Solar potential of roofs
solar_potentialRoof characteristics for solar screening: footprint area, roof shape and material, building height, and whether panels are already present.
Same call over REST
Energy solar potential/v1/energy/solar-potentialNot connected yet? Connect your assistant. Sign in with your MarketCode account; no API key needed.
Reference
What solar_potential answers
Returns NO generation estimate, deliberately. Pitch, orientation and shading are not in the warehouse, and a kWp figure derived from footprint alone would read as a yield forecast without being one. Report the usable roof area as a screening figure and say what it excludes.
UK only.
Inputs
Before you call it
- uprns
- A UPRN is the Unique Property Reference Number every UK address carries. Narrow the address with address_autocomplete, which is free, then address_resolve returns the UPRN for 8 credits. property_summary and address_by_postcode return UPRNs too.
Example
An example call to solar_potential
Use the MarketCode tool solar_potential with {"uprns":["200003443835"]} and show me the result.{
"buildings": [
{
"building_id": "<string>",
"uprn": 0,
"total_footprint_area_m2": "<string>",
"height_m_above_sea_level": 0,
"building_height_m": "<string>",
"num_floors": 0,
"roof_shape": "<string>",
"roof_material": "<string>",
"solar_panel_presence": "<string>",
"building_use_primary": "<string>",
"n_units": 0,
"n_residential_units": 0,
"already_has_panels": false,
"usable_roof_area_m2_estimate": 0
}
],
"count": 0,
"usable_area_basis": "<string>",
"note": "<string>",
"credits_charged": 0
}Shape only. This call returns licensed records, so the keys are real and every value is a placeholder of its type.
Inputs
Arguments solar_potential takes
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| uprns | integer[] | Yes |
Response
What comes back
| Field | Type |
|---|---|
| buildings | array |
| buildings[].building_id | string |
| buildings[].uprn | integer |
| buildings[].total_footprint_area_m2 | string |
| buildings[].height_m_above_sea_level | number |
| buildings[].building_height_m | string |
| buildings[].num_floors | integer |
| buildings[].roof_shape | string |
| buildings[].roof_material | string |
| buildings[].solar_panel_presence | string |
| buildings[].building_use_primary | string |
| buildings[].n_units | integer |
| buildings[].n_residential_units | integer |
| buildings[].already_has_panels | boolean |
| buildings[].usable_roof_area_m2_estimate | number |
| count | integer |
| usable_area_basis | string |
| note | string |
| credits_charged | integer |
Fields observed in the example response above; a field the example did not exercise is not listed.
Usage
How to run solar_potential in your assistant
Ask your assistant in plain English, for example:
"Use the MarketCode tool solar_potential for <address or area>.
Show the result and the credits charged."
The arguments the assistant will send, for the example on this page:
{"uprns":["200003443835"]}The connect steps for Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and Claude Code are on the MCP page.
Price and licence
What it costs, and where the data comes from
solar_potential costs 4 credits per successful call over MCP and over REST, and the two surfaces share one credit balance.
The price covers licensed records in the response, from Ordnance Survey. A call that fails is not charged.
Credits are granted on sign-up and bought in packs; the pricing page lists every call.
Sources
- Ordnance Survey
National Geographic Database (buildings, land and sites)
Used under licence from Ordnance Survey · Great Britain
Related
Tools used with solar_potential
- Energy profile of an areaFree
energy_profileEnergy composition of an area: EPC band mix, mains gas / electric / oil split, heat-pump penetration.Same category - EPC certificates for a propertyFree
epc_certificatesEvery Energy Performance Certificate lodged against a property, newest first, with current and potential efficiency, CO2, heating fuel and system, floor area and construction age.Same category - Retrofit candidates in an area6 credits
retrofit_candidatesProperties in an area with the most improvement headroom, ranked by potential efficiency. Defaults to the sub-standard bands E, F and G.Same category
FAQ
Questions about solar_potential
How much does `solar_potential` cost?
+
solar_potential costs 4 credits per successful call over MCP and over REST, and the two surfaces share one credit balance. The price covers licensed records in the response, from Ordnance Survey. A call that fails is not charged.
Do I need to resolve the address first?
+
Yes. solar_potential takes a UPRN, not an address. Start with address_autocomplete (free) to narrow the address, then address_resolve (8 credits) to get the UPRN. An assistant with the MarketCode skills installed does both steps on its own.
Which assistants can run `solar_potential`?
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Any MCP client: Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Claude Code), ChatGPT in developer mode, Codex and Cursor, each documented on the MCP page. You sign in with your MarketCode account over OAuth; there is no key to paste, and the connection is read-only.
Where does the data come from?
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Read from Ordnance Survey NGD. Coverage is the UK.
Can I store or republish the results?
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The response includes records we license from Ordnance Survey. Use them in your own analysis, reports and products; bulk redistribution of the raw records or building a competing dataset from them is not covered. Ask us if you need a redistribution licence.
Does `solar_potential` change anything?
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No. The tool is annotated read-only on the server, so it never writes to your data or ours and an assistant can call it without a confirmation step.
Try solar_potential in your assistant.
30-minute call. We'll connect your assistant live on a real address.