The sale is the part most solar companies track well. The stretch after it, from permit to permission to operate (PTO), is where jobs sit. Nobody is sure who has the next step, a document is missing, or a correction came back and went into someone's inbox. This checklist is for the owner or ops manager who has to keep every job moving through that stretch.
The steps from signed contract to PTO
The exact order and names change by city and utility, but most residential jobs move through these steps.
- Site survey. Someone visits the home and records photos and notes on the roof, the electrical panel, and the site.
- Engineering and plan set. The system is designed and the plans are prepared for the permit application.
- Permit application. The plans and forms go to the local permitting office, often called the AHJ (authority having jurisdiction).
- Interconnection application. The utility is asked for approval to connect the system to the grid. In many areas this runs alongside the permit, not after it.
- Permit approval or corrections. The permitting office approves the plans or sends back corrections that have to be fixed and resubmitted.
- Install. The crew installs the system to the approved plans.
- Inspection. The local inspector checks the installed system. Some jobs need more than one inspection.
- Utility review. Depending on the utility, this can include its own inspection, a meter change, or a review of the final documents.
- PTO. The utility gives permission to operate, and the homeowner can turn the system on.
Where jobs usually stall
- Nobody owns the next step. The permit went in, and nobody is assigned to follow up.
- Corrections sit unanswered. A comment from the permitting office lands in one person's email and never reaches the designer.
- Documents are missing. An inspection passed, but the paperwork the utility needs is not attached to the job.
- Status lives in someone's head. Finding out where a job is means texting the crew, the office, and the designer.
- Handoffs have no record. The crew finished, but operations doesn't know the job is ready for inspection.
The checklist for every job
For each step above, you should be able to answer yes to these:
- Is there one named owner for this step?
- Is there a follow-up date, so the job can't sit without someone noticing?
- Are the documents for this step attached to the job, not saved in an inbox or a shared drive?
- Are photos and crew notes on the same job record?
- Can anyone in the office see the job's current step without asking?
- When this step finishes, does the next owner know?
If a step fails any of these, that is the step where your jobs will wait.
See this checklist on one of your jobs. Book a 30-minute demo.
After PTO: funding
PTO usually isn't the end of the job for the company. Funding milestones and rep commissions often depend on it. Keep funding status on the same job record as the permit and the inspection, so the office can see which jobs are funded and which are still waiting. See our guide to tracking solar funding milestones.
Signs you've outgrown spreadsheets for this
- The tracker is only accurate after someone spends time updating it.
- Different people keep their own copies, and the copies don't match.
- Permit and inspection documents live somewhere else from the job list.
- You find out a job is stuck when the homeowner calls.
- Follow-up dates pass without anyone noticing.
How Solar Nest tracks permit to PTO
Solar Nest tracks each step as a stage on one project record, from site survey and engineering through permitting, interconnection, installation, inspection, PTO and funding. Each job has an owner and a follow-up date. Site visit photos and crew comments stay on the job. Documents and signatures are attached to the record, and project chat between the office, reps, and crews stays on the job, not in a separate thread. Solar Nest tracks engineering as a step. It does not replace a 3D design tool.
Read more: Solar project management covers permitting through PTO. Solar installer software covers the whole job from sold to funded. Solar CRM covers sales and rep commissions. Solar EPC software covers running every department on one record.