Solar installer software, shown on a fictional solar and battery company

Open the demo and you are inside Heliomere Solar, a fictional solar and battery company running the real product: click anything, nothing changes.

See pricing — it's public · Why SelfConstruct

What works today for a solar company, and what is not available yet

The demo's welcome card says the same. The names, people, jobs and prices in this demo are illustrative.

The solar jobs in the demo

Each with what its estimate covers and how it is billed:

• Okafor roof array and battery, 8.2 kW — 8.2 kW roof array, microinverters and a 10 kWh battery (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Two dogs in the back yard; call the homeowners before going through the side gate.
• Halvorsen roof array, 6.4 kW — 6.4 kW roof array with microinverters (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Site survey → Design, plan set and structural letter → Building and electrical permit → Interconnection application to the utility → Install the array → Electrical inspection → Utility permission to operate (PTO).
  Daily log: “Rails, flashed attachments and all 16 modules with microinverters on the south roof. Critter guard skipped: the homeowner declined it.”
• Calloway battery added to an existing array — 10 kWh battery with gateway and backup loads subpanel (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: The array was put in by another installer; its microinverters stay as they are.
  Schedule: Electrical permit for the battery → Install the battery, gateway and backup subpanel → Final electrical inspection.
  Daily log: “Battery and gateway mounted in the garage, backup loads moved to the new subpanel: fridge, furnace fan, well pump and kitchen lights. Commissioned the battery and set it to backup mode; Ruth signed off.”
• Kittredge ground mount, 11 kW — 11 kW ground-mount array with a string inverter (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Array goes in the south pasture; keep the horses in the north field on install days.
  Schedule: Site survey and array layout in the pasture → Design and plan set → Permit submitted → Trenching and ground-mount piers → Install the racking, modules and inverter.
• Detach and reset for the Prewitt reroof, 18 modules — Detach and reset 18 modules for a new roof (Time & Materials)
  Job notes: Billed to Larkmoor Roofing Co.; the homeowner is their customer.
  Schedule: Remove the modules and store them on site → Reinstall the modules after the new roof.
  Daily log: “Checked production before removal and took condition photos of each module. All 18 modules and microinverters removed and stacked on padded racks in the garage.”
• Dunmore roof array, 7.4 kW — 7.4 kW roof array with a string inverter (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Building and electrical permit → Install the array and inverter → Electrical inspection → Utility permission to operate (PTO).
  Daily log: “Inverter mounted by the meter, AC disconnect and labels in. Commissioned the system and walked Theo through the shutdown steps; install-complete sign-off signed.”

Walk through one solar job: Okafor roof array and battery, 8.2 kW

Its schedule, in order:

1. Site survey
2. Design, plan set and structural letter
3. Building and electrical permit
4. Interconnection application to the utility
5. Modules, microinverters and battery delivered
6. Install the array and the battery
7. Electrical inspection
8. Utility permission to operate (PTO)

Change orders on this job: “Swap the main breaker to make room for the solar breaker”.

Purchase orders on this job: “Modules with microinverters, Okafor”; “Battery and gateway, Okafor”.

To-dos on this job: “Order the battery and gateway”; “Confirm the inspection time with the homeowners”.

From its daily log:

• Install day 1: rails and flashed attachments on the south roof, 14 of 20 modules set with their microinverters. A photo of every flashing before the rails went on. Weather: Clear, light wind.

A solar proposal in the demo: Solar and battery: design and quote

Heliomere Solar sent it to a lead. The scope reads:

Design, permit and install a 7.6 kW roof-mounted solar array with a microinverter on every module; add a battery that backs up the well pump, the fridge and the lights; send the interconnection application to the utility; commission the system, set up monitoring and register the equipment warranties.

The notes on that lead:

• Wants backup power for the well pump and the fridge during outages
• Site survey: south roof in good shape, one pine shades the west corner late in the day; room in the main panel for the solar breaker
• Sent the design and quote with two equipment options: solar only, or solar with a battery

Other solar leads in the demo

• Battery for an existing solar system: Has solar from another installer that went out of business; wants a battery for outages
• Commercial rooftop solar: Walked the flat roof with the practice manager; most of their power is used during the day
• Solar

What goes on a solar estimate in the demo

From Heliomere Solar's price list, without the prices:

• Solar module, 410 W, all-black
• Solar module with microinverter, 410 W, all-black
• Solar module with microinverter, 400 W
• Microinverter, replacement
• String inverter, 10 kW AC
• Battery storage unit, 10 kWh
• Backup gateway with automatic transfer
• Backup loads subpanel
• Rail, 14 ft section
• Shingle roof attachment with flashing
• Module clamp set
• Ground-mount racking, per module
• Critter guard, per foot
• Electrical kit: wire, conduit, disconnect and labels
• Monitoring gateway and production meter
• Trenching and conduit to the house, per foot
• Ground-mount piers set by our trenching sub, per module
• Install labor, per hour
• Electrical labor, per hour
• Battery install and commissioning labor, per hour
• Plan set and structural letter
• Building and electrical permit
• Interconnection application fee
• Detach and reset labor, per module
• Service labor, per hour

Solar cost codes in the demo

Heliomere Solar's own cost codes:

• Design & engineering
• Permits & interconnection fees
• Site survey
• PV modules
• Inverters, microinverters & optimizers
• Racking & attachments
• Electrical balance of system
• Battery storage equipment
• Monitoring & communications
• Roof install labor
• Electrical labor
• Battery install & commissioning labor
• Main panel upgrade & service work
• Roofing work (sub)
• Trenching & ground mount
• Structural upgrades
• Equipment rental
• Freight & delivery
• Inspections & utility coordination
• Sales commission
• Financing & dealer fees
• Warranty reserve
• Cleanup & disposal
• Contingency
• Service call labor
• Service parts
• Warranty replacement labor (claimable)
• Monitoring plans
• O&M visits

Questions about SelfConstruct for solar work

Is there a solar version of SelfConstruct?

Not as a separate product. Heliomere Solar opens with the business type “Solar & battery storage”, so its menus are set for that trade. In a customer's company today, the menus are the same whatever the trade.

Can a solar job be fixed price or time and materials?

Both are in the demo: Heliomere Solar's “Okafor roof array and battery, 8.2 kW” is a fixed-price job, and “Detach and reset for the Prewitt reroof, 18 modules” is billed time and materials.

Does SelfConstruct have “A pricebook with margin floors, service agreements and truck stock” for solar companies yet?

Not yet. It is on the list the demo's welcome card shows under “Not available yet for your trade”.

See it working right now

Pricing is published on the site: $299/mo per company before sales tax, unlimited users, 50 GB of storage included.

Book a walkthrough · Construction Software by Trade

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