What an exciting day! It’s a pivotal moment in the life of your family, especially if it’s the first solar system you’ve ever had installed.
It’s a moment in your life where you have decided enough is enough. You know you don’t need those huge power bills anymore. It’s the point in your life where you have decided to help the environment and contribute to your community in a positive way.
Our Office Teams Set the Stage
Up to this point, you’ve dealt with our solar consultants who have worked with you to design your system based on your unique energy needs and goals. You’ve worked with our operations team, who have coordinated with you to find a day that is most convenient for you to install your solar system. And you’ve dealt with our accounts team as well. You’ve probably also engaged with our online content: our YouTube channel, our blog, or an email campaign put together by our marketing team. Once the installation is complete, you’ll be working with our service team as well.
We comprehensively cater to your unique needs and goals, customising every step of our process to streamline the installation.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our team customises your solar journey, you might want to check out the following article titled, In-house Installers vs. Subcontractors: Which is Better?
Our Installation Team Starts the Day
Our installers begin their day at our warehouse on Batt Street at 6 AM. Our warehouse is 3,200 square metres, and at 6 AM it is full and buzzing with team members who are eager to get to your home and get to work. They are preparing for the day by filling up water bottles with ice and getting their heads in the right mindset. They are focused, professional, and ready.
They hop-to when they’re loading the trucks. One of the key performance touchpoints they are evaluated on is whether a team is on the road by 6:15 AM. That’s the goal every morning. While it doesn’t happen 100% of the mornings, we always arrive on site between 7 – 7:30 AM. We know what you’re thinking: you told us that you’d arrive between 7:30 – 8 AM. That’s true. The goal is a half-hour earlier.
If your home is in Penrith, or if you’re in a nearby suburb, you might be wondering what the team is doing between 6:15 – 7 AM. The team usually grabs breakie on the way to the installation site. They have smiles on their faces with full bellies and full hearts.
Our Installation Team Arrives and Prepares
Our operations team has already briefed you on what our installers need in terms of access to the roof and home. They love a nice clear driveway. Our team will always try to park the truck in the driveway to reduce the amount of time they have to spend running back and forth to get equipment and components. Having the truck set up properly is key to the day running without a hitch. It just creates a better, safer, more compact work environment as well.
You’ll be greeted by your team leader, who will walk you through the job. Together, you will review the roof plan and double-check that it’s what you want. Occasionally, there are last-minute changes that need approval. The two of you will also double-check where your panels are going to go, and they’ll discuss your iBoard installation and access to the main switchboard as well. And if you have a battery, that’s the time to figure out your battery location too.
Most of the time, we are so incredibly happy to install your solar battery wherever you want. However, there may be some rules and regulations that prevent us from installing it there. A discussion with your qualified Clean Energy Council accredited electrician on site (who is obviously one of our full-time team members) is going to really iron that out and make sure that your expectations are met. We move heaven and earth to accommodate your needs, but sometimes the very nature of electricity requires compromise.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about the things that affect our installation, you might want to check out the following article titled, How Does Your Roof Affect Your Installation?
While you’re talking to the team leader, the rest of the crew will be doing a risk assessment for the day. They’ll be identifying different points on site that require attention. For example, if you live on a main road, that is a larger risk than if you live at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. Our installers don’t have to worry about oncoming traffic in cul-de-sacs.
There will always be electricity risks as well. And we will always be working at heights. That’s our job, it’s what we do. Team members will also be planning out their workflow; how they’re going to access the roof and get materials up there. We’ll install gutter protection to stop the ladder from scratching it. They’ll also get the first harness points up, so they’ll be able to harness themselves up. This will keep them snug and safe at heights.
If you have a tile roof, we always require that you have at least 12 spare roof tiles. As part of the preparation process, we email you a handout that details where you can purchase some roof tiles from local roof tile recyclers. If you have a tin roof, then — half your luck — you don’t need spare roof tiles.
As the last part of this process, our team will confirm where the panels will go. They will be checking and double-checking to make certain the panels fit.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about how we approach a Terracotta tile installation, you might want to check out the following article titled, Considerations for Installing Solar On Terracotta Tiles.
Our Team Installs Your Solar System
Once you have confirmed and signed off on the design, the crew can get to work. They begin immediately.
