focused on solar and Powerwall 3 work, so the roof notes are there to support a Tesla array layout, not a generic kilowatt target.

What electrical information should I photograph?

Open the main panel cover only if you can do so safely; otherwise photograph the closed door, the main breaker handle, and any labels on the dead-front. The surveyor still needs the interior at the visit. What you send ahead of time is triage.

• The main breaker stamp and any bus-rating label (look for 200A or 400A class markings).
• The full breaker directory, even if some labels are wrong or missing.
• HVAC, range, dryer, well pump, spa, and EV-charger breakers if they are marked.
• Meter location, any exterior disconnect, and any subpanel in a garage, shop, or basement.
• Existing generator interlock, transfer switch, or backup equipment.

Ask Solar Mike designs for 200A and 400A service panels. A 400A home can be served; the backup architecture is confirmed at site verification. Do not treat a 400A label as a promise of whole-home backup. Gateway count, critical-load placement, and whether the house runs as whole-home or essential-load are engineering outcomes, not a photo caption.

If the panel is cramped, the directory is blank, or a subpanel is in a shop you want on backup, say so in one sentence. That sentence is more useful than a second marketing brochure. Electrical work is performed by licensed electrical subcontractors under Ask Solar Mike's contractor license; public pages do not name those crews. Your job is the photo. Their job is the field verification.

Which household loads should I list for backup?

Write the outage in plain language: what must stay on, what can wait, and what you would regret if it were dark for a night. Typical Utah lists include the air handler or heat pump, well or booster pump, refrigerator, freezer, medical devices, internet, garage door, and a subset of lighting. Add EV charging only if you actually want it during an outage; it is a large, optional load.

Separate three columns on a note:

• Must run (safety, heat, water, medical, communications).
• Nice to run (range, dryer, spa, shop welder, extra EV).
• Can stay off.

That list is the household-load input the survey is for. Larger homes with higher electrical demand are exactly why Ask Solar Mike sizes backup to the actual house instead of a brochure essential-load panel. A shop, casita, or well house that you assume is “on the house” often sits on a different panel. If it matters in an outage, name the building.

Do not convert the list into a kilowatt claim yourself. Nameplate photos of the furnace, heat pump, well controller, and EV charger help engineering; guessed wattages do not. Whether the result is whole-home or essential-load backup is determined at site verification and engineering.

How does Utah utility service change what the surveyor checks?

Utility service in south Utah County varies by address — Payson, Spanish Fork and Salem run their own city power in parts of town, SESD serves others, and some pockets are Rocky Mountain Power. We confirm your serving utility as step one. Mapleton residents are on Rocky Mountain Power; Salem residents are on Salem City Power. Do not assume your neighbor's utility is yours, and do not treat this page as a lookup for a specific street.

Bring a bill or a portal screenshot that shows the utility name, rate class if printed, and the service address. It is identity: who interconnects, who meters, and which rules apply. Ask Solar Mike evaluates qualified residential projects and confirms address and current project fit, serving homeowners across Utah.

Some Utah cities have paused solar interconnection or net metering. In those cases Ask Solar Mike can evaluate a zero-export Tesla system: solar feeds your home and your Powerwall and never sends power back to the grid. That path is permitted through the building and electrical permit with engineered plans, with no net metering application. We confirm requirements with the city. This page does not claim a city has approved any project.

If you already know export is paused where you live, put that on the prep sheet. It changes whether the survey is documenting a standard interconnection path or a customer-side, non-export layout. If you do not know, leave it blank; utility confirmation is step one.

What should I send, and what waits for the visit?

Send what you can from the driveway and the electrical room. Leave climbing, interior panel work you cannot do safely, and shading measurements to the survey. A useful email or text packet is:

• Four to eight roof photos plus one street-context shot.
• Main-panel photos (cover, main breaker, directory).
• Subpanel photos if a garage, shop, or well is in play.
• The load list in the three columns above.
• One utility bill or account screenshot.
• Roof age, any leak history, and any planned reroof.

Ask Solar Mike is a licensed Utah contractor (DOPL #14015846-5501) and a Tesla Certified Installer — verify in Tesla's public installer directory. The firm has 3,000+ solar and battery installs. None of that replaces the visit. Photos shrink the unknown; they do not stamp the design.

After the survey, designs are produced and reviewed by a licensed engineering firm. Ask Solar Mike handles design, contracting, permitting coordination and project management; installation is performed by licensed, insured crews under our Utah contractor license (DOPL #14015846-5501). Read the visit sequence next on what should happen during a Tesla solar site survey.

What else do Utah homeowners ask before a site survey?

Do I need a full year of utility bills?

One recent bill that names the utility is enough to start. A year of usage helps later sizing conversations, but it is not a substitute for the panel photo and the load list. Do not send bills as a savings forecast; send them so the serving utility is not guessed.

Can photos replace the site survey?

No. Photos decide whether the visit is straightforward. The survey still documents roof planes, electrical conditions, and backup intent on site. The companion page on what should happen during a Tesla solar site survey is the visit checklist this prep list feeds.

What if I cannot read the panel amperage?

Photograph the main breaker anyway. Ask Solar Mike supports 200A and 400A main service panels for Tesla solar and Powerwall 3 backup designs, and amperage is confirmed at the visit. A missing label is a reason to survey, not a reason to delay the packet.

Does a 400A panel mean I get whole-home backup?

No. 400A homes can be served; the backup architecture is confirmed at site verification. Whole-home versus essential-load depends on the loads you listed, the panel layout, and engineering, not the number printed on the main breaker.

Should I reroof before the survey?

If the roof is near the end of its life, say so in the packet and bring it up on site. The survey can then treat reroof timing as a design constraint. This page does not prescribe a roofing product or a replacement year.

When the packet is together, use it against the visit guide: what should happen during a Tesla solar site survey. That is the next step for this question. Tesla hardware context remains on Tesla solar panels in Utah. Call (385) 312-0904 only if you need to reach the office about an existing conversation; this page's next step is the survey guide, not a new promise.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-22. Reviewed by Mike Morris, Founder, Ask Solar Mike.