Running a solar installation firm is six jobs done well: finding and keeping the enquiry, surveying and designing the roof, checking the electrics, writing the quote, running the install, and knowing the numbers. One guide for each, and under each the guides that go deeper.
Managing solar enquiries: from first contact to a signed quote
The eight stages every enquiry passes through, the one mistake firms make at each, and the routines that keep enquiries moving: the daily call-back list, the weekly review, handovers, busy seasons and the installed base.
Survey and design: getting the roof right before you quote
What has to be known about a roof before the price is written: the desktop look, the survey as structured capture, the design on the real roof, where the generation figure comes from, and the checks before pricing.
The electrical checks on every solar job
The six families of check between a layout and a price: the string, the DC side, the AC side and the grid connection, batteries, other loads, and the check kept as a record.
What a solar quote should contain
The seven parts of a quote the customer can check: the system, the price line by line, the tax, the savings estimate with its inputs, the terms, how it reaches them, and what happens when they say yes.
Planning and running the install
From deposit to handover: what has to be true before a date is promised, booking the crew, the week before, the days on site, commissioning, moving a date, and capacity.
Running a solar installation business by the numbers
The seven numbers an owner should know, where each comes from, and the weekly half hour and monthly hour that turn them into decisions.