Our crew will be with you all day. It’s rare that they finish an installation within 4 – 6 hours. It’s almost always an all-day installation. Some of our installations take multiple days.
Once that’s all ticked off and sorted, we begin the installation. It is a very noisy process. There will be 3 – 4 impact drivers on your roof at a time. An impact driver is a big drill-looking thing that drives thick screws into your trusses. You’ll also hear something that sounds like people walking across your roof because we are walking across your roof.
The feet are installed first. If it’s a tile roof, the installation is slightly different from a metal roof. If it’s a tile roof, a crew member will find the trusses under different tiles and fix the foot of the rail on the truss with the impact driver. If it’s a metal roof the feet are installed on the ridges of the corrugated material. The rails are installed next. They’re fixed to the feet and levelled.
If you’re interested in learning more about our installation process, you might want to check out the following article titled, What is a Solar Mounting System?
The cables are fed down to your iBoard, where the head electrician will be installing those components with one of our apprentices. Your consumption monitoring is set up next, and once that’s complete, they seal it up and inspect it.
About the time the iBoard installation is done, the panels are usually ready to go up on the roof. Team members will hand the panels up to another team member on the roof. The panels go directly from the truck to the roof, and we scan the bar code of every panel too, so we know where they are placed. Scanning the panels is required by law so we can correctly fulfil the STC requirements for your federal solar rebate. One crew member will be laying the panels out, another will be tidying them up and one crew member will start the commissioning process.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about the rebate for solar, you might want to check out the following article titled, How Does the Solar Rebate Work?
At the end of the day (if it’s a one-day installation), the job will be 100% operational. We turn the system on and test it. If everything is working as it should, you’ll have a great handover experience with your team leader. The site will be cleaner than when we found it.
Learn more about our installations!
Our Team Provides Exceptional Aftercare
Once your solar system is on, it’s ready to go. Your invoice is due on your day of installation when we leave the site. We won’t be on the phone pestering you right away, but that is the due date, and we’d really prefer it if you would pay then.
If you’re interested in learning more about finances and solar systems, you might want to check out the following article titled, What is the Payback Period for Solar Panels in Australia?
It takes somewhere in the neighbourhood of 5 days for us to build your monitoring platform for your phone. Because we install Enphase microinverter solar systems, we use and program the Enphase Enlighten app. We transfer the data of those barcodes we scanned, and we draw a map of the roof over the top of your home (not literally, we do it to an image). This way everything is coordinated for any servicing that may or may not take place at a future date.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about Enphase and microinverter solar systems, you might want to check out the following article titled, Myths & Misconceptions About Solar Microinverters.
We test drive the site for 24 hours before we hand over the keys. This is an important part of the installation process; we need to know how it’s working and whether it’s operating as intended and as we quoted.
The consumption monitoring through the Enphase Enlighten app is usually built in 2 – 3 days, but because we need to kick the tyres and test it out, we like to quote this as a five-day process. Sometimes we get it done in three days. We love surpassing your expectations.
While all that lovely testing and monitoring is going on, your metering paperwork needs to be processed. A smart meter is a piece of equipment that your energy retailer will install for you when you install solar on your home. The smart meter cannot be installed until we can produce a Certificate of Compliance from Electrical Works (CCEW). The CCEW can only be produced once the system is on and tested.
Once the CCEW is done, only then can we lodge your metering paperwork. If you have an older type of electricity meter, it could take your retailer up to 14 days to install a smart meter. We also send you a handover book as well, so you know the ins and outs of your new solar system.
Of course, there are other details that our exceptional team will see, but that’s a general overview of what our services are like on the day of installation for your brand-new solar system.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about how PSC supports you long after installing your solar system, you might want to check out the following article titled, A Complete Guide to Solar Warranties.
Installation with PSC: Ready, Willing, and Cable
Now you know what to expect when you’re expecting solar. Our team of experts will guide you through the design process and hand you over to the sure and sturdy hands of our installation team.
At Penrith Solar Centre, we work with you to find a solar system that is going to meet your unique energy needs and goals. We will be there with you from every step of the way along your solar journey, from the initial inquiry for a quote to fulfilling your warranty claims should your system need servicing. It’s what we do every day.
In this article, we mentioned that an installation might take multiple days. If you’re interested in learning more about what affects the timeframe of a solar installation, you might want to check out the following article titled, How Long Will My Solar Install Take?
