Most residential roofs in this region can support solar, but "most" is not "all," and the difference between a quick phone estimate and a real, physical site assessment is often the difference between a system that performs as promised and one that quietly underdelivers for reasons that were entirely knowable in advance.
A proper site assessment evaluates several distinct factors, each addressing a different failure mode. Structural capacity comes first: the roof needs to safely bear the weight of mounting hardware and panels over decades, factoring in wind load in particular, since mounting structures are required to withstand minimum wind pressure specifications set by MNRE. This is assessed visually and, where needed, through basic structural judgment by the site engineer — not assumed simply because the building looks sturdy.
Shading assessment is the factor most often underestimated by homeowners doing their own informal evaluation. A roof that looks completely sun-exposed at 11 AM when a salesperson happens to visit may have a neighboring building or a large tree casting a meaningful shadow across part of the array for two or three hours in the late afternoon — and because shading on even a small portion of a panel string can disproportionately reduce output across the whole string depending on wiring configuration, this single overlooked detail can meaningfully affect real-world performance versus the estimate you were given.
Roof material and type dictates the mounting approach: a flat RCC terrace uses a different structural mounting method than a sloped tile roof or a metal sheet roof, and using the wrong approach for your specific roof type is a common source of later water leakage or structural stress — this is exactly why installation warranty terms (covered in topic 10) matter as much as component warranty.
Existing obstructions — water tanks, overhead cabling, chimney structures, satellite dishes — need to be mapped so the panel layout works around them rather than being planned in the abstract and adjusted awkwardly on installation day. And a detail genuinely worth raising yourself if the assessor doesn't ask: any plans you have for future construction, such as adding a floor, should be discussed now, since panel placement decisions made today could otherwise need to be redone at real cost later.
If you live in a housing society or a building with a shared or RWA-managed terrace, this assessment also needs to factor in society approval requirements and how solar installation coexists with other residents' use of the shared space — a conversation that should happen before, not after, you've committed to a system size and price.
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