Best Satellite Measuring Software for Electrical Contractors (2026)
Published May 2026 · Updated September 2026
6 satellite and aerial measuring platforms ranked for electrical contractors doing solar PV layouts, EV charger trenching, outdoor and landscape lighting, generator placement, and service-area mapping — with bundled CRM total cost of ownership factored in.
QuoteIQ is the best satellite measuring software for most electrical contractors in 2026 because MapMeasure Pro puts satellite measurement inside estimate creation — roof planes for solar PV layouts, driveway and parking-lot runs for EV charger conduit, linear feet for landscape lighting cable, and pad locations for standby generators — and ships inside a complete electrical contractor field service platform starting at $74.99/month on the Beginner plan. Pro at $149.99/month adds ClientHub, Job Costing, and QuickBooks Online for growing teams. EagleView is the pick when a job needs a formal third-party roof report. Aurora Solar is the purpose-built design platform for solar-only installers. Hover builds 3D exterior models from smartphone photos. Nearmap sells aerial imagery subscriptions sized for commercial portfolios. Google Earth Pro is the free desktop fallback. Diversified electrical shops should bundle; solar-only EPCs should look hard at Aurora.
TL;DR: Panel swaps and troubleshooting rarely need aerial measurement; solar, EV charger, lighting, and generator bids do. QuoteIQ wins bundled value: MapMeasure Pro measures inside the estimate, Property Street View checks the panel side, the AI Estimator drafts pricing from photos, Virtual Call Team answers calls, and scheduling, invoicing, and Job Costing run the job — from $74.99/month on Beginner. EagleView, Aurora Solar, Hover, Nearmap, and Google Earth Pro each win narrower jobs: formal roof reports, solar-only design, 3D exteriors, commercial imagery, and free ballpark measuring. BLS projects 9% electrician job growth for 2025–35, and DOE’s AFDC counts 200,000+ public EV charging ports.
The 2026 Winners by Category
Each tool below wins for a specific kind of electrical contractor and a specific use case. Skip ahead to the category that matches your business.
QuoteIQ
From $74.99/mo (Beginner); Pro at $149.99/mo for growing teams. MapMeasure Pro plus the full field service platform — AI Estimator, Virtual Call Team, scheduling, invoicing, and ClientHub on Pro and up.
EagleView
Aerial roof reports ordered per property, with pitch and roof-plane detail used in solar and insurance-driven roofing work. A measurement service, not a CRM — see EagleView for current pricing.
Aurora Solar
Purpose-built solar design: roof modeling, shading analysis, production estimates, and homeowner proposals. Built for high-volume solar EPCs — paid plans, see their pricing page.
Hover
Smartphone photos become a 3D model of the building exterior — roof, siding, and facade in one capture. Useful when one bid combines solar, lighting, and wall-mounted EV equipment.
Nearmap
Aircraft-captured aerial imagery sold by subscription, sized for organizations measuring many commercial sites. Quote-based pricing — confirm directly with Nearmap.
Google Earth Pro
Free desktop tool with ruler and polygon measurement. No quoting, scheduling, or invoicing attached — fine for occasional ballpark numbers on a zero budget.
Why Satellite Measuring Matters for Electrical Contractors
The honest framing first: most residential service electrical work — panel upgrades, outlet swaps, breaker replacement, troubleshooting — does not need aerial measurement. A tech walks the property, takes a few photos, writes the estimate. Aerial measurement adds real value for a specific subset of electrical work: solar PV layouts, EV charger trenching, outdoor and landscape lighting, generator placement, and service-area mapping for long property runs. If your shop only does inside-the-walls service work, this entire category is a distraction — and the core electrician CRM features matter far more than any map.
The work that does need measurement is growing. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, electricians held about 821,000 jobs in 2025, and employment is projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035 — much faster than the 3% average for all occupations — with roughly 72,700 openings a year. BLS ties that demand to connecting solar and other generation sources to homes and the grid, plus grid upgrades driven by rising electricity demand. About 66% of electricians work for electrical contractors and 7% are self-employed: small shops where every hour of windshield time is an hour not selling. That’s where remote measurement pays — turning “I’ll come out and measure” into “I already measured before the call ended.”
BLS projects electrician employment rising from 821,000 to 896,900 between 2025 and 2035 (9%), with a 2025 median wage of $63,190. More work per electrician means estimating time is the bottleneck — the exact time satellite measurement gives back.
For solar, the math is concrete. A residential installer pricing a typical system — the U.S. Department of Energy notes NREL models an average of 7.15 kW, within a 3–11 kW range — needs roof area, pitch, orientation, and shading context. Without aerial measurement, that’s a 30–45 minute site visit. With MapMeasure Pro, which auto-detects roof segments and color-codes pitch, the measurement happens in minutes from an address. Multiply across 5–10 estimates per week and the time savings cover the software cost many times over. For EV chargers, conduit-run distance from the existing panel to the charger location is the cost driver — measure the driveway run, then sanity-check your number against the free EV charger installation cost calculator before the homeowner is off the phone.
A diversified electrical contractor doing 8 solar, EV, and lighting estimates per week. Without satellite measurement, each estimate needs a 45-minute visit before pricing. That’s 6 hours/week × an assumed $85/hour fully loaded labor = $510/week, or about $26,500/year in pre-estimate labor that produces no direct revenue. QuoteIQ Pro with MapMeasure Pro costs $149.99/month, or $1,499.99/year on annual billing — covered by roughly three weeks of that recovered estimating time, before you count the conversion lift from same-call pricing.
