Solar quoting is uniquely complex. Unlike a roofing job where you're mostly quoting labour and material quantity, a solar quote involves system sizing, panel brand selection, inverter options, battery add-ons, grid connection fees, government rebates, and — increasingly — finance packages. A customer asking for "a solar quote" could end up with half a dozen legitimately different proposals depending on their budget, their energy usage, and how much they care about brand names.
Most solar installers handle this by sending one quote. Maybe two if the customer explicitly asks for options.
That's a missed opportunity.
The Multi-Option Advantage in Solar
Research on B2B and home services consistently shows that customers offered multiple options close at higher rates and with higher average values than customers given a single quote. The reason is psychological: a single quote forces a yes/no decision. Multiple options change the question from "should I buy?" to "which one should I buy?"
For solar, this plays out perfectly. A customer who would have rejected a $14,000 single-system quote might happily choose the $11,500 option with a slightly smaller system — or step up to the $17,000 premium option with a battery when they see it laid out clearly alongside the base system.
The problem has always been execution. Building three detailed solar quotes with different system sizes, different components, and different savings projections is enormously time-consuming. Most installers simply don't have the bandwidth to do it for every lead.
Bolton EC: $360K in a Single Month
Bolton EC, a solar and electrical installer, implemented a multi-option quoting approach and saw $360,000 in accepted proposals in a single month. Their process change wasn't magical — they built out their pricing system once, set up their package tiers, and let the software generate all the options automatically.
Instead of each quote taking 30–45 minutes to build and customise, they were producing 6–8 option proposals in under 5 minutes per customer. Same information, same professionalism, dramatically less admin time.
The key was having all the complexity handled by the system: system size calculations, component pricing, rebate calculations, and finance options were all pre-built. The salesperson's job was to understand the customer's situation and select the right configuration — not to manually crunch numbers and format a document.
Building Your Solar Quoting System
The setup investment is real but one-time. Here's what it involves:
Define your package tiers. Most solar installers have a natural good-better-best structure already: entry-level system (6.6kW, Tier 2 panels), mid-tier (10kW, Tier 1 panels), premium (10kW+ with battery). Formalise these as your base packages.
Build your component library. Every panel brand, every inverter model, every battery option gets a line item with your cost, your retail price, and your margin. You do this once. After that, adding a new component takes 30 seconds.
Set up your calculation rules. Installation labour scales with system size. Scaffolding applies above certain roof pitches. Single-phase vs three-phase affects your inverter options. These rules go in the system, not in your head.
Create your finance package options. If you offer finance through a provider, build the repayment calculations into your quote templates so customers can see monthly repayments alongside the cash price without you having to calculate it each time.
Define your rebate logic. Government rebate amounts change, but the calculation formula doesn't. Build it in once so every quote reflects the current rebate automatically.
What the Quote Looks Like
A professional solar proposal built this way shows the customer:
- System specifications (size, panels, inverter, optional battery)
- Upfront cost after rebates
- Estimated annual savings
- Simple payback period
- Monthly finance repayments (if applicable)
- All options side by side for easy comparison
The customer gets everything they need to make a decision. You're not fielding follow-up calls asking "what size system was that again?" or "can you add a battery option?" — it's all already there.
The Speed Advantage
Solar leads are competitive. Customers get 3–5 quotes from different installers. The installer who gets a professional, detailed multi-option proposal in front of the customer first has a significant advantage — not because they're necessarily cheaper, but because they look more organised and professional.
If your current quoting process means customers wait 2–3 days for a quote, you're losing to the installer who gets back to them same-day. Speed matters more than most installers realise.
The goal is same-day proposals for every lead. With the right quoting system, that's achievable even for a small team.
Ready to see how this works for your solar business? Book a demo and we'll walk through building out your system configuration.