651 Perimeter Drive, Suite 440 Lexington, KY 40517
Resources
Sample reports: what you'll actually receive
Every solar feasibility report example below is illustrative, with hypothetical numbers, but the structure is exactly what our clients get: assumptions first, the answer in plain English, and the questions to take to your licensed professionals.
A good report doesn't just give you an answer. It lets you see the landscape the answer came from.
What a solar feasibility report example should show you
Most people have never seen an independent solar report before they buy one, so here are six. Each sample below is a solar feasibility report example or a related deliverable, built on a hypothetical client with hypothetical numbers. The format, the order of sections, and the kind of tables are the same ones we deliver.
Every sample includes a report cover, its table of contents, and one excerpt table. The excerpts were chosen because each one turns up something a sales document wouldn’t: a financed price that runs above the cash price, a deadline that adds five years to payback, a low bid that leaves out required work, or a lease with lower starting rent that pays more over the full term.
Why the assumptions page comes first
A report’s conclusion is only as good as its inputs. So before any result, you see the utility rate path we assumed, the production model, degradation, discount rate, financing terms, and every other input that moves the answer, each with its source. If you disagree with one, you can tell us, and we’ll rerun the analysis during the follow-up round.
How to read the samples
Plain English first. The first page answers the question you asked, in a few sentences, before any table.
Tables you can check. Numbers are shown in a form you can recalculate. Nothing hides inside a black box.
Sensitivity, not false precision. We show how the answer changes when rates, production, or timelines change, because those are the inputs nobody knows for sure.
Clear limits. Where a decision needs a licensed engineer, electrician, attorney, or CPA, the report ends with a list of questions for them. We organize; they determine.
What the samples are not
They aren’t client work, and no figure in them describes a real person, business, or farm. They aren’t a forecast for your home or project, either. Your numbers depend on your utility, your tariff, your site, and your contract. For narrative versions of similar decisions, see our illustrative scenarios. To understand the timeline from documents to delivered report, read how it works, and for how pricing is set, see how our fees work.
Inside the binder
Six sample deliverables
Every figure below is hypothetical. The structure is exactly what you would receive.
14 pages · Proposal Second Opinion
Proposal Second Opinion
Illustrative: Fayette County homeowner, KU territory
An independent review of one 8.4 kWdc rooftop proposal offered four ways: cash, loan, lease, and PPA. The financed price runs $3,720 above the cash price, and the lease escalator outpaces the utility rate path we assumed, so only the cash option comes out clearly ahead over 25 years.
Ownership comparison, 25 years (nominal dollars)
Option
Paid up front
Total paid, 25 years
Est. bill savings, 25 years
Net, 25 years
Cash purchase
$24,780
$27,380
$37,740
+$10,360
15-year loan, 6.49% APR
$0
$47,260
$37,740
−$9,520
25-year lease, $85/month, 2.9% escalator
$0
$36,700
$37,740
+$1,040
25-year PPA, 10.5¢/kWh, 2.9% escalator
$0
$35,620
$37,740
+$2,120
Ownership comparison, 25 years (nominal dollars)
Contents
Summary: the answer on one page
Assumptions page
Price per watt and the cash-versus-financed gap
Production estimate checked against an independent model
Ownership comparison, 25 years
Sensitivity: utility rates, production, and escalators
Contract terms to raise with your attorney
Questions for your installer and licensed professionals
Illustrative: Central Kentucky manufacturer, one shift, KU commercial demand rate
A preliminary study of a 400 kWdc rooftop array, modeled against the federal credit deadlines that apply to solar projects starting construction in late 2026. Slipping past the December 31, 2027 placed-in-service date would add about five years to simple payback, which makes schedule risk the biggest variable in the decision.
Deadline scenarios, year-one view (tax items for your CPA to confirm)
Scenario
System
Federal credit assumed
Net cost after tax items
Year-1 savings
Simple payback
A. In service by September 2027
400 kWdc
30% ($222,000)
$385,910
$38,000
10.2 years
B. Slips to February 2028, credit lost
400 kWdc
None
$584,600
$38,000
15.4 years
C. Smaller array, in service June 2027
250 kWdc
30% ($146,250)
$254,230
$25,400
10.0 years
D. Scenario A with utility rates 20% higher
400 kWdc
30% ($222,000)
$385,910
$45,600
8.5 years
Deadline scenarios, year-one view (tax items for your CPA to confirm)
Illustrative: Jessamine County homeowner, installer out of business
Once monitoring access was recovered, this 7.2 kWdc system showed about half its weather-adjusted expected output from July through September 2026. The pattern is consistent with one of its two strings going offline in mid-June, and the report lists what to ask a qualified electrician to check and which manufacturer warranties may still apply.