Speed compounds the payoff. In the Harvard Business Review study “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads”, firms that tried to contact web leads within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify them as firms that waited even one hour longer — and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited a day or more. Solar and EV shoppers routinely collect three or four quotes, so the contractor who delivers a ballpark on the first call has the edge. Virtual Call Team answers and qualifies inbound calls 24/7, ClientHub (Pro and up) keeps two-way texting on a dedicated business number, and MapMeasure Pro lets you measure while the lead is still warm — speed a standalone measurement tool can’t deliver because it doesn’t answer the phone or send the quote.
What Electrical Contractors Actually Measure From the Sky
Satellite measurement is only useful if it maps to the jobs you actually bid. These are the five electrical job types where remote measurement changes how fast — and how accurately — you can price.
1. Solar PV roof planes
Solar pricing starts with usable roof area per plane, pitch, and orientation. MapMeasure Pro detects roof segments and shows pitch in color, and the August 2026 release added a historical imagery timeline so you can scroll back through years of aerial photos — handy for spotting tree growth, recent additions, or a reroof. The DOE’s homeowner guidance is blunt that some rooftops aren’t suitable because of age or tree cover, so flag those early instead of after a site visit. Solar-focused shops can see how the rest of the workflow fits on the solar installation software page, and big-ticket PV jobs pair well with consumer financing — Affirm covers up to $30,000 per job over 3–36 months.
NREL’s average modeled residential system is 7.15 kW DC, within a 3–11 kW range, per the DOE’s Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar. Measuring each roof plane remotely tells you before the first call whether a 3 kW or an 11 kW layout is even possible.
2. EV charger conduit and trench runs
For a Level 2 charger, the price swings on distance: panel to garage wall, panel to a detached garage, or panel across a driveway to a post-mounted unit. Draw the linear path in MapMeasure Pro, attach the screenshot to the estimate as visual proof of scope, and bundle hardware, wire, conduit, and labor with package estimates. Our EV charger installation software page covers permits and scheduling, and Zillow Quick Access puts the property listing one tap away when you need a quick look at the home.
The Alternative Fuels Data Center counts more than 70,000 public charging station locations and over 200,000 public charging ports in the U.S. — and those counts exclude residential chargers entirely, which is the install market most electrical contractors actually serve.
3. Landscape, outdoor, and holiday lighting
Low-voltage landscape lighting is priced by fixture count and cable run; holiday and permanent lighting by roofline linear feet. Trace the paths and rooflines from satellite, then show the customer what the finished job looks like with Before & After AI, which generates a realistic after preview from the actual property photo. Offer tiers — path lights only, path plus uplighting, full-property — with Options estimates. Seasonal crews can benchmark pricing with the Christmas light installation cost calculator and see the Christmas lighting software workflow.
4. Standby generator placement
Generator bids hinge on the pad location, the distance back to the transfer switch and meter, and the fuel line run. Measure those distances remotely, then use Property Street View to see which side of the house the meter and gas service sit on. Manufacturer and local-code clearances vary, so confirm them on site before install — but you can quote a confident range first. The generator installation software page walks through the full job flow, and Attach Contracts lets you add spec sheets or your install agreement to the estimate.
5. Detached subpanels, service runs, and trenching
Feeders to a shop, ADU, pool equipment, or barn are distance problems. Measure the trench path, price it per foot in standard estimates, and track the real cost afterward with expense tracking and Job Costing (Pro and up), which shows price minus labor minus expenses on every job. If you’re still sending quotes from a spreadsheet, the free electrical invoice template is a stopgap — but the measurement-to-invoice chain is where the time savings live.
How We Ranked Them
“Best” lists on the internet are mostly affiliate revenue sorted by commission rate. This list is sorted by what wins for electrical contractors specifically — diversified shops doing solar, EV, lighting, generators, and service work mixed together. We do not quote competitor prices on this page: vendor pricing changes often and several of these tools price by account, so each entry sends you to the vendor for current numbers. QuoteIQ pricing is current as of September 2026 and matches the QuoteIQ pricing page.
The 6 ranking factors
- Use-case fit for electrical work. Solar PV roof measurement is different from EV charger trenching, which is different from landscape lighting linear-foot runs. Tools built for one use case lose points if they can’t serve the others a diversified electrical shop sees weekly.
- Total cost of ownership. Per-report pricing versus per-property versus monthly subscription versus quote-based enterprise contracts — and whether you still need a separate CRM on top.
- CRM integration. Does the measurement flow into a quote, a scheduled job, a follow-up, and an invoice — or do you re-key it into another system? Standalone measurement tools need a separate field service stack.
- Speed from address to priced estimate. The faster a homeowner gets a real number, the more likely you win the job. How quickly can each tool get you there?
- Coverage and accuracy. Newer construction, rural properties, and tree-covered roofs cause gaps in any imagery-based tool. Frequent gaps force you to keep two measurement workflows.
- Honest fit for your scale. Solo electricians, 5–10 person shops, and 25+ person commercial operations have different right answers. We name the use case where each competitor genuinely beats QuoteIQ.
6 Tools at a Glance (2026)
The fast version. Detailed reviews follow below. For every competitor, confirm current pricing and trial terms on the vendor’s own site before you buy.
| Platform | Pricing | Best Electrical Use Case | Field Service CRM Built In | How It Measures | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QuoteIQ (MapMeasure Pro) | $74.99/mo Beginner and up; Pro $149.99/mo | Diversified electrical: solar, EV, lighting, generators, service | Yes — full platform | Satellite imagery inside estimate creation | 14-day, every plan |
| EagleView | Per report / account — see vendor | Formal roof reports with pitch detail | Not a CRM — reports only | Aerial reports ordered per property | See vendor |
| Aurora Solar | Paid plans — see vendor | High-volume residential solar design | Not a CRM — solar design platform | Imagery plus 3D roof modeling | See vendor |
| Hover | Paid plans — see vendor | Combined roof and exterior bids | Not a CRM — measurement and design | Smartphone photos to 3D model | See vendor |
| Nearmap | Quote-based subscription | Commercial multi-site portfolios | Not a CRM — imagery platform | Aircraft-captured aerial imagery | See vendor |
| Google Earth Pro | Free | Occasional ballpark measurements | No | Satellite imagery, desktop ruler and polygon tools | Free download |
Competitor pricing changes frequently and several vendors quote by account, so this table lists pricing models rather than dollar figures. Check each vendor’s pricing page before purchase.
