Solar projects move through many stages to go from someone’s interest to a functional and activated system. Depending on the location and type of project – for example, battery storage, solar green roof, or new construction – the project stages can look a little different and take different amounts of time. SES frequently contracts directly with homeowners and building owners, but we also get contracted as a sub by general contractors, roofers, electricians, architects, solar developers, and specialty homebuilders. Because of this variety of customer type, we manage a diverse set of requirements across our portfolio in all project stages.

The Sales Cycle

Regardless of the type of customer, the beginning of every project is the same: positive contact between a prospect and SES. A prospect is a person or entity interested in getting solar from us. They might have heard about SES from an advertisement, online search, or neighbor. However they found us, the new prospect gets assigned to an SES sales representative and the project begins!

During the Sales Cycle, the sales rep begins developing a system that balances SES’s offerings with the customer’s unique needs. They must consider many factors – What is the customer’s budget? Will they need their roof replaced prior to an install? Do they want power during an outage? Are they planning to get an EV? What incentives are they eligible for? – to name just a few! Under certain conditions, the rep may request a pre-sale site visit to get extra details on the project to help price the job properly. Typically, the Design team creates a layout that works with the constraints provided, and the rep develops a proposal to present to the prospective customer.

The prospect and the sales rep may go through several proposal versions. Not every project will turn into an installation, but we sometimes have prospects return after months or even years to pick up on a project that was started in the Sales Cycle. When a customer accepts a proposal, they sign a contract that dictates specifications (e.g., module quantity) and scope (e.g., trenching), pay a deposit, and the Sales Cycle closes. At this point, the prospect becomes an SES customer, and Sales hands off the project to Operations.

Operational Development

While a contract includes a preliminary layout, it’s Operations’ job to establish the design that will make it through the hurdles of engineering, utility approval, county approval, material availability, and installation feasibility. The first step is to survey the site to get electrical information, photos, measurements, and in some cases, drone imagery.

Most projects go through at least three design phases: 30% design, which includes an updated layout and single line drawing; 60% design, which incorporates stringing information, structural drawings, racking engineering, and electrical calculations; and 90% design, which is when we get our 60% drawings stamped by professional structural and electrical engineers. In most counties, even the smallest 3kW system will need to go through all three of these design phases to make it to the next stage of the project: Permissions.

Solar installations need permission from both the customer’s utility (for interconnection) and their county (for building and electrical permits) before we’re allowed to start construction. One or both may require changes to our design before they’ll grant approval. This might be the case if they’ve changed which version of the National Electric Code (NEC) they’re enforcing, or they may catch a calculation error. Once we have “Approval to Install” (“ATI”) from the utility and approved permits from the county, which can sometimes take weeks or even months, we have the green light to proceed with construction, from an official permissions standpoint.

Construction

In preparation for construction, we order and set aside the major equipment (modules, racking, inverters, RSDs) and start making concrete plans for safety, access, load-up, installation tasks, manpower, interconnection, schedule, and any specialty balance of system (BOS) equipment. These plans are usually dynamic, as they depend on the overall production schedule, contractual timing requirements, customer and crew availability, and material lead times. The Operations team holds an internal Install Strategy Meeting, and there may be one or more pre-construction site visits before we mobilize.

Once the stars align, construction can begin. The DC Field team is responsible for the installation of the racking system, microinverters or RSDs, DC conduit, DC wiring, and modules. The AC Field team is responsible for the installation of inverters or combiners, AC conduit, AC wiring, AC tie-in, storage systems (if applicable), and setting up

communications. Like the other stages of the project, this is a major simplification of what it really takes to build a solar project! Many real-time factors can shift the work that’s required, but the result of the Construction stage is an installation that is ready for inspections.

Closeout

Once both the DC-side and AC-side of the installation is complete, the project must pass electrical and building inspections. After the project passes the electrical inspection, we apply for the utility to interconnect the system. This can take several weeks, so in the meantime we complete any punchlist items and perform our system testing, which includes the SES and manufacturer’s commissioning checklists, insulation resistance testing for large conductors, and inverter proving. We also compile the owner’s manual, which includes as-built drawings, system specifications, and warranty information. We also begin setting customers up for their federal, state, and local incentives.

After reviewing our application and inspection pass documentation, the utility will change the customer’s meter into a net meter and issue “Permission to Operate”, also called “PTO”. This official notice triggers us to activate the system and verify that everything is producing as expected on the monitoring portal. Once the system is producing and the customer has paid in full, the project lifecycle ends…

The Cycle Continues

…until the customer refers SES to their neighbor and the cycle begins again!