Solar Energy System Post-Install: 7 Key Documents About Your Solar Energy System and Maintenance

Contrary to popular belief, reaching your solar installation isn’t the end of the solar process or relationship with your solar installer. There are usually a few steps left to get the system up and running and there are several key documents to collect and systems to access post-install. 

This guide will help solar homeowners and installers ensure proper expectations have been set and a proper paper trail has been established by highlighting 7 key documents you need to collect.  

The Next Steps

Just because solar panels are installed on your house does not mean you’re producing energy and saving money. Once the installation is complete, most systems must pass an inspection by their city/town/county or the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) over them. 

The inspection will examine everything from the panel connection to the roof and adherence to required setbacks to electrical connections, proper labeling, and more. Most inspectors will ensure that the installed system matches the plan set submitted with the permit application. If the approved plan doesn’t match what is on the roof or house, the inspection could fail and need to be fixed. 

Once the inspection is passed, your solar installer will typically submit the inspection report to your electric utility and apply for Permission to Operate (PTO). Achieving PTO means your system has been correctly connected, adheres to all local codes, and can officially be turned on. Only after PTO is granted can solar energy systems be powered on and feed energy into your home.

Depending on your area, your electric utility may need to perform a meter swap to enable net metering. Different utilities have different rules governing whether the installer or homeowner needs to submit for net metering, so verify the energy plan with your installer and utility to ensure your benefits are secured.

Monitoring Access

Now that the system is online, you need to be able to monitor its energy production. Monitoring not only allows you and your solar installer to see how much energy is being produced, but most monitoring systems also provide alerts if the system isn’t producing or is broken in some way. 

The monitoring platform is typically provided by whoever the inverter manufacturer is, so you should get access to a portal from SolarEdge, Tesla, Enphase, Generac, etc. Normally, there is an app you can download to a smartphone as well. In some rare cases, solar installers provide their own monitoring app for homeowners, but even those pull data from the inverter manufacturer monitoring. 

Your solar installer will be responsible for registering your monitoring, granting you access, and correctly mapping out your system. Inverter technologies that make use of module-level power electronics like Enphase or SolarEdge allow solar installers to map out where panels are located on a roof. Doing this properly makes the system significantly easier to service down the line since installers know exactly which piece of equipment needs work. Homeowners can also request a copy of a “sticker map” from their installer, which is typically made by the installer on-site showing where each piece of equipment is on their roof.

Make sure to work with your installer to get monitoring access and register your account as soon as possible. 

Important Documents to Collect

Throughout the solar process, many documents are usually presented to a customer, and it can be confusing to know which are important and which need to be kept. Here are some of the most important documents to ensure both the solar installer and the solar customer keep on file. 

1. Contract

The purchase or lease contract may seem obvious, but it contains vital information. First and foremost, it lists the total purchase price that a homeowner can use to take advantage of the Federal Investment Tax Credit. The contract will supersede pretty much all other documents and typically contains information on the workmanship warranty and the contractor’s general liability insurance, so make sure to have a copy securely stored. 

If the system is leased or a power purchase agreement, the contract should also include your monthly payment and escalation rate.  

2. Approved Permit Plan Set

Permit plans with the AHJ’s approved stamp and even the physical permit itself are important to have and keep. The permit plan set will usually include an equipment list, panel layout, electrical line diagram, and data sheets for equipment. The information listed in this document MUST match what’s on your home, so it’s a good list to keep on file. With the electrical line diagram, any electrician can understand how the equipment is connected to your home. 

3. Equipment Data Sheets and Warranty Docs

Speaking of equipment specs and documents, make sure to get data sheets and warranty documents for the panels, inverter and related equipment, battery, racking, etc. The documents in the permit plan set sometimes only include one page of a larger document, so getting the full PDF will make sure you have all the information. 

The warranty is also good to have, as the equipment warranty is separate from the workmanship warranty in the contract. Most solar installers don’t warranty the equipment, only their work. Take some time to read through that documentation and familiarize yourself with what is covered and what isn’t. 

4. Financing Documentation

If you finance your solar energy system through a loan, be sure to keep the financing documentation and anything you need to sign with the financier. Also, keep their contact information because if there are any payment issues you’ll need to contact the financier rather than the solar installer.

5. Incentive Information

If your state or utility has incentives be sure to keep any documentation related to that incentive. There is likely an application process and documents you’ll have to sign, so keep anything with your signature. Those documents will also usually contain the terms and conditions as well as the value you could expect. 

Be sure to speak with a trusted tax professional regarding federal incentives rather than just take the sales rep’s word for it. While many sales reps have a good understanding of incentives, they don’t know your specific taxable situation and how any credit you receive would play out for you.

6. Proposal

While the proposal is going to be superseded by the information in the contract, having the proposal and making sure it matches the information in the contract is critical. The proposal also contains annual production estimates which are good to keep in mind when watching the monitoring. 

7. Contact List

Solar companies are made up of many departments that service different needs. After your system is installed, you need to know who to contact in case you have questions or need help with maintenance. Get a contact list of who to contact and in what situations to contact them. 

Your sales rep generally isn’t the person to contact for maintenance needs, and likewise, the maintenance department isn’t the person to talk to about adding a battery to your system.

Protect Yourself and Know What You Have

Keeping all the above information and documentation goes a long way toward protecting yourself and the system. The solar equipment is going to be on your home for more than 25 years and it can be easy to forget some key information. If you move at some point, having a packet of information for the new homeowner is paramount to their and your success.