QuoteIQ — Best Bundled Satellite Measuring for Electrical Contractors
Best for: Diversified electrical contractors doing solar, EV, lighting, generators, and service work · Pricing: $74.99/mo (Beginner) — $149.99/mo (Pro) recommended for teams 🏆 Editor’s Choice 2026QuoteIQ wins this list because it’s the only platform here that bundles satellite measurement with the rest of the CRM your electrical business already needs. MapMeasure Pro works inside estimate creation: measure roof area for solar PV layouts, driveway and parking-lot distances for EV charger conduit runs, linear feet for landscape lighting cable, and pad locations for standby generators — then export the measurements straight into the quote and save them to the customer profile. The AI Estimator analyzes property photos and drafts market-based line-item pricing for your area, the QuoteIQ calendar books the work, built-in invoicing collects payment, and Review Multiplier asks for the review. No separate measurement tool. No re-keying numbers between systems.
The bundling matters because a diversified shop’s work mix changes week to week. A typical 3-truck electrical shop might bid two solar PV layouts, three EV chargers, a landscape lighting job, a generator placement, and 15 service calls in the same week. EagleView handles the solar roof reports well but charges per report and doesn’t help with EV trenching, lighting runs, or generator distances. Aurora Solar handles PV design precisely but is overkill for a shop where solar is a third of the work. MapMeasure Pro covers all of it — and the same subscription runs Virtual Call Team for AI call answering and, on Pro and up, ClientHub for two-way calling and texting from a dedicated business number.
QuoteIQ pricing: Essentials $29.99 (1 user, no MapMeasure Pro), Beginner $74.99 (2 users — MapMeasure Pro, Property Street View, Zillow Quick Access, QuoteIQ Cam), Pro $149.99 (4 users — adds ClientHub, Job Costing, QuickBooks Online, and Email & Text Automations; recommended for most electrical teams), Elite $299 (10 users — adds InstaQuote, InstaSchedule, EmployeeHub, and route optimization), and Max $699 (unlimited users). Roof & Pitch measurement lives inside MapMeasure Pro and calculates pitch from aerial imagery. Annual billing saves two months, and every plan includes a 14-day free trial with full access to the plan you choose. Honest gap vs. Aurora Solar: QuoteIQ does not include solar production modeling, shading simulation, or string design — for solar-only EPCs running 100+ residential installs a month, Aurora’s engineering depth is worth paying for.
- MapMeasure Pro included from Beginner ($74.99/mo) — measurement plus CRM in one subscription
- Measurements export straight into the estimate and save to the customer profile
- Works across electrical use cases: solar roofs, EV conduit, lighting runs, generator pads, trenching
- Full platform: scheduling, invoicing, Virtual Call Team, ClientHub on Pro+
- Historical aerial imagery timeline and roof pitch detection inside MapMeasure Pro
- Consumer financing (Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay) on every plan for big-ticket solar and generator jobs
- 4.7-star rating across 4,100+ App Store and Google Play reviews
- Flat plan pricing — 4 users included on Pro
- No solar production modeling or shading simulation (Aurora wins here)
- No formal third-party roof reports of the kind EagleView sells
- MapMeasure Pro requires Beginner and up — not on $29.99 Essentials
- Generalist field service platform, not purpose-built for solar-only EPCs
- Remote measurement still doesn’t replace an on-site panel and load check
If you run a diversified electrical business that mixes solar, EV chargers, outdoor lighting, generators, and service work — and you want satellite measurement bundled with the rest of your CRM — QuoteIQ Pro at $149.99/month is the right pick. Reasons to choose differently: a solar-only EPC doing 100+ installs a month that needs production modeling (Aurora Solar), solar or roofing work where a customer, insurer, or permit reviewer requires a formal third-party roof report (EagleView), or a commercial estimator bidding 50+ properties a year (Nearmap).
“I recently started up a roof and gutter cleaning business and this app has everything in one place. I can send estimates over the phone without even going to the house. It saves me time, and time is money.”
EagleView — Best for Formal Aerial Roof Reports
Best for: Solar and roofing-adjacent electrical work that requires a third-party roof report · Pricing: per report / account — see EagleView Best Formal Roof ReportsEagleView is one of the best-known names in aerial roof reports — used by solar installers, roofing contractors, and insurance-driven roofing work. The strengths are real: roof measurements with pitch and roof-plane detail, report formats that customers, adjusters, and plan reviewers are used to seeing, and integrations with roofing CRMs that solar-plus-roofing shops already run. For electrical contractors whose solar work regularly rides alongside roof replacement, that report format carries weight.
The pricing reality: EagleView sells reports per property, with pricing that depends on report type and account — check EagleView directly for current rates. For an electrical contractor ordering a report on every solar lead, those costs stack up month over month, and none of them include a CRM, scheduling, invoicing, or estimating. Any imagery-based report also depends on available imagery, so new construction and heavily treed lots can be harder to cover, which means keeping a fallback measurement method.
