Practical resources to help you prepare.
These tools are designed to help you think through solar energy concepts for your specific situation, not to give you an answer. Understanding the inputs is the real value.
Tools built for thinking, not deciding
Every tool on this page is educational in nature. The outputs are reference points, not recommendations. Use them to understand how variables interact, to formulate better questions, and to evaluate the logic behind proposals you receive.
None of these tools account for your specific roof, local grid conditions, utility tariff structures, or subsidy eligibility. A qualified installer with proper site access is required for any real sizing or financial analysis.
What's in the toolkit
Installer Meeting Preparation Checklist
A structured checklist of questions and topics to cover during any installer assessment. Organized by phase: before the visit, during the technical assessment, when reviewing the proposal, and after you receive quotes. Download and bring it with you.
- Pre-visit site preparation questions
- Technical assessment topics to raise
- Proposal review checklist
- Post-quote comparison framework
Inverter Type Selector Guide
Walk through a series of questions about your roof layout, shading conditions, and expansion plans. Based on your answers, the guide explains which inverter architectures are commonly considered for those conditions and why. Understand the tradeoffs before your installer makes this decision for you.
- String inverter characteristics and scenarios
- Power optimizer use cases
- Microinverter tradeoffs
- Hybrid inverter considerations for storage
Proposal Terminology Glossary
Solar proposals contain a lot of technical language. Peak power (Wp), specific yield (kWh/kWp), performance ratio, degradation rate, LCOE. This glossary explains each term in plain language, with notes on how each figure is typically used and what to look for when comparing multiple proposals side by side.
- Over 40 defined solar industry terms
- Context notes for each definition
- Proposal section reference guide
Panel Technology Comparison Overview
Monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and thin-film panels differ in efficiency, cost, temperature behavior, and appropriate applications. This guide presents the key characteristics of each type in a structured format so you can understand what your installer is proposing and why it might or might not suit your roof conditions.
- Efficiency ranges by technology type
- Temperature coefficient comparisons
- Typical use case scenarios
- What to ask about panel specifications
Understanding battery storage: the key questions to think through
Adding battery storage to a solar system is a significant decision. These are the conceptual questions worth working through before asking an installer for a storage quote.
Storage makes more sense when your highest consumption happens at times when the grid is most expensive or when solar production is low. Understanding your own load profile is the foundation.
If resilience during grid outages is a primary goal, the sizing logic differs from a system optimized purely for self-consumption. These two objectives can sometimes conflict.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries have different cycle life, thermal behavior, and cost profiles. Each has contexts where it performs well.
Battery capacity degrades over time. Warranty terms define what guaranteed minimum capacity the manufacturer commits to over the warranty period. This affects long-term value assessment.
Want to understand the full methodology?
See how we structure our educational content and what principles guide everything on this platform.