North Carolina solar leads, every roof checked from the air.
Before a Triangle home goes on one of our solar call lists, its roof is checked in current aerial photos. By October 7, 2026 we had checked 35,294 roofs in 16 ZIP areas around Raleigh, Cary and Apex. 70% passed. The rest had too much tree shade (14%), a roof hidden by trees (10%) or panels already on it (2.5%).
The ZIP counts are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit.
ZIP by ZIP
Where Triangle roofs pass, and why they fail.
Shares are of the roofs we checked in that ZIP, printed where we checked at least 300. Willow Spring 27592: fewer than 300 so far, count only. Sort any column.
| 27502 | Apex | 7,601 | 80% | 9.8% | 4.7% | 3.5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27513 | Cary | 5,742 | 64% | 20% | 11% | 2.2% |
| 27511 | Cary | 4,102 | 40% | 32% | 23% | 1.1% |
| 27523 | Apex | 2,738 | 80% | 2.8% | 8.8% | 4.9% |
| 27518 | Cary | 2,694 | 68% | 18% | 11% | 1.3% |
| 27519 | Cary | 2,568 | 83% | 9.4% | 3.7% | 3.1% |
| 27539 | Apex | 2,291 | 75% | 7.6% | 12% | 2.0% |
| 27526 | Fuquay-Varina | 1,749 | 64% | 8.7% | 17% | 1.5% |
| 27529 | Garner | 1,717 | 58% | 20% | 14% | 1.6% |
| 27540 | Holly Springs | 964 | 83% | 9.6% | 3.6% | 2.7% |
| 27545 | Knightdale | 860 | 70% | 18% | 9.7% | 1.3% |
| 27560 | Morrisville | 700 | 89% | 0.9% | 5.0% | 2.7% |
| 27571 + 27562 | Rolesville and New Hill | 560 | 84% | 3.2% | 6.4% | 3.0% |
| 27587 | Wake Forest | 540 | 66% | 14% | 14% | 0.2% |
| 27591 | Wendell | 330 | 67% | 14% | 12% | 1.8% |
| 27592 | Willow Spring | 138 | — | — | — | — |
What we found
Most failed roofs fail on trees.
Of the 10,696 roofs that failed, 82% failed on tree shade or a roof hidden by trees. Morrisville 27560 passed 89% of the roofs we checked. Cary 27511 passed 40%: there, 32% of roofs were too shaded and 23% hidden by trees.
No database field shows that gap. It only shows from above, which is why every roof is checked before a list is handed over, and why a list for a leafy ZIP needs more homes to start with.
Method
What was counted.
The homes are from owner lists we traced in October 2026, where the trace found the owner’s own mobile number. Only those are photo-checked. Homes decided without a photo (address not found, a townhouse unit) are left out of the counts.
A roof passes when the photo shows no panels or panel-like shapes, the roof is visible, 40% or less of it is under tree shade in summer imagery, it is not in poor shape, and the building is a house. “Panels already” is what the photo shows, not a permit record. Counted 2026-10-07; the counts are refreshed as more checks finish.
What a list includes: how our solar lists work.
Data dictionary
The CSV's columns.
| Column | What it counts |
|---|---|
zip | ZIP code (two ZIPs that were checked as one list share a row) |
area | Town the ZIP is in |
roofs_checked | Homes whose roof we looked at from the air: owner-list homes where we found the owner's own mobile number, less those decided without a photo (address not found, a townhouse unit) |
passed | Roofs that passed: no panels or panel-like shapes, the roof visible, tree shade on the roof 40% or less, the roof not in poor shape, and the building a house |
too_shaded | Roofs with more than 40% of the roof under tree canopy in summer imagery |
roof_hidden | Roofs mostly hidden by trees or shadow, so they could not be judged |
panels_already | Roofs with solar panels already on them (or panel rows in the yard of the same lot) |
maybe_panels | Roofs with a panel-like shape we could not rule out; never put on a list |
other | Poor roof, the building not a house (barn, shed), or another reason |
checked_on | The day the counts were read |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
How many Triangle homes already have solar panels?
Of the 35,294 roofs we checked from the air in 16 Triangle ZIP areas (October 7, 2026), 876 (2.5%) already had panels. The highest share was Apex 27523 at 4.9%. Those homes come off a new-install list.
Which ZIPs pass the solar check most often?
Morrisville 27560 passed most often (89% of 700 roofs) and Cary 27511 least often (40% of 4,102). The table on this page has every ZIP, and the CSV has the counts behind it.
What does roof-checked mean?
Before a home goes on a list, its roof is looked at in current aerial photos. It comes off if it already has panels or something that could be panels, if the roof is hidden by trees, if more than 40% of the roof is under tree shade in summer, if the roof is in poor shape, or if the building is not a house.
Why do some ZIPs fail more often than others?
Mostly trees. In Cary 27511, 32% of the roofs we checked were too shaded and 23% were hidden by trees. In Morrisville 27560, 0.9% were too shaded and 5.0% hidden.
Can I get a list for my ZIPs?
Yes. Tell us the ZIPs or towns your reps cover and roughly how many homes you can work in a month, and we will come back with what is available.
Get a Triangle list quotedCite this data
How to credit it.
LeadsUp Tracer, "Solar roof checks in the North Carolina Triangle, by ZIP", counted 2026-10-07, https://leadsupdata.com/north-carolina/solar-leads. CC BY 4.0.
Tell us your Triangle ZIPs.
Send the ZIPs or towns your reps cover and roughly how many homes you can work in a month. We will come back with what is available there.