EagleView’s moat is what MapMeasure Pro doesn’t try to be: a third-party report product. When a formal report is required, that matters. For solar work outside that channel — a straight residential PV lead from a Facebook ad — ordering a report per property is often hard to justify when MapMeasure Pro handles the same area math inside the subscription you already pay for, alongside EV, lighting, and generator measurements a roof report doesn’t cover.
- Formal aerial roof reports with pitch and roof-plane detail
- A report format customers, adjusters, and reviewers already recognize
- Integrations with roofing CRMs used by solar-plus-roofing shops
- Commercial report options for large roofs
- Order reports without visiting the property
- Cost is incurred per report, so volume drives spend
- Measurement reports only — not a field service CRM
- Roof-focused; doesn’t cover EV runs, lighting paths, or generator distances
- Imagery-dependent coverage on new construction and treed lots
For solar electrical contractors doing significant insurance-channel or reroof-plus-solar work where a formal report is expected, EagleView belongs in the toolkit. For everything else electrical contractors measure — EV chargers, lighting runs, generator placement, service trenches — a roof report doesn’t help, and MapMeasure Pro bundled inside QuoteIQ covers the need without per-report fees.
Aurora Solar — Best Purpose-Built Solar PV Design Platform
Best for: High-volume residential solar EPCs · Pricing: paid plans — see Aurora Solar Best Solar-Only DesignAurora Solar is a market leader in residential solar design software for a reason. Enter an address and the platform builds a roof model with tilt, azimuth, and obstruction detection, then lays out panels, estimates production, and turns the design into a homeowner-facing proposal. The 3D visualization shows the customer their actual house with proposed panels overlaid — a sales asset flat 2D quotes can’t match. For high-volume solar sales teams, the combination of design automation and proposal polish is unmatched on this list.
The pricing reality: Aurora sells paid plans and does not position itself as a budget tool — confirm current plans with Aurora directly. For a solar EPC running dozens of residential installs a month, the math can work easily. For a diversified electrical shop doing a handful of solar projects a month mixed with EV and lighting work, a dedicated solar design subscription rarely pencils out against MapMeasure Pro bundled inside a full field service platform.
Aurora’s moat is what makes it the honest non-QuoteIQ pick for solar-only operations: shading analysis, production modeling with seasonal variation, and design detail aimed at permit-ready solar documentation. None of those are MapMeasure Pro capabilities — and for a solar EPC, they aren’t optional. For diversified electrical contractors where solar is one product line among five, Aurora is engineering depth you pay for and don’t fully use.
- Automated 3D roof modeling from an address
- Shading analysis and production modeling built for solar
- Polished homeowner-facing 3D proposals
- Design output aimed at permit-ready solar documentation
- Built around solar sales team workflows
- Solar-focused — no help with EV, outdoor lighting, or generator bids
- A solar design platform, not a field service CRM
- Priced for solar volume; harder to justify for diversified shops
- Adds a second system to learn and maintain
For high-volume residential solar EPCs where most revenue is solar, Aurora Solar is the right tool — the engineering depth and proposal polish justify the cost. For diversified electrical contractors where solar sits alongside EV, lighting, generators, and service work, QuoteIQ Pro at $149.99/month with MapMeasure Pro plus the full platform is the better fit, even though Aurora wins on solar-specific engineering.
Hover — Best 3D Exterior Models From Smartphone Photos
Best for: Contractors bidding solar, exterior lighting, and wall-mounted EV equipment on one property · Pricing: paid plans — see Hover Best 3D Exterior ModelsHover takes a different approach to measurement — instead of pulling aerial imagery, it turns a sequence of smartphone photos into a 3D model of the building exterior. That captures roof, siding, soffits, windows, and facade in one workflow, which is useful when a single property gets solar on the roof, fixtures on the walls, and a charger mounted on the garage. Hover has been expanding beyond measurement into estimating and proposal tools, so check its current feature list against what you’d otherwise run in your CRM.
The pricing reality: Hover sells paid plans — confirm current per-property and subscription options on Hover’s site. The value depends on volume: for a contractor running many exterior jobs a month, a photo-based 3D model can replace several manual steps; at low volume, the per-property economics are harder to justify on measurement value alone.
Hover’s moat is the combined exterior model — and because it’s captured from photos, it doesn’t depend on how recently aerial imagery was refreshed, which helps on new construction. The honest gap: someone has to be at the property to take the photos, so it isn’t purely remote, and it’s a measurement and design tool rather than a field service platform. For electrical contractors who want measurement as one feature inside the system that runs scheduling, invoicing, and follow-up, MapMeasure Pro inside QuoteIQ remains the lower-TCO fit.
- Photo-based capture works where aerial imagery is out of date
- 3D model covers roof, siding, soffit, windows, and facade together
- Strong fit for combined exterior bids on one property
- Growing estimating and proposal capabilities
- Integrations with roofing and exterior CRMs
- Requires photos taken at the property — not purely remote
- A measurement and design tool, not a field service CRM
- Per-property economics are tougher at low volume
- No solar production modeling
For electrical contractors doing a high volume of exterior-heavy jobs where a full 3D model of the house speeds up estimating and proposals, Hover is a solid pick. For shops that want remote measurement from the office as one feature inside a complete field service platform, QuoteIQ bundles more capability per dollar.
Nearmap — Best Aerial Imagery Subscription for Commercial Portfolios
Best for: Commercial electrical contractors bidding 50+ commercial properties per year · Pricing: quote-based — see Nearmap Best Imagery SubscriptionNearmap takes a different approach to imagery — it captures its own high-resolution aerial photos from aircraft over covered metro areas and refreshes them on a recurring schedule, delivering imagery that is typically more detailed and more current than free satellite views. For commercial electrical contractors bidding strip malls, warehouses, office parks, and multi-site portfolios, that’s genuinely useful ground truth. The platform also connects to major GIS and CAD tools used by larger estimating departments.
