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European Economic Area (EEA) developers If your billing address is in the European Economic Area, effective on 8 July 2025, the Google Maps Platform EEA Terms of Service will apply to your use of the Services. Learn more. In addition, certain content from the Solar API will no longer be returned. Learn more.The dataLayers endpoint returns data encoded as GeoTIFF files, which can be used in any geographic information system (GIS) application to design solar systems.
Each string in the dataLayers response contains a URL, which you can use to fetch the corresponding GeoTIFF. URLs are valid for up to an hour after they are generated from the original data layers request. GeoTIFF files can be stored for up to 30 days.
With the exception of the RGB layer, GeoTIFF files don't display correctly with an image viewer, as the content is encoded data rather than RGB images. GeoTIFF files also cannot be used directly as an overlay image with Maps Javascript API.
The following table describes each layer in detail.
Layer Pixel depth Resolution Description Digital Surface Model (DSM) 32-bit float 0.1 m/pixel Elevation data that represents the topography of Earth's surface, including natural and built features. Values are in meters above sea level. Invalid locations, or areas where we don't have data, are stored as -9999. RGB 8-bit 0.1 m/pixelBy default, the pixel resolution is 0.1 m/pixel.
Building mask 1-bit 0.1 m/pixel One bit per pixel indicating whether that pixel is considered to be part of a rooftop. Annual flux 32-bit float 0.1 m/pixel The annual flux map, or annual sunlight on roofs, of the region. Values are kWh/kW/year.Flux is computed for every location, not just building rooftops. Invalid locations, or areas where we couldn't calculate flux, are stored as -9999. Locations outside our coverage area are invalid.
Note: This is unmasked flux.
Monthly flux 32-bit float 0.5 m/pixel The monthly flux map (sunlight on roofs, broken down by month) of the region. Values are kWh/kW/year. The GeoTIFF imagery file contains 12 bands corresponding to January — December, in order. Hourly shade 32-bit integer 1 m/pixel 12 URLs for hourly shade maps corresponding to January — December, in order.Each GeoTIFF file contains 24 bands, corresponding to the 24 hours of the day. Each pixel is a 32 bit integer, corresponding to the (up to) 31 days of that month. A 1 bit means that the corresponding location is able to see the sun on that day, at that hour, in that month.
Invalid locations are stored as -9999 and have bit 31 set, as that corresponds to the 32nd day of the month and is therefore invalid.
Decode hourly shade rastersHourly shade data is encoded in multiband rasters. To learn more about raster basics, see Solar API Concepts.
When you make a request for hourly shade data, you can receive up to 12 rasters, one for each month of the calendar year (January through December). Each raster is composed of 24 layers, or bands, which correspond to the 24 hours of the day.
Each band is represented by a matrix of cells, or pixels. Each pixel has a depth of 32 bits, which correspond to the (maximum) 31 days of the month. Decoding the day, time, and month of shade data, therefore, requires understanding the bit, band, and raster that you are analyzing.
For example, to identify whether a given location at coordinates (x, y) saw the sun at 4:00 PM on June 22, do the following:
hourlyShadeUrls list.The following code summarizes the steps above:
(hourly_shade[month - 1])(x, y)[hour] & (1 << (day - 1))Note: Hourly shade data is based on the regional time zone of the requested location. Hourly shade data also assumes that there are no leap days and that Daylight Savings Time does not exist. All days are assumed to be 24 hours long and noon is always "standard time" noon (12:00).
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-14 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14 UTC."],[[["The dataLayers endpoint provides access to various geographical data layers like elevation, aerial imagery, and solar potential, encoded in GeoTIFF format for use in GIS applications."],["GeoTIFF URLs are valid for one hour and the downloaded files can be stored for up to 30 days, with most layers requiring specialized software for proper visualization due to data encoding."],["The hourly shade layer is encoded to indicate sun exposure for each location at a specific time and day of the month, requiring bitwise operations to decode the information."],["The hourly shade data uses the location's regional time zone, assumes no leap days or daylight savings, and treats all days as 24 hours long with standard time noon."]]],["The `dataLayers` endpoint provides GeoTIFF files for solar system design, accessible via URLs valid for one hour, and storable for 30 days. These files include: Digital Surface Model (DSM) for elevation; RGB imagery; Building mask indicating rooftop pixels; Annual flux showing annual sunlight; Monthly flux with sunlight data per month and hourly shade containing 12 rasters, with 24 layers for each hour of the day each month, each one represented by bits indicating whether the location saw the sun on a given day, hour and month.\n"]]
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