How it works

How it works: from a first call to a report you can act on

How solar consulting works with us is simple: four steps, one flat fee agreed in writing, and a report you can take to any installer, attorney or CPA.

Book a free fit call How it works

A river delta where many streams converge into one clear channel flowing toward the sun — The idea
Every project starts as a delta of options. Our job is to show you which channels actually reach the sea.

Every engagement follows the same four steps: a free 20-minute fit call, a written scope with a flat fee, the analysis, and a report with a recorded walkthrough. You know what you’ll get, when you’ll get it and what it costs before any work starts. The steps are laid out below. Here’s what surrounds them.

How solar consulting works with us, step by step

The fit call is a real conversation, not a sales pitch. We ask what you’re deciding, what deadline you’re under and what you’ve been told so far. By the end, you’ll know whether we’re the right help. If we’re not, you’ll know what kind of professional to call instead.

If we are, you get a written scope with a fixed fee. Our fees page explains what shapes it. Nothing starts until you approve it.

Most homeowner and farm reviews take 5–10 business days once we have complete documents. A Commercial Feasibility Study takes 3–5 weeks. Each service page lists its own timeline.

What to gather before the fit call

You don’t need everything for the fit call. One recent electric bill, plus whatever you’ve been asked to sign or evaluate, is enough to start. We’ll send a checklist for the rest, and the full list by client type is below.

One request surprises people. If you’re comparing a financed proposal, ask the installer for the cash price too, even if you’d never pay cash. The gap between the two numbers is often where a dealer fee hides, and you can’t see it any other way.

How we handle your data

We use your documents only for your project.
Files live in an access-controlled project folder that only your project team can open.
We ask for data exports or shared, read-only access rather than passwords. When a password is the only way in, such as recovering a system’s monitoring account after an installer closes, we store it in a password manager and remind you to change it when we’re done.
We never sell your data or share it with installers, lenders or developers.

Our privacy policy covers retention and deletion in full.

What you get

A plain-English report with the answer on the first page
An assumptions page listing every input that moves the result
A recorded walkthrough call, so a spouse, partner, board or family member can hear it too
One round of follow-up questions
Where relevant, a list of questions for your engineer, electrician, attorney or CPA

Our sample reports show the format.

What happens after the report

The report is yours. Take it to the installer to renegotiate, to your attorney with our list of questions, to your CPA or to your board. We don’t take a cut of whatever happens next.

If you’d like help with the next stage, we can stay on. That might mean running an installer RFP, coordinating interconnection paperwork, or tracking performance once the system is running. Each follow-on is scoped and quoted separately, in writing.

Step by step

The four steps

Fit call
A free 20-minute call. We learn the situation, tell you honestly whether we can help, and list the documents we'll need. If you need a different kind of professional, we say so.
Written scope and flat fee
Before any work starts, you receive the scope, deliverables, timeline and a fixed fee in writing. The fee depends on complexity, not on system size or what you spend on equipment.
Analysis
We work from your documents (bills, interval data, proposals, monitoring exports, leases, questionnaires) plus publicly available information and standard financial models. A second team member checks every model.
Report and walkthrough
You get a plain-English written report with an assumptions page, and a recorded walkthrough call. One round of follow-up questions is included.

What to gather, by client type

Bring what you have. We'll tell you which missing pieces actually change the answer.

Homeowners: 12 months of electric bills (24 is better), every proposal and contract draft you've received, the financing terms, your roof's age and any HOA rules.
Businesses and manufacturers: 12–24 months of bills for each meter, interval data if your utility provides it, your rate schedule name, planned load changes and any customer sustainability questionnaires.
Farms and landowners: bills for every meter on the property, the lease offer letter and any draft agreement, field maps you already have, and your seasonal load pattern, such as flocks, drying or irrigation.
Owners of existing systems: the original contract, interconnection agreement, warranty documents, panel and inverter make and model, and any monitoring login or data export you can find.
Nonprofits, schools and public bodies: bills for each building, board or budget timelines, and any grant, financing or procurement rules you must follow.

FAQ

Questions about the process

Is the fit call really free?

Yes. It takes about 20 minutes, there's no obligation, and your details never go to an installer or lender. Sometimes the call itself answers the question.

What if I don't have all the documents?

Start anyway. We'll tell you which missing items change the answer and which don't. For systems whose installer has closed, recovering data access is often part of the work.

Do you visit the property?

When it helps, we meet clients in person across Kentucky, but most of our analysis works from documents and data. We don't inspect roofs or electrical equipment; that's work for a licensed professional.

Can I share the report with my installer or attorney?

Yes. The report is yours. You can send the questions section straight to your installer, attorney, CPA or anyone else you choose.

What if the scope changes partway through?

We stop and tell you before doing extra work. Any change comes with its own written fee, and you're free to say no.

Next step