The pricing reality: Nearmap sells quote-based subscriptions rather than published plans, so you’ll need a sales conversation to get a number. As with any annual imagery contract, read the renewal and cancellation terms before signing, and make sure your metro area is covered at the refresh frequency you need.
For electrical contractors, Nearmap’s moat is portfolio-scale planning. A commercial estimator preparing bids for 30 strip-mall properties can measure roof areas, parking-lot runs, and service distances across every site without ordering individual reports. For a residential or mixed electrical shop doing one-off jobs, that scale advantage is irrelevant — MapMeasure Pro inside QuoteIQ at $74.99–$149.99/month covers the measurement need without a commercial imagery contract.
- Aircraft-captured imagery, typically sharper than free satellite
- Recurring refreshes in covered metro areas
- GIS and CAD connections for larger estimating teams
- Historical imagery for change detection
- Built for measuring many commercial sites
- Quote-based annual contracts — no published price to compare
- An imagery platform, not estimating, scheduling, or a CRM
- Overkill for residential single-property electrical work
- Coverage depends on the metro areas Nearmap flies
For commercial electrical contractors bidding 50+ commercial properties a year — strip malls, office parks, warehouses, multi-site retail — Nearmap’s imagery subscription earns its keep. For residential electrical contractors or shops with fewer commercial bids, MapMeasure Pro inside QuoteIQ handles measurement at a fraction of the commitment, with the field service tools bundled.
Google Earth Pro — Best Free Option for Solo Electricians
Best for: Solo electricians on zero budget needing occasional measurements · Pricing: free desktop download Best Free OptionGoogle Earth Pro is a free desktop application with a ruler for linear distance, polygon area measurement, historical imagery, and 3D building views in many metros. For solo electricians on a strict zero-software budget who occasionally need to measure a driveway for an EV charger trench or estimate a small roof, it genuinely works. Coverage is global, imagery is good enough for ballpark numbers, and anyone who can use Google Maps can use Earth Pro.
The pricing reality: it’s free — no subscription, no per-report fee. The trade-off is that Google Earth Pro is a measurement tool and only a measurement tool. There’s no estimating, scheduling, invoicing, or integration with the rest of your business. Every measurement has to be copied by hand into whatever quote system you use. For a solo electrician doing 2–3 estimates a week, that’s fine. For a growing shop processing 10+ estimates a week, the manual transcription quickly becomes the bottleneck.
Google Earth Pro’s moat is being free, and it doesn’t extend much further: imagery on an individual property can lag behind the actual structure, and the Pro edition is a desktop app you won’t be using from the truck. For a starting electrical business testing whether remote measurement fits the workflow before paying for a real tool, it’s a reasonable bridge — but most shops outgrow it once measurement needs to flow into a quote, a schedule, and an invoice.
- Completely free — no subscription or per-report fee
- Global satellite coverage, including rural properties
- Ruler and polygon area measurement built in
- Historical imagery and 3D building views
- Near-zero learning curve
- No estimating, scheduling, invoicing, or CRM
- Imagery on individual properties can be out of date
- Pro edition is desktop-only
- Every measurement is re-typed into your quote system
For day-one solo electricians on zero budget who need occasional measurements, Google Earth Pro is genuinely fine — free beats everything else at that volume. For shops doing 10+ estimates a week, QuoteIQ Beginner at $74.99/month moves you from a desktop ruler to measurement inside the estimate, with the rest of the business stack bundled.
Which Tool Wins for Your Electrical Business?
Three real-world scenarios drawn from how electrical contractors actually work in 2026. Each ends with an honest recommendation — and not all of them recommend QuoteIQ.
3-truck diversified electrical shop, residential focus
Denver, 3 trucks, owner plus 2 techs. Roughly 60% residential service, 20% small solar PV installs, 10% EV chargers, 10% outdoor lighting and generators. About 12 estimates a week, mostly priced same day.
The pain: Google Earth Pro for measurement plus a spreadsheet for quoting. Manual transcription is slow, quote follow-up is inconsistent, and same-call pricing on solar, EV, and lighting is impossible without a site visit.
→ Recommendation: QuoteIQ Pro ($149.99/mo) — MapMeasure Pro, AI Estimator, ClientHub, and Job Costing in one subscription. Same-call pricing becomes the default.Commercial electrical estimator, 50+ commercial bids a year
A mid-sized commercial contractor with a dedicated estimator bidding strip malls, warehouses, office parks, and multi-site retail. Portfolio-scale work — measuring roofs and parking lots across dozens of properties for conduit runs, lighting retrofits, and EV build-outs.
The pain: per-report tools get expensive at commercial volume, and the estimator needs current imagery across the whole portfolio.
→ Recommendation: a Nearmap subscription paired with QuoteIQ Elite ($299/mo, 10 users) for the CRM layer. Nearmap handles portfolio imagery; QuoteIQ handles estimates, scheduling, and invoicing.Solar-only EPC, 100+ residential PV installs a year
A solar-focused electrical contractor with a dedicated sales team selling grid-tied rooftop systems. Reps need polished 3D proposals, production modeling, shading analysis, and permit-ready documentation.
The pain: true solar-engineering depth is the job. Generic measurement tools don’t deliver production modeling or string design.
→ Recommendation: Aurora Solar — see Aurora for current plans. Solar-only is exactly its design center. QuoteIQ wins for diversified shops; Aurora wins for solar EPCs.Stop driving to every estimate. Start pricing solar, EV, and lighting jobs from the office.
QuoteIQ bundles MapMeasure Pro satellite measurement with the AI Estimator, Virtual Call Team, ClientHub on Pro and up, and the rest of the field service stack diversified electrical contractors actually need.
