Last updated 10 September 2026
Quick answer: Open the free Latitude and Longitude Finder, type the address and pick it from the list. A pin drops on the satellite photo and you get the coordinates in decimal degrees and degrees, minutes, seconds, each with a copy button. Drag the pin or tap the map to move it. Works anywhere in the world and nothing is stored.
Sooner or later a form asks you for coordinates. Solar design software wants them, drone inspection apps want them, grid connection paperwork wants them, and so does PV Fleet when you add a site. Google Maps will give them to you if you know the right click trick, but it’s clunky on a phone and it doesn’t show the DMS format some forms still insist on. So we built a simple one.
What is the Latitude and Longitude Finder for?
It turns an address, or any spot you tap on a satellite map, into GPS coordinates. You get latitude and longitude as decimal degrees (the format nearly everything uses now), the pair together ready to paste, and the older degrees, minutes, seconds format with N/S and E/W letters. There’s a copy button next to each, a link to open the spot in Google Maps, and a line showing the nearest street address to wherever the pin is sitting.
How do I use it?
Step one: type the address and pick it from the list. The map jumps to a satellite photo and drops a red pin. For most Australian street addresses the pin lands on the roof, because the geocoder uses point address data rather than guessing along the street.
Step two: check the pin. If it’s in the street or on the neighbour’s place, which happens in newer estates and regional areas, drag it onto the spot you need, or just tap the map where you want it. The coordinates update as you move.
Step three: hit Copy next to the format you want. Copy link saves the exact spot, map position and all, so you can send it to someone or come back to it later.
There’s also a Use my location button, most useful on a phone. It drops the pin at your GPS position and tells you the accuracy, which is handy when you’re standing at a rural site with a lot number and no street address.
What do the numbers mean?
Latitude is how far north or south of the equator you are. Longitude is how far east or west of Greenwich in London. In decimal degrees, south and west are negative, so all of Australia has a negative latitude and a positive longitude. The Sydney Opera House, for example, is at about -33.8568, 151.2153.
The DMS line says the same thing the old way: 33° 51′ 24″ S, 151° 12′ 55″ E. If a form rejects your negative number, it probably wants this format with separate letters, or separate N/S and E/W fields.
The coordinates use WGS84, which is what GPS, Google Maps and every solar design tool expect. Australia’s official GDA2020 datum differs by under two metres. For solar work that’s irrelevant. Six decimal places is roughly 10 cm on the ground, so you can round to four and nobody will notice.
Why does a solar company care about coordinates?
Because latitude is the first thing every solar calculation needs. The sun’s path depends on it, so the best tilt for panels, the expected yield of a roof and the baseline a monitoring system compares against all start with latitude. PVWatts, SAM and PV*SOL ask for coordinates before anything else. The link under the result sends your latitude straight into our Solar Panel Angle Calculator, so you can see the ideal tilt and direction for that spot in one click.
For installers and maintenance crews it goes further. Drone flight plans, site records for a portfolio, and simply finding a ground mount array in a paddock all come down to a pair of numbers. Once you’re in the habit of putting coordinates on every site record, you wonder how you managed without them.
Does it store my address?
No. There’s no database behind the tool. The address lookup goes to the Esri World Geocoder, the imagery comes from Esri, and the coordinates are worked out in your browser. PV Fleet doesn’t see or save any of it. A shared link carries the pin position in the link itself.
Adding sites to a solar portfolio?
Coordinates tell you where a system is. PV Fleet tells you whether it’s working. It connects to the inverter monitoring you already have, whatever the brand, learns what each site should produce and alerts you within hours when one drops off. It’s built for councils, installers and anyone else who looks after dozens of sites and don’t want to log into a dozen apps. Book a free demo or see pricing.
All six free tools (roof azimuth, roof tilt, panel angle, roof area and panel count, a latitude and longitude finder, and a solar orientation comparison) are on the free solar tools page. No signup, and they work for any address.