Intake Forms for Solar Installers: Site Assessment and System Design

By Daniel Akselrod · July 2026

Solar is one of the few trades where the intake process directly determines whether a project is even viable. A roofer can always repair a roof. A plumber can always fix a pipe. But a solar installer who sends a design team to a property with a north-facing roof covered in shade from a two-story neighbor is burning a site visit on a project that was dead before the truck arrived. Good intake doesn’t just organize the job — it filters out the ones that shouldn’t happen.

The gap between a solar lead and a signed contract is wider than in almost any other home improvement trade. Clients have questions about financing, utility policy, tax credits, HOA approval, and payback timelines before they’ve even committed to a site visit. A solar installer intake form that captures the right data upfront shortens the sales cycle and prevents your design engineers from working on systems that will never get built.

Roof condition and structural assessment

Solar panels are a 25-year product bolted to a structure that may or may not last that long. If the roof needs replacement in five years, the panels have to come off, the roof gets replaced, and the panels go back on — at the homeowner’s expense. That conversation needs to happen at intake, not after the contract is signed:

• Roof age — an asphalt shingle roof older than 15 years is a red flag. Most installers will not mount panels on a roof with less than 10 years of remaining life without a roof replacement conversation first. Tile, metal, and slate roofs have longer lifespans but introduce different mounting challenges. Capture the roof age and whether the homeowner has any record of the last replacement.
• Roof material — composition shingle, concrete tile, clay tile, standing seam metal, flat/built-up, or slate. Each material requires a different racking system and attachment method. Tile roofs require tile hooks and comp mounts. Standing seam metal uses clamp-on rail attachments with no penetrations. Flat roofs use ballasted or tilt-up racking. Your design team needs this before they start drawing.
• Roof orientation and pitch — south-facing slopes between 15 and 40 degrees are ideal in most of the continental US. East and west facings produce 10 to 20 percent less energy. North-facing is generally a disqualifier unless the pitch is very low. Capture the primary roof orientation and approximate pitch so your team can run preliminary production estimates without a site visit.
• Roof obstructions — vents, skylights, dormers, chimneys, satellite dishes, and HVAC equipment all reduce usable roof area. A roof that looks large on Google Earth may have 30 percent of its surface blocked by obstructions that limit panel placement.

Electrical panel capacity

This is where solar intake diverges from what electricians capture on their own intake forms. An electrician assesses the panel for load capacity and safety. A solar installer assesses it for interconnection compatibility:

• Main panel amperage — 100A, 150A, or 200A. A 200A panel is the modern standard and accommodates most residential solar installations without an upgrade. A 100A panel almost always requires a panel upgrade or a line-side tap, adding $1,500 to $3,000 to the project cost. This is a deal-breaker for some clients, and catching it at intake prevents sticker shock at the proposal stage.
• Main breaker rating and bus bar rating — the NEC 120% rule (or 2023 NEC supply-side allowances) determines the maximum solar breaker size the panel can accept. A 200A panel with a 200A bus bar can accept a maximum 40A solar breaker under the traditional rule. If the system requires more, a panel upgrade or alternative interconnection method is needed.
• Available breaker spaces — the solar inverter needs two adjacent spaces in the panel (for a 240V breaker). If the panel is full, you are either tandem-ing breakers or adding a sub-panel. Capture whether the panel has open spaces.
• Panel location — interior (garage, basement, utility room) or exterior. This affects conduit routing and inverter placement. An exterior panel with a clear wall next to it is the simplest installation.

Utility company and net metering

The economics of solar depend almost entirely on how the local utility handles solar customers. Your intake needs to capture:

• Utility provider name — each utility has its own interconnection application, net metering policy, and timeline. Some utilities process applications in two weeks. Others take three months. Your project timeline depends on knowing which utility you are dealing with.
• Current rate structure — flat rate, tiered, or time-of-use (TOU). TOU customers benefit more from battery storage because they can store daytime solar production and discharge during peak evening rates. Tiered customers in the upper tiers get the highest per-kWh savings from solar. Capturing the rate structure lets your proposal show accurate savings calculations.
• Net metering availability — full retail net metering, reduced-rate net metering, net billing, or no net metering. In states where net metering has been reduced or eliminated (California NEM 3.0 being the most prominent example), the economics shift dramatically toward battery storage and self-consumption. Your intake should flag the applicable policy.

Shading analysis and site conditions

Shade is the enemy of solar production, and it does not have to cover the whole roof to kill a project. A single chimney shadow crossing three panels in a string inverter system can reduce the output of the entire string, not just the shaded panels:

• Trees — mature trees to the south, east, or west of the property. Are they on the client’s property (removable) or a neighbor’s (not removable)? Will they grow taller over the 25-year life of the system? A tree that clears the roofline today may shade half the array in ten years.
• Neighboring structures — two-story homes to the south, commercial buildings, or other structures that cast shadows during peak production hours (10 AM to 2 PM). These are permanent obstructions that your design must work around.
• Seasonal variation — the sun angle changes by roughly 47 degrees between summer and winter solstice. A roof that is shade-free in June may be partially shaded from November through February when the sun is low. Your intake should note any potential seasonal shading concerns for the design team to model.

Energy consumption history

Proper system sizing requires 12 months of utility data. Not an average. Not a guess. Twelve actual monthly bills:

• Annual kWh consumption — the total kilowatt-hours used over the past 12 months. This is the number your system is designed to offset. A system sized to cover 100% of consumption is different from one sized to cover 80%.
• Monthly breakdown — seasonal variation matters. A home that uses 2,000 kWh in August (air conditioning) and 600 kWh in April has a very different load profile than one that uses 1,000 kWh consistently. The monthly breakdown affects optimal system size, tilt angle, and whether battery storage makes financial sense.
• Anticipated changes — is the client planning to add an EV (adds 300 to 500 kWh/month), a pool (adds 200 to 400 kWh/month), or convert from gas to electric appliances? Future load growth should be factored into system sizing at design time, not discovered after installation.

Financing, battery storage, and regulatory hurdles

The last sections of your intake cover the business side of the project:

• Financing preference — cash purchase, solar loan, lease, or power purchase agreement (PPA). Each model has different contract structures, warranty implications, and ownership considerations. A client who wants a lease is a different sales conversation than one who is paying cash and wants to maximize the federal tax credit.
• Battery storage interest — is the client interested in battery backup (Tesla Powerwall, Enphase IQ, Franklin WH, or similar)? Battery adds $10,000 to $20,000 to the project cost and requires additional design work for critical load panels and backup circuit selection. Knowing this at intake affects the entire system design, not just the price.
• HOA restrictions — does the property have an HOA? Most states have solar access laws that prevent HOAs from outright banning solar, but many HOAs still require architectural review, specific panel placement, or equipment screening. Capture whether the client has checked their HOA’s solar policy and whether an application has been submitted.
• Permit status — has the client had any prior permits denied or work done without permits on the property? Some jurisdictions will not issue new permits until existing violations are resolved. This is a project-killer that you want to discover at intake, not at the permitting stage.
• Interconnection timeline expectations — the gap between installation and utility permission to operate (PTO) ranges from 2 weeks to 6 months depending on the utility. Clients who expect to flip the switch the day after installation need to understand the interconnection timeline upfront. Capturing their expectations at intake prevents the most common source of post-installation complaints.

Solar intake is more complex than most trades because the viability of the project depends on factors the client may not even be aware of — panel capacity, net metering policy, shading geometry, and utility interconnection timelines. A thorough intake form surfaces the deal-breakers early and gives your design team what they need to produce an accurate proposal on the first pass.