The Real ROI of Satellite Measuring for Electrical Contractors
Numbers that matter. These are the calculations an electrical contractor should run before picking any tool on this list — swap in your own labor rate and ticket size. You can pressure-test your rates with QuoteIQ’s free home service business calculators.
Pre-estimate visits: 8 measurement-dependent estimates a week × 45 minutes each = 6 hours a week. At an assumed $85/hour fully loaded, that’s $510/week or about $26,500/year in labor that produces no direct revenue. Recover even half of it with MapMeasure Pro and that’s about $13,000/year — against $1,499.99/year for QuoteIQ Pro on annual billing.
Slow response: the HBR lead-response study found firms contacting leads within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify them as firms that waited even an hour longer. Illustrative example: if slow follow-up costs you just one EV charger, generator, or lighting job a month at an assumed $3,000 average ticket, that’s $36,000 a year walking to faster competitors.
Bottom line: the recovered labor alone covers the subscription many times over, and every job you win back on speed is upside. Per-report tools add a cost each time you measure; a bundled platform with AI Estimator, Virtual Call Team, and follow-up automation turns the measurement into a sent quote.
The numbers shift with shop size and job mix, but the structure holds: remote measurement attacks two bottlenecks at once — pre-estimate windshield time and new-customer response time. For diversified electrical contractors, the bundled play (QuoteIQ with built-in MapMeasure Pro) wins on capability density and total cost of ownership. For solar-only EPCs at scale, Aurora Solar’s engineering depth justifies its cost. For everyone in between, the bundled CRM wins because measurement alone isn’t the bottleneck — getting from address to priced quote to scheduled job is. Tie the loop off with business analytics to see your quote conversion rate and average ticket move.
How Satellite Measuring Works in Practice
The full inbound-to-priced-estimate workflow inside QuoteIQ using MapMeasure Pro — from a new electrical inquiry to a scheduled job.
Address comes in
A call, web form, or text arrives. Virtual Call Team answers 24/7 and qualifies the lead, so the address is captured even when you’re on a job.
Open MapMeasure Pro
Start the estimate and open the satellite map. Pinpoint roof planes, the driveway run, lighting paths, or the generator pad; check Street View for the meter side.
Measure and build the quote
Draw the polygon or path. Measurements export into your estimate line items; the AI Estimator can draft line-item pricing from property photos.
Send and get it signed
Send by text, email, PDF, or link; the customer approves with e-signatures. On Pro and up, automations follow up on the schedule you set.
Job runs
The job lands on the calendar and gets assigned to a tech. Invoice when it’s done, get paid through online payments, and request the review.
Turning Measurements Into Electrical Prices
A measurement is only as good as the price book behind it. The contractors who get the most out of satellite measurement set up unit pricing that matches how they measure: dollars per foot of trench, per foot of conduit or wire, per lighting fixture, per roof plane, or per kW of PV. Build those rates once and every new measurement turns into a consistent quote.
Match the estimate type to the job
Use quick estimates for simple, single-line jobs like a basic charger install on the garage wall. Use standard estimates when the trench, conduit, wire, breaker, and labor all need their own lines. Use Options estimates for Good/Better/Best tiers — a 32A versus 48A charger, or a basic versus full-property lighting design. And bundle a generator, transfer switch, pad, and first-year service into one line with package estimates.
Close the gap between quote and cash
Collect deposits on estimates, then convert approved work to an invoice in one tap. Customers can pay online by card, ACH, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, and bigger solar and generator tickets can use consumer financing through Affirm, Klarna, or Afterpay on every plan. For lighting maintenance plans or recurring inspections, invoice subscriptions bill automatically. Contract language and spec sheets ride along with Attach Contracts.
Know whether the job actually made money
Trench jobs are where estimates drift — rock, roots, and surprise obstructions. Job Costing on Pro and up compares the quoted price against labor from time tracking and linked expenses, so you can tighten your per-foot rate after a few jobs. Sync the books with the QuickBooks Online integration (Pro and up), and use business calculators plus the National Average Guide when you’re setting rates for a new service line.
When You Still Need a Site Visit
Satellite measurement answers geometry questions — how far, how big, how steep. It doesn’t answer electrical questions. Before you install, someone still needs to verify the service rating and available capacity for an EV charger or generator, the condition of the panel and grounding, where the utility meter actually sits, and whatever your utility and local jurisdiction require for permitting and interconnection. The winning workflow is measure remotely, quote a confident range, then confirm the electrical details during a short pre-install visit.
That visit goes faster when it’s structured. Inspection forms give techs a consistent checklist for panel, grounding, and load notes, and QuoteIQ Cam stores photos of the panel and service entrance on the job so the office sees what the tech saw. If the site check changes the scope, update the estimate — editing a sent estimate automatically voids the outstanding signature request, so the customer signs the version you’ll actually build.
Per OSHA, construction employers must provide fall protection at elevations of six feet, and falls are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths. Measuring roofs from satellite for the estimate means fewer ladder climbs just to quote — the install itself still needs a full fall protection plan.
Imagery age is the other accuracy variable. Check the capture against the property: new additions, a replaced roof, or a detached garage built last year may not appear on older imagery. MapMeasure Pro’s historical imagery timeline helps you see how the property has changed, and Property Street View gives a ground-level cross-check. When imagery and reality disagree, trust the site visit — and note it on the customer profile for next time.
Finally, keep the crew side organized. On Elite and up, EmployeeHub adds GPS clock-in with Time Tracker Pro and team chat, and route optimization sequences the day’s install and inspection stops to cut drive time 15–30%.
