Creating a Solar Design and Proposal (Overview)

Last Updated: 18^th November 2024

Applies to:

Solar Installer users
Enterprise users

What You Need To Do:

After the opportunity has been created click on Solar Technology in the top navigation bar.
Note: If the proposal is shared be sure to un-share to enable editing.
Note: Before you start, make sure you are within an opportunity (not on the home screen). If your not sure how to create an opportunity, check out our article: Creating a proposal - Start to Finish

If the opportunity was automatically generated see the below steps - if not jump to step 2.
1. Delete the automatically generated solar panel area by using the bin tool.
2. Enter full screen mode and zoom in on the are home or business you want to install solar on.
Using the + Area tool start by outlining the different facits of the roof (or ground area if ground mount)

Note: The azimith is auto-generated in alignment to the longest edge of the shape drawn. So make sure you always start by making the longest edge aligned to the direction you want the panels to slope.

Pro Tip 1: For roof's where the azimuth is not aligned to the longest edge, force the azimuth / panels to auto point in the right direction by making the longest edge the way you want the panels facing and close the shape i.e. you can acieve this by making a small tryangle (even though it's not following the roof exactly yet) - then pull out the shape courners and click on the lines to add additional dots to then make it follow the roof as you like - at least this way the panels are facing the right direction and you dont need to manually play with the numeric input in the properties box - this is a massive time saver.
E.g. below showing the panels facing the wrong direction due to the longest edget not being the bottom of that roof area.

E.g. below - showing the user of the pro tip and how you can force the panels to face the right way in 3 simple steps. 1 Draw a small triangle making the longest edget the bottom of the roof area, 2. click on any of the lines to add a dot and drag to next roof edge, 3. add more dots and drag out to all edges of the roof to complete.
For each area you draw there is a properties box which is visible when you click on a given panel (make sure you dont have any tool selected before clicking on a panel). Here is where you let the software know about the properties of this group of selected panels.
The below shows i) the area was named, ii) the layout type was changed to Brick and iii) the panels dragged accross and area dots re-aligned with the roof edges to sit the panels in the center of the roof.

Note: At this point the aim is not to design how many panels you want on the roof but to show the software what can fit. This enables the software to help you see the economics of different size options so you can pick the best option/s aligned to their needs and your busines.
Below is an example of this roof completed including an exclusion zone added using the Zone tool.
Once you have finished making the areas you need and setting their properties appropriatley, exit the full screen mode and click Save.
The next page that loads shows you the resulting project options.
From here you can add one or more opitons to the customer proposal by clicking the Add button as seen below. You can also remove any that have been added by clicking the Remove button.

Important!
Following is some typical actions proficient users of the software frequently leverage to get the exact proposals they are after. If you plan on selling solar power with this software you will need to familarise yourself with the below:
1. How to edit of the pricing and control what quote line items the customer sees in your solar proposals.
  Recommended Article: How to Use the Budgets (Overview)
2. Set the proposal options to either indicative (Customer call to action = 'Request Quote') or non-indicative (Customer call to action = 'Accept and Sign Proposal).
  Recommended Article: Indicative and Non Indicative Proposals
3. Create different solar power sizes using power targets.
  Recommended Article: Create Different Solar Size Options
4. See how to change the inverter from what was auto selected.
  Recommended Article: Change the solar inverter
5. Easily add solar options with different products that you may wish to offer the customer.
  Recommended Article: Create Solar Options With Different Products

Once you have added one or more options into the proposal you can view them by clicking on the Proposal button in the top navigation bar.

Congratulations! You’ve created a solar proposal!

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Creating a Solar Design and Proposal (Overview)

This overview will show you how easy it is to create solar proposals. These proposals can be used stand-a-lone or combined with battery, building electrification, and vehicle electrifcation proposals.