Expected vs. measured production, April–September 2026
Month
Expected kWh (weather-adjusted)
Measured kWh
Measured ÷ expected
April
860
812
94%
May
980
921
94%
June
1,010
702
70%
July
1,030
521
51%
August
960
488
51%
September
820
413
50%
Expected vs. measured production, April–September 2026
Contents
Summary and next steps
Assumptions page
Monitoring access recovery log
Expected vs. measured production, month by month
Inverter and string data review
Warranty documents located and their terms
Questions for a qualified technician or electrician
Illustrative: Louisville-area distribution warehouse, three rooftop bids
Three bids for a warehouse rooftop array of about 150 kWdc, rebuilt on the same scope so they compare line by line. The lowest total quote covers the smallest array and leaves out $14,200 of required work, so it lands in the middle on leveled price per watt.
Leveled bid comparison
Line item
Bidder A
Bidder B
Bidder C
Quoted price
$289,500
$262,350
$251,600
System size
150.0 kWdc
147.6 kWdc
140.4 kWdc
Quoted price per watt
$1.93
$1.78
$1.79
Excluded items, priced in
$0
$9,800
$14,200
Leveled price per watt
$1.93
$1.84
$1.89
Workmanship warranty
10 years
5 years
2 years
Leveled bid comparison
Contents
Summary and ranking
Assumptions page
Scope matrix: what each bid includes and excludes
Equipment and warranty comparison
Leveled price per watt
Production estimates compared
Clarification questions for each bidder
Questions for your attorney and licensed professionals
Illustrative: Bluegrass-region parts manufacturer, three sites
A first-year, non-certified Scope 2 estimate for 2025 electricity use at three sites, reported both location-based and market-based. Because the main plant's utility has a higher emission rate than the regional grid average, the market-based total comes out higher than the location-based one, even after the warehouse's RECs.
Scope 2 summary, calendar year 2025 (metric tons CO2e)
Site
Electricity (MWh)
Location-based
Market-based
Market-based basis
Main plant
4,820
2,024.4
2,410.0
Utility-specific rate
Warehouse
610
256.2
0.0
RECs retired, 610 MWh
Office
100
42.0
50.0
Utility-specific rate
Total
5,530
2,322.6
2,460.0
Both methods reported
Scope 2 summary, calendar year 2025 (metric tons CO2e)
Illustrative: Western Kentucky grain farm family, 180 acres under offer
Two utility-scale solar lease offers for the same 180 acres, compared on commercial and financial terms only. Offer B starts $100 an acre higher, but Offer A's 2% escalator passes it in year 7 and pays about $1.66 million more if every extension is exercised.
Two offers, full-term view (nominal dollars)
Term
Offer A
Offer B
Option period
3 years at $40/acre
5 years at $25/acre
Starting rent
$850/acre/year
$950/acre/year
Annual escalator
2.0%
None
Operating term
25 years + two 5-year extensions
20 years + three 5-year extensions
Total payments, 180 acres, full term
$7.67 million
$6.01 million
Decommissioning security
Bond posted before construction
Not addressed in offer
Two offers, full-term view (nominal dollars)
Contents
Summary of financial differences
Assumptions page
Payment schedules, year by year
Option period and extension terms compared
Present value of each offer at three discount rates
An assumptions page up front, listing every input that moves the result and where it came from.
A one-page summary in plain English that answers the question you asked.
Tables you can check line by line, with sources for tariffs, weather data, and emission factors.
A sensitivity section showing which assumptions change the answer and by how much.
A list of questions for your licensed engineer, electrician, attorney, or CPA, when your decision needs one.
A recorded walkthrough call and one round of follow-up questions.
Next step
Want one of these built on your own numbers?
Start with a free 20-minute fit call. We'll tell you which report fits your decision, what documents we need, and the fixed fee in writing before any work begins.
Solar analysis examples built as composites: a Lexington homeowner, a Scott County parts supplier and a Christian County farm family. The people are invented. The method is the one we use.
Independent cash-flow analysis of solar and storage decisions for homes, businesses and public bodies, with every assumption written down and stress-tested.
Every project gets a flat fee, quoted in writing after a free 20-minute fit call. We don't publish prices, because the work depends on your documents, not on a menu.