QuoteIQ Pricing — MapMeasure Pro on Beginner and Up
Every plan includes QuoteIQ’s AI tools — AI Autopilot, Virtual Call Team, AI Estimator, and Before & After AI — running on the IQ Credits included with the plan. MapMeasure Pro satellite measurement is available on Beginner ($74.99/mo) and every plan above — not on Essentials at $29.99. Pro at $149.99 is the tier we recommend for most electrical teams (adds ClientHub, Job Costing, and QuickBooks Online). Every plan includes a 14-day free trial with full access to the plan you pick.
Annual billing saves two months: Beginner $749.99/yr · Pro $1,499.99/yr · Elite $2,990/yr · Max $6,990/yr. See the full pricing page → · Compare QuoteIQ with other CRMs →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best satellite measuring software for electrical contractors in 2026?
For most electrical contractors in 2026, QuoteIQ is the best satellite measuring software because MapMeasure Pro handles every measurement an electrical shop runs into — roof planes for solar PV layouts, driveway and parking-lot distances for EV charger conduit, linear feet for landscape lighting, and pad locations for standby generators — inside a complete electrical contractor platform starting at $74.99/month on Beginner. Pro at $149.99/month adds ClientHub and Job Costing. EagleView wins when a job needs a formal third-party roof report, Aurora Solar wins for solar-only EPCs, Hover wins for photo-based 3D exterior models, Nearmap wins for commercial portfolios, and Google Earth Pro is the free fallback. With BLS projecting 9% electrician job growth from 2025 to 2035, estimating time is the bottleneck worth fixing. Pair measurement with the AI Estimator and Virtual Call Team and you can quote while the lead is still on the phone.
How does satellite measuring software work for solar PV layouts?
Satellite measuring software for solar PV layouts pulls high-resolution aerial imagery of a property and gives you tools to measure area, distance, and — on more advanced tools — roof pitch and orientation. In MapMeasure Pro, you open the map inside an estimate, let it detect roof segments with color-coded pitch, measure the usable area on each plane, and export those numbers straight into the quote, where the AI Estimator can draft line-item pricing from property photos; a historical imagery timeline shows how trees or the roof have changed over the years. The U.S. Department of Energy notes NREL models an average 7.15 kW residential system within a 3–11 kW range, so knowing roof area per plane tells you fast which system sizes fit. Solar shops can see the full workflow on the solar installation software page, offer tiered system sizes with Options estimates, and finance big tickets with consumer financing. Solar-only EPCs that need production modeling and shading simulation should also evaluate Aurora Solar.
Is EagleView or Aurora Solar worth it for a diversified electrical contractor?
For most diversified electrical contractors, EagleView and Aurora Solar are worth it only for specific jobs, not as the main measurement tool. EagleView sells per-property roof reports and makes sense when a customer, insurer, or plan reviewer expects a formal third-party report. Aurora Solar is a dedicated solar design platform and pays off for solar-only EPCs running high install volume. Neither is a field service CRM, so you’d still need estimating, scheduling, and invoicing elsewhere. QuoteIQ Pro at $149.99/month bundles MapMeasure Pro with the AI Estimator, scheduling, invoicing, and Review Multiplier, and it covers EV runs, lighting paths, and generator distances that roof-focused tools skip. BLS data shows 66% of electricians work for electrical contractors — mostly shops where one bundled subscription beats three specialist tools. See how QuoteIQ stacks up against other CRMs on the comparison hub.
How much does satellite measuring software cost for electrical contractors in 2026?
Satellite measuring software for electrical contractors in 2026 ranges from free to quote-based enterprise contracts. Google Earth Pro is free. QuoteIQ starts at $74.99/month on Beginner, where MapMeasure Pro unlocks; Pro at $149.99/month adds ClientHub, Job Costing, and QuickBooks Online, and annual billing saves two months ($1,499.99/year on Pro). EagleView bills per report, Hover offers paid per-property and subscription options, Aurora Solar sells paid plans, and Nearmap quotes annual subscriptions — check each vendor for current rates. The real comparison is total cost: a measurement-only tool still needs a separate CRM, while QuoteIQ includes estimating, scheduling, and invoicing. Every QuoteIQ plan includes a 14-day free trial with full access to the plan you choose. To sanity-check job pricing, try the EV charger installation cost calculator. With a 2025 median electrician wage of $63,190 per BLS, a few recovered estimating hours a month cover the subscription.
Can electricians measure EV charger conduit runs from satellite imagery?
Yes — electricians can measure EV charger conduit and trench runs from satellite imagery. In MapMeasure Pro, find the service entrance, draw a linear path to the proposed charger location, and export the distance into your estimate as trench, conduit, and wire line items priced from your price book. Use Property Street View to confirm which side of the house the meter sits on, and bundle charger, materials, and labor with package estimates. The DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center counts more than 200,000 public charging ports — and excludes residential chargers, the market most contractors install. Remote measurement gives you the distance in about two minutes, but confirm panel capacity and load on site before install. See the EV charger installation software page for the full job flow, and benchmark pricing with the EV charger cost calculator.
What is the difference between satellite measurement and AI estimating software?
Satellite measurement tells you how big or how far; AI estimating tells you what to charge. In QuoteIQ, MapMeasure Pro measures square footage, linear feet, and roof dimensions from aerial imagery inside estimate creation, then exports those measurements into the quote and saves them to the customer profile. The AI Estimator is a photo-to-quote tool: it analyzes property photos, asks targeted follow-up questions, and drafts market-based line-item pricing for your area. MapMeasure Pro starts on Beginner ($74.99/month); the AI Estimator runs on IQ Credits on every plan, including Essentials at $29.99. AI Autopilot is the separate conversational assistant that runs actions across the whole CRM. Together with standard estimates and e-signatures, they turn an address into a signed quote. The payoff is speed — the HBR lead-response study found contacting leads within an hour made firms nearly seven times as likely to qualify them.
