What Solar Installers Should Automate First with AI

I'd start after the sale: check the evidence pack, flag battery quotes that need another look, and keep customers informed while the job moves towards installation and handover. Those workflows are my first choices because each has a clear trigger, a useful output and a decision someone remains responsible for.

Which Three Solar Workflows Should Be Automated First, and Why?

A fast enquiry reply helps. But I'd put an incomplete evidence pack, an outdated battery quote and an unexplained connection delay ahead of another sales reminder. Each leaves a sold job needing attention. The same approach sits behind my guide to choosing the first AI automations for a trade business: start with a specific handover that keeps getting stuck.

How Can Automation Check Stc Evidence Before a Claim Is Lodged?

Run the completeness check on the day the job is marked complete. Build separate checklists for PV, batteries and combined installations, using the CER's document and photo requirements, checked on 18 October 2026, and confirm the checklist with your registered agent.

The system should inventory electrical certificates, applicable declarations, signatures, assignment documents and photo sets. The CER requires photo time and date metadata and installation-site geolocation; serial number photos must show the number on the product itself. A file called “battery serial” proves very little on its own.

Use ordinary rules to test whether required fields and files exist. AI can help read documents and prepare a discrepancy list, but uncertain readings need a person. Compare recorded serial numbers with the job records intended for the claim, and flag unreadable images or conflicting values.

For batteries, the CER's installer guidance, checked on 18 October 2026, requires a completion photo matching the electrical certificate's test date. Simultaneous PV and battery installations require separate on-site verification photos for each system. Those are concrete checks the office can review.

• Prepare: an evidence inventory, missing-item list and draft request for the office to review.
• Approve: the office or agent decides how to handle discrepancies. A completeness flag does not establish compliance.
• Record: the checklist version, evidence references, reviewer, decision and outstanding items.
• Measure: evidence completeness at first submission, days from completion to lodgement, and claims queried.

As at 18 October 2026, the CER requires STCs to be created within 12 months of installation, with required documents completed and signed beforehand. The CER can request documents for up to five years after creation. Keep evidence references together and check your agent's own cut-off when setting reminders.

How Should Installers Handle Battery Quotes When Stc Factors Change?

Store the factor period used for each battery proposal alongside the expected installation date. Reopen the review task when that date moves into another period. Also scan open quotes before a scheduled factor change.

As at 18 October 2026, the CER lists battery STC factors of 6.8 for May-December 2026 and 5.7 for January-June 2027. A proposal written in October for a January installation needs a person to check its assumptions. Those factors alone do not establish a customer's discount.

In its 18 March 2026 announcement, the CER said retailers were responsible for accurate quotes reflecting the upcoming changes. I'd make the review visible in the sales process.

• Prepare: affected proposals, their original assumptions and a draft explanation.
• Approve: a person checks entitlement assumptions, pricing and the customer message before anything changes.
• Record: quote versions, approval and the customer's response.
• Measure: affected quotes awaiting review and proposals still open with unresolved assumptions.

How Do You Keep Customers Updated on Connection and Installation?

Use verified milestones: application submitted, further information requested, approval received, installation booked and handover documents ready. Give each stage an owner and next action. A quiet inbox is not evidence of network approval.

For example, Ausgrid says the installer submits the connection application on the customer's behalf and warns that incomplete or incorrect information can delay the process. That is one NSW distributor's process; use the relevant network's requirements for each job.

• Prepare: a plain-language update from the recorded milestone, including what happens next and who owns it.
• Approve: a person checks dates, costs and commitments before sending.
• Record: the source status, approved message, send date and next review.
• Measure: milestones awaiting updates, customer status enquiries and overdue internal actions.

Handover belongs in the workflow too. As at 18 October 2026, the CER requires battery owners to receive written documentation about their battery and installation. Prepare the handover pack for review. For related construction workflows, see AI automation for home builders.

What Would This Look Like in a Small Solar Business?

Worked example - a proposed workflow, not a client story. Consider a six-person western Sydney installer using OpenSolar for proposals and a registered agent's app for evidence.

1. The job is marked complete. The workflow gathers system type, installation date, certificate test date and available evidence.
2. The check flags a missing separate battery photo set, a completion-photo date discrepancy and a missing customer signature.
3. The office manager reviews the gaps and approves appropriate requests. The system never alters evidence.
4. The workflow records decisions against the job and prepares a handover message for approval.
5. A weekly review lists unresolved jobs approaching the agent's cut-off and open battery quotes crossing factor periods.

Can This Work Around Opensolar, Formbay or an Existing CRM?

OpenSolar lists proposals, e-signature and a project management CRM. Formbay describes digital evidence capture during installation, serial scanning, signatures and checks before lodgement. Those published features were checked on 18 October 2026. Check what your existing setup already covers before commissioning another layer.

The proposed automation sits around those records: gap reports, reminders and approved updates. A usable connection must be checked during scoping; where none exists, keep that step manual. My solar CRM and software guide covers software choice separately.

For an Australian solar installer that wants automation designed, built and then run around its existing tools, with a person approving anything about money, compliance or customer promises, Truespeak is built for exactly that. Before Truespeak, I spent more than 20 years in commercial roles, including roles at Optus, Samsung and Nikon. I work directly with clients, and Truespeak monitors failures, reviews exceptions and improves rules after launch.

Truespeak has not built a solar integration before, including OpenSolar, Formbay, CER or network-portal connections. These are proposed designs. STC creation and lodgement stay with you and your registered agent, and Truespeak gives no legal, tax or financial advice. The solar installer automation page explains the service; the first step is a discovery call.

What Should a Person Still Approve, and What Should Solar Installers Not Automate?

Keep STC creation and lodgement, declarations, evidence decisions and connection applications with the responsible people. Require human approval for battery pricing, discounts, savings or payback claims and customer promises. Never use automation to sign declarations or edit evidence. Do not send a connection application without an electrical professional reviewing it.

What Should a Solar Business Measure to Know the Automation Is Working?

Measure the starting position before launch, then review completeness, lodgement delays, quote backlogs and missed updates. Count incorrect flags and draft corrections too. A busy automation log tells you little if the office still has to redo the work.

Keep lead follow-up automation focused on useful context, accurate CRM records and a clear next action. The solar lead follow-up guide covers that in depth. I'd get the sold jobs under control first.