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Get a ballpark system size, panel count and roof area from your monthly electricity usage.
Estimate to offset ~100% of your usage at Minnesota production, using current SEG 440 W panels and Enphase IQ8A microinverters — not a design. Actual size depends on roof orientation, shading and your goals. Your kWh is on your electric bill.
We start from your real 12-month usage and size to offset about 100% of it at Minnesota production (~1,200 kWh per kW per year), then lay the panels out across your best roof planes. Per-panel microinverters let us use east- and west-facing sections and work around shading, so the panel count above is a starting point — the real design comes from your roof.
This starts from usage, but your roof has the final say — the number of good planes, their pitch, and the space left after vents, chimneys and setbacks all cap how many panels actually fit. The Roof Solar Estimator reads that from above.
Trees or a dormer don’t only block panels — they cut output on the ones nearby. Per-panel Enphase IQ8A microinverters limit the damage, but heavy shade still moves the real size.
A big array can bump into your main panel’s capacity under the NEC 120% rule. If your service is tight, the Panel Capacity Check flags it before it becomes a surprise.
Setback requirements — and in some neighborhoods, HOA rules — limit where panels go. We design around your city’s code and any HOA when we lay out the real system.
Keep going: read your actual roof with the Roof Solar Estimator, confirm your panel can carry it with the Panel Capacity Check, or take the whole-house Is My House Ready for Solar? quiz.
Roughly your system size in watts divided by the panel wattage (~430 W each). A typical Minnesota home lands around 15–25 panels, but it depends on your usage and roof.
About 21 sq ft per panel, so a 7 kW system needs roughly 350 sq ft of usable, well-oriented roof. South, east and west faces all work; we model each plane in a real design.
No — we size to offset your usage without overbuilding, since Minnesota net metering credits surplus but you don't want to pay for more than you'll use.
It sizes with our current default: SEG 440-watt panels paired with Enphase IQ8A microinverters. Per-panel microinverters are why we can use east- and west-facing roof sections and still work around shade. Your actual equipment is confirmed at design.
Your usable roof planes, shading, main-panel capacity under the NEC 120% rule, and local setback or HOA rules all move it. This estimate is a usage-based starting point — the real design comes from your roof and your electrical service.
These tools are ballparks — a free assessment gives you exact, site-specific figures.