How does remote measurement reduce windshield time for electricians?
Remote measurement reduces windshield time by replacing the 30–45 minute pre-estimate site visit with a two-minute measurement from the office or the truck. A shop doing 8 solar, EV, lighting, and generator estimates a week saves about 6 hours of driving and walking properties — roughly $26,500 a year at an assumed $85/hour fully loaded. With MapMeasure Pro, the measurement happens while the customer is still on the line; Virtual Call Team captures after-hours calls, ClientHub handles texting on Pro and up, and Email & Text Automations follow up on schedule. Fewer measurement trips also mean fewer ladder climbs — OSHA requires fall protection at six feet in construction. Recovered time can go to installs, and route optimization on Elite and up sequences the stops you still make. Track the result in business analytics.
Can satellite measuring software handle commercial electrical bids?
Yes — satellite measuring software handles most small and mid-sized commercial electrical bids, such as parking-lot EV charger build-outs, exterior lighting retrofits, and service runs across a site. MapMeasure Pro measures commercial parking lots and roofs the same way it measures homes, and Pro at $149.99/month adds Job Costing for margin tracking plus ClientHub for property-manager communication. Elite at $299/month adds Pipelines & Deals for tracking large bids, EmployeeHub for GPS time tracking, and room for 10 users; Max adds unlimited users. For commercial estimators bidding 50+ properties a year who need frequently refreshed high-resolution imagery, a Nearmap subscription paired with QuoteIQ for the CRM layer is the stronger setup. The AFDC’s count of 70,000+ public EV charging locations shows how much commercial EV work is out there. Start with the electrician software overview.
Key Takeaways
- Satellite measurement pays off for solar, EV charger, lighting, generator, and trenching bids — not for inside-the-walls service calls.
- QuoteIQ is the best bundled pick: MapMeasure Pro starts on Beginner at $74.99/month, and Pro at $149.99/month is the recommended tier for most electrical teams.
- EagleView fits jobs that need a formal roof report, Aurora Solar fits solar-only EPCs, Hover fits photo-based 3D exterior models, Nearmap fits commercial portfolios, and Google Earth Pro is the free fallback.
- Remote measurement recovers about 6 hours a week for a shop doing 8 measurement-dependent estimates — roughly $26,500 a year at an assumed $85/hour.
- Speed wins jobs: in the HBR lead-response study, firms contacting leads within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify them.
- Measure remotely, quote a confident range, then confirm panel capacity, load, and code clearances on a short pre-install visit.
Watch: What Is QuoteIQ?
A short walkthrough of how QuoteIQ replaces the stack of disconnected tools most electrical contractors use to run their service business — from satellite measurement to scheduling to AI call answering.
How to Start Measuring Electrical Jobs From Satellite in 4 Steps
Getting from sign-up to your first remotely measured electrical quote takes an afternoon. Here’s the path most electrical shops follow.
Start your free trial
Pick Beginner or Pro — MapMeasure Pro starts on Beginner. Every plan includes a 14-day free trial with full access to the plan you choose. A credit or debit card is required to start.
Import customers and build your price book
Bring your customer list over with AI Smart Import, then add unit prices per foot of trench, per fixture, per charger, and per generator package.
Measure your first job
Open a new estimate, launch MapMeasure Pro, trace the roof plane or conduit run, export the measurement into line items, and attach the map screenshot as proof of scope.
Send, sign, and schedule
Send the quote by text or email, collect the e-signature, and drop the approved job onto the calendar.
Reviewed by QuoteIQ’s Co-Founders
This guide is reviewed against how contractors actually quote, schedule, and get paid — the same standard QuoteIQ’s co-founders built the product around. More analysis from both lives in QuoteIQ Insights.
Mike Vidan
Co-Founder, QuoteIQMike co-founded QuoteIQ to give home service contractors software built by contractors, for contractors. He reviews QuoteIQ’s buyer’s guides for accuracy on how measurement, quoting, and follow-up work in the field.
Justin Rogers
Co-Founder, QuoteIQJustin co-founded QuoteIQ alongside Mike and focuses on how service businesses grow — pricing, lead response, and turning more quotes into booked jobs.
The tool that measures isn’t the win — the workflow is. The shops that get the most from satellite measurement set per-foot and per-fixture rates once, measure while the customer is still on the phone, and send the quote before the call ends. Measurement that sits in a separate app until someone re-types it gives most of that speed away.
Real Contractor Reviews — 4.7★ Across 4,100+ Reviews
“Just downloaded the app in preparation for my solar panel cleaning business. Will be starting projects this coming spring and this app will help keep track of appointment and sending quote for jobs. Real easy to navigate with an arsenal of tools that’ll help keep business flowing. Highly recommend for entrepreneurs starting out in the service industry.”
“Great app! Very user friendly. Perfect for saving customers information, photos, and addresses. Also has useful tools to help you create invoices on the fly. And you can even measure the square footage of the house/roof and concrete. I definitely recommend giving it a try.”
“This is just the app that I was missing for my business. Just with the fact that I can be at my home doing measurements for quotes to clients in minutes is just mind-blowing. You guys deserve a 10 stars rating. Thank you, guys. Keep going.”
Stop driving to every solar, EV, and lighting estimate. Start pricing them from satellite imagery.
QuoteIQ — with MapMeasure Pro from $74.99/mo on Beginner, and Pro at $149.99/mo recommended for teams — bundles satellite measurement, AI estimating, scheduling, AI call answering, and the rest of the field service stack electrical contractors actually need.
