The solar installation launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 45 steps in 8 phases, 21 of them specific to a solar installation. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan45 steps
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Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A solar installer sells systems, closed one deal at a time.
Typical for one unit is $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 10 to 22% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. employer businesses are still operating after five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: buy an established installer with a working funnel and a retainable crew when you want cash flow and lower risk; build from one crew when capital is tighter and you can ... Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
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Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
A solar installer opens without a storefront or heavy machinery: the money goes into crew trucks, each crew’s PV meters, crimp, conduit and fall protection gear, a ladder hoist, truck stock, the...
The itemized cost to open9 lines
- Crew trucks (lease down payments) & trailers: $13,800 to $21,100Two pickups leased, with a utility trailer per crew at the high end; buying both trucks new costs about $92,000 to $114,000 instead
- PV meters, crimp, conduit & hand tools, ladders & ladder hoist: $7,100 to $31,100A clamp meter and crimp kit per crew at the low end; insulation testers, irradiance meters and a hoist per crew at the high end
- Fall protection, safety gear, uniforms & office setup: $4,100 to $12,000
- Tablets, survey drone, logo, website & truck graphics: $2,500 to $29,400Door signs at the low end, full truck wraps and an enterprise survey drone at the high end
- Truck stock (wire, conduit, connectors, breakers): $6,000 to $16,000
- Licensing, NABCEP, OSHA 10, bonding & setup fees: $2,100 to $13,200State electrical or solar license, NABCEP training and exam for one or two leads, safety training and entity setup
- Insurance (liability, auto, workers’ comp & tools): $6,400 to $16,300First premiums and deposits; workers’ comp follows your payroll, so get a quote on two full crews
- Launch marketing: $2,500 to $15,000Yard signs, door hangers, a referral program and the first 60 days of local ads
- Initial working capital: $50,000 to $200,000Hardware and payroll carried until customers and financing partners pay, through the first 3 to 6 months; your plan computes your own figure
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed5 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to $5M · 10 yr (25 with real estate) · 85% guaranteed up to $150k, 75% above)The workhorse for buying an existing installer or funding a startup’s trucks, tools and working capital.
- Vehicle & equipment financing (Secured by the trucks & equipment)Lease or finance the trucks, trailers and hoists, secured by the equipment itself, so cash stays free for hardware and payroll.
- Seller financing (Often 5-20% of price · 3-7 yr)Common when buying an installer.
- Distributor credit & working-capital line (Revolving · secured by receivables)Panels, inverters and racking are paid for before the customer’s final payment or the financing partner’s funding arrives.
- Customer financing partners (for your customers) (Via third-party lenders & lease providers)Not for you, but it decides the sale: loans, leases and power-purchase agreements from third-party providers close most residential systems, and installers are shifting sales...
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
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Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
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The territory and the vehiclea week or two
A solar installer's "location" is its service territory and the policy regime it sits in.
What decides it for this business: favorable incentives & net metering, high retail electricity prices, strong solar resource (sun), access to licensed electricians & roofers, reasonable acquisition costs.
Mobile businesses still answer to city rules: where the vehicle can be kept overnight, whether you can run the business from home, and what the state licenses.
The van or truck is the shop. Price it, outfit it, insure it, and brand it before the first job. The quotes go into the loan application.
Commercial auto for the vehicle, for the work. Customers and any lender will ask for the certificate.
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Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the vehicle and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
The lender funds against the quotes and the insurance; the money goes to the vendors and the build.
After:
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Permits and the vehicletwo to four weeks
Solar is licensed electrical work on someone’s roof, so it carries more paperwork than most trades: a contractor license, a building and electrical permit for every system, the utility’s approval before it turns on,...
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:With the money in hand: the vehicle, the , the branding, and the state inspection most cities require before it can work.
After:Register your or corporation and obtain a city or county operating license.
With your state, before the first taxable sale. Usually free and online; check your state.
Many states require a license bond (California asks $25,000) and proof of ; some set a minimum for solar licenses (Connecticut asks $600,000 for its PV...
Each system needs the utility’s interconnection approval and its permission to operate before it can send power to the grid; the local net-metering rules set what the homeowner...
In-home and door-to-door fall under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule (a three-day right to cancel), many cities require a solicitor permit, and some states, California among them,...
OSHA requires fall protection for residential roof work 6 feet or more above a lower level; OSHA 10 training for every installer is the norm and is needed for NABCEP.
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Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
System design, production modeling, and proposals are the core; they drive close rate and accurate quotes.
Paid leads, door-knocking, reviews, and pipeline tracking are the lead engine; managing cost per closed system is the core profit lever.
Loans, leases, and power-purchase agreements close most residential systems; the financing options at the table decide the deal.
Electrician and roofer pay, commissions, and spiffs get complex; you need this the moment you have a crew and reps.
Per-job and per-crew visibility and clean books are essential for managing a hardware-heavy business and financing growth.
, workers' comp, and commercial auto for crews on roofs; non-negotiable for a licensed trade.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Daily: Run and follow up on leads, design systems and pull permits,... Weekly: Review the lead pipeline and close rate, crew utilization and... Monthly: Review per-system margins vs the quote, marketing ROI and cost per...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
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Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Customer-acquisition cost; Commodity hardware squeeze; Permitting & interconnection delays.
Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Register as an employer and carry workers’ comp before the first payday.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Solar installers sell to owner-operators, SBA buyers, electrical contractors and larger regional installers that want crews, a engine and a base of past customers.