Last updated October 28, 2026

How to bid solar jobs

What a residential solar bid has to say, a worked rooftop system price, why the production number has to be labeled an estimate, and the staged payments solar installers use.

A solar bid is a construction bid and a financial promise on the same page, and the promise is where installers get in trouble. The production number cannot read like a promise of output. Label it an estimate, say what it assumes, and put the equipment warranty next to your labor warranty. Then the construction half: panels, inverter, racking, the electrical work, the permit, the utility interconnection, and a timeline that admits the utility sets the pace.

What a solar bid has to answer

System size in kilowatts, panel count, panel model and wattage, inverter or microinverters by model, and the racking.
Estimated annual production, labeled as an estimate, with what it assumes: the roof orientation, the shading, and the weather data it is based on.
Electrical scope: the main panel, whether an upgrade is needed, the disconnect, the conduit route, and the monitoring.
The process and the timeline: site survey, design, permit, install, inspection, utility approval, and that the utility's permission to operate sets the switch-on date.
Warranties as separate lines: panel product and performance, inverter, workmanship, and roof penetration.
Incentives: that any tax credit or rebate is the customer's to claim and depends on their situation, not a discount on the bid.

How to price it

Example numbers for a 7.2-kilowatt rooftop system, 18 panels at 400 watts, microinverters, composition shingle roof, no panel upgrade, in a typical market. Yours will differ.

Panels: 18 at cost plus markup, $4,300.
Microinverters, racking, rapid shutdown, wiring, disconnect, monitoring: $4,900 with markup.
Electrical labor and the roof crew: two days on site for three people, $3,600.
Permit, plan set, engineering stamp where required, and the utility application: $1,100 on its own line.
Overhead for the survey, design, inspections, and the weeks of utility paperwork: $2,000.
Total: about $15,900. $21,500 is a common landing once the sales margin and the warranty reserve are in it, which puts this system near $3 a watt installed.

Batteries price as equipment plus the electrical work for the backup circuits, with the capacity in kilowatt-hours named. Removal and reinstall for a reroof prices by the panel count and the two site days, scheduled around the roofer.

Where solar bids go wrong

The production number read like a promise, and a cloudy year became a complaint.
The utility approval was not on the timeline, and the customer thought the system was broken for six weeks.
The tax credit was shown as a discount, and the customer could not use it.
The main panel needed an upgrade found at survey, and the bid had no line for it.

A finished solar bid, line by line

Three sample solar estimates: rooftop solar install, battery add-on, and panel removal and reinstall for a roof. The solar proposal template is the blank version with the estimate label and the warranty lines already on it.

Deposit and payment terms

Solar is paid in stages because the job runs for months: a deposit at signing that starts the design and permit, a payment at equipment delivery, and the balance at the passed inspection or the utility's permission to operate. Ten percent, fifty percent, forty percent is a common shape. Write the stages on the bid with the milestone named. If the customer is financing, say that the price is the same either way and that the lender's schedule applies.

Getting more solar jobs

Solar customers get three bids and compare them on the production number first, so the bid that labels it an estimate and explains the assumptions looks more honest, not less. Send a bid within two days of the survey with the panel layout on it. Follow up at a week; solar decisions take a month. Ask for the review when the monitoring shows the first full month, and send the screenshot with the request.

BidWriter Pro writes the bid from your notes with the equipment, the warranties, the timeline, and the staged payments laid out, signed and deposited from the customer's phone. $29 a month, 30 days free.

Questions contractors ask

How should I show production on a solar bid?

As an estimate, labeled that way, with the assumptions written: orientation, shading, and the weather data. Never as a promise of a number of kilowatt-hours or a dollar saving.

How do solar installers schedule payments?

In stages: a deposit at signing, a payment at equipment delivery, and the balance at the passed inspection or utility permission to operate. Write the milestones on the bid.

Should the tax credit be on the bid?

As a note that it is the customer's to claim and depends on their situation, not as a discount on the price. The price on the bid is the price.

Write a solar bid from your notes

Type the job the way you would text it. It comes back as a finished estimate in about five seconds, in your words. No account.

Type a job the way you would text it

Only what you type goes on the estimate. Nothing gets added.

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