Solar companies follow a pretty straightforward process to generate solar quotes for their potential customers. Typically, the first step involves gathering information on your property, such as your yearly power consumption, available roof space, direction of the roof, shade on the roof, and your roof condition.
At Green Power Energy, we go one step ahead and get the location details of your property. That way, we can use satellite images to create a highly accurate solar quote for you. By considering all these details, we develop a custom solar quote that perfectly meets your power needs.
Once you approve the quote, our surveyor visits your property and performs a detailed inspection of your roof, electrical systems, and building. If any additional work is required, such as redoing the roof, cutting down trees that are casting shade on the roof, or something else, we’ll apprise you of the same and provide you an updated quote that reflects additional work.
The quote you receive at this stage is accurate, and the final contracted cost should not change after this stage.
This is more or less how solar installers create custom quotes for residential customers.
Here are some factors that may cause a slight discrepancy between the original quote and the final price in the contract you will be signing.
Available Roof Space and Shading
Although solar quotes tend to be quite specific, they are created based on several assumptions about your requirement, and when those assumptions become invalid, the price can change. For instance, if upon formal survey it is determined the module layout needs to change, this reduction or additional in solar modules can impact the price.
Legal Constraints
Legal issues, such as your HOA not allowing you to install solar panels in places where they can be prominently seen by anyone from the road, can throw up unexpected costs. In that case, we may have to make alternate arrangements like installing ground mounts for your solar installation or getting a variance when needed.
Other Equipment
If you’d like to make changes to your solar system, such as adding battery storage after generating the initial quote, that too adds up the costs. At the same time, if you’d like to change the type of inverter, battery, or other equipment, that may cost extra or sometimes less depending on the price difference between the current and new equipment prices.
Final Words
Before you sign the contract, always make sure that it explicitly mentions all the service terms down to the minutest detail. The more detailed it is the more transparent and reliable it is.
