Project Progression Best Practices

Project Progression Best Practices

Clean Deal Submission: Without an initial kickback we typically reach funding approval in 2 days on average compared to 9+ days when a funding kickback is called out. Clean deal submission can shave off a full week, sometimes more in the overall install timeline! It's important to remember that it's the little delays that add up over time, delaying the project more and more.

Top Funding Kickbacks and Drivers of Delays:

1. Verification Call Needed - Please complete this the same day, right after the customer signs the agreement.

2. Missing Approved Utility Bill - A full, approved utility bill, dated within last 6 months. It is best to provide this at the time of lead submission and if that is not possible, do so before leaving the customer's home or when signing the agreement.

3. Deed, Title or Mortgage Verification - 

   • • i.e. - Domestic Partner Document/Process when credit and name on title don't match. Our Initial Funding team will populate the form when the kickback is called out. Please call in to Initial Funding and request the form to be sent out. It will have the correct information on it and a place to upload any support documents.

4. Customer Disclosure - IL Disclosure must be signed by customer BEFORE the solar agreement is signed to avoid change orders later on.

5. Survey Completed, No Agreement Signed- This can be the driver of longer, more complicated delays and can also be costly to BrightOps. Please ensure customers are signing agreements prior to scheduling site surveys to prevent any backlogs or delays with site survey turnaround times.

   • • This can cause incorrect surveys to be done requiring the need for re-surveys as we do not have a signed deal to reference. IE- roof mounts being done instead of ground mounts, surveying the wrong structures, wrong houses, etc. as our only basis for confirming what needs to be surveyed, is the signed layout.

6. Duplicate Projects: Duplicate projects will likely drive Funding Kickbacks and other issues that will stop a project from progressing. This can cause survey issues along with displaced data and information causing the wrong project to progress.

   • • 1. • i.e. - A survey may get scheduled for one project but if a signed contract is attached to the duplicate, there is a lot of clean up that is needed to move the project forward. Even though it is signed, we then have to transfer all the data to the correct project  which can add delays, require re-surveys and more.

HIS License Compliance:

1. Closing and Countersigning- It is important that each sales rep using their own funding logins to ensure that the rep closing the deal is the one the agreement. If there is any deviation from this, the CSLB will be flagged, funding will likely be cancelled and ultimately charged to the sales partner along with other, more serous compliance penalties for all involved. 

Partner Development Best Practices:

1. Requesting Portal Logins: 

   • 1. 1. • Please make sure to use our "Portal Login Request Form" located HERE  when requesting logins. We continue to see more and more initial requests come over via email making it very hard for our team to manage and track, creating unnecessary delays.

Project TIMELINES

Solar Proposal 

A solar proposal is created for every customer.  The proposal uses the customer's current annual energy usage to give them an estimation on price, system size (how many panels the customer will need), and how much the customer will save on their monthly energy bill.  Provide as much information as possible through your Proposal Request Link, including the customer’s utility bill for more accuracy.  

Running Credit / Signing Agreements

If the customer is financing their solar system through one of our financing partners, they will need to receive approval.  All of our financiers require the customer to run credit.  If the customer passes the financier's credit requirements, they can then sign agreements.  

Initial Funding Approval

Bright Ops will submit everything to the funding company.  Funding approval only takes a few days once the customer provides all required documents. Most financiers typically require the agreement and the customer's utility bill to prove that the system is accurately sized.  Occasionally there are additional requirements if the customer's home is in a trust, LLC, is a mobile home, or if the financier is unable to prove who is on title.  The customer does not need to complete a site survey before approval, but the project will not move forward to design until both are completed. 

Site Survey

The site survey lets us get the house's roof measurements, proper photos and electrical information to create an accurate solar system design customized to the customer's house.  The site survey will be scheduled for a 2 hour window, and takes between 30 minutes to an hour and a half to complete.

Design 

The design is completed with the measurements found at the site survey.  This is a CAD design that we use to submit to the city for permits to install the system. The design can take anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks to finalize the design depending on how smoothly the design process goes.  

True Up 

Once the CAD design is complete, the Proposal Review team will update the initial design with the site survey and CAD results.  They will make sure the trees, shading, panel type, placement, number of panels, and roof planes are accurate so the financier has the most up to date design plan.  A change order may be required if there is a significant change between the initial and CAD design. 

Interconnection

Bright Ops submits for interconnection with the customer's utility company.  This is just approval to wire their system into the grid.  This approval generally takes 2-4 weeks.  

Permitting 

Installing a solar system is a construction project and therefore requires permitting with the city. Bright Ops will send them the proper paperwork and the final design to get approval. Some cities give same-day permits and others can take up to 8 weeks to receive the permit. The timeline depends on the city's requirements and how they operate. 

Install 

Most installs can be completed in one day or less.  Occasionally it will take us 2 days to fully complete a large system installation. Our crews arrive between 8 am and 10 am on the day of install unless stated otherwise.  Most often we need access to the interior of the customer's home at the beginning of the install to get the electrical work taken care of.  This can be handled in just a couple hours.  Everything else is done on the exterior of the home.  

Substantial Funding 

After the install is completed, Bright Ops will submit proof of install to the financier. 

M2

Payment is made to the sales rep.  Install, funding, permitting, and interconnection must be completed and approved.  

Inspection

After the install is complete the city will inspect the system.  The inspection is scheduled by Bright Ops with the city inspector and the customer will be notified.  Before we can schedule the inspection, we will need to have the building permit for the customer's system in hand. The inspector will give us a certificate of completion once the inspection is completed and passed.  The inspection generally takes place within a couple weeks after the install although that depends on the city inspector's schedule. 

M3

The final payment is made to the sales rep once inspection passes.

Permission to Operate (PTO) 

After the inspection has passed, Bright Ops will send the customer’s utility company the Certificate of Completion from the inspector and other application documents to receive PTO.  This takes between 2 to 8 weeks to receive approval from the utility company.  Once approved, the utility company will install a Net Meter which makes it possible for the system to feed energy into the grid and for the customer to be credited for that produced energy.

Final Funding 

After PTO is received, the Bright Ops will submit photos and documentation (inspection certificates, PTO letters, incentive approvals, etc) to the funding source for final approval. 

Turning on the System

Once the customer receives PTO, they will be able to turn their system on.  We will either leave the system on at the install, or will call the customer when PTO is received and walk them through turning the system on.

Monitoring the System

Once the system is producing energy, the customer can monitor the production of their system online.  If the customer is leasing their solar system through Sunrun, Sunrun will send them a link to set up their monitoring site.