What Happens on Solar Installation Day

Installation day is the part of the process everyone pictures, and it is usually the shortest and least eventful stage of the whole project.

It is also the stage that produces the most surprise, for one specific reason: at the end of it, you have a complete PV solar system that is switched off and will stay that way for some weeks.

Here is what actually happens.

Before the day

By the time a crew arrives, a fair amount has already occurred: a site survey, a system design, structural and electrical review, a permit application to the authority having jurisdiction, permit approval, and equipment ordering and delivery. Where a project has taken longer than expected to reach this point, the cause is usually in that list rather than in scheduling, why solar projects stall after the sale covers where the time actually goes.

Your preparation is straightforward:

• Clear vehicles from the driveway; crews need space for a truck and materials.
• Clear access to the electrical panel, and to the attic hatch if there is one.
• Secure pets indoors, away from the work area and away from doors that will be propped open.
• Move fragile items from walls and shelves near where drilling will happen, vibration travels.
• Clear the side of the house where panels will be lifted.
• If roof access requires crossing a neighbour's property, arrange it beforehand.

Then take dated photographs of your roof and, if accessible, the underside of the roof deck in the attic. It takes five minutes and, in the uncommon event of a later dispute about a leak, it is the most useful evidence you can have. The reasoning is in who is liable if a solar installation damages your roof.

The day itself

Arrival and setup

The crew introduces themselves, confirms the plan, and identifies the crew lead, the person to raise anything with. Fall protection and safety equipment go up first, materials are staged, and the crew confirms panel layout against the approved design.

Ask who the crew lead is and get a direct way to reach them. It makes everything else easier.

Mounting hardware and flashing

The most consequential part of the day, and the part that determines whether you have a problem in three years.

Each attachment point is located against a structural member, the roof covering is opened, and a mount is fitted with flashing designed to shed water. Correct flashing and sealing at every penetration is the difference between a roof that stays dry and the most common serious complaint in residential PV solar.

It is also, from the ground, entirely invisible once the array is on. This is work you are trusting the crew to do properly.

Racking

Rails are attached to the mounts and aligned. Alignment here determines whether the finished array looks straight, so it is worth a glance from the ground while it is still being set rather than afterwards.

Panels

The visible part, and usually quick: panels are lifted, seated, clamped and connected in strings.

Electrical work

Conduit is run, the inverter is mounted (commonly at the panel or on an exterior wall), and connections are made to your electrical system. Depending on the design this may include a new disconnect, a production meter, monitoring equipment, and a main service panel upgrade if your existing panel cannot support the addition.

This is when your power goes off, typically for a few hours. Your installer should tell you roughly when. Say in advance if anything in the house cannot tolerate an outage.

Labelling, tidying and walkthrough

Code requires specific labelling on disconnects, conduit and equipment. This is checked at inspection, so it is not decoration. The crew cleans the site, and a magnetic sweep for dropped screws is standard practice on a well-run job.

Then a walkthrough. Do it properly:

• Look at the array from the ground. Obvious misalignment is much easier to raise now.
• Ask where the shutdown switch is and how to use it. You should know this before you need it.
• Check disconnects and the inverter are labelled.
• Confirm the site is clean and your property is as you left it.
• Ask what happens next and roughly when.
• Raise anything that looks wrong immediately, while the crew is still there.

Why nothing happens next

At the end of installation you have a complete system that is deliberately switched off.

Two things still have to happen:

Inspection. The authority having jurisdiction inspects the work against the approved plans and the applicable code. If something does not comply it is corrected and re-inspected, which means scheduling another visit.

Permission to operate. Your utility must approve the system's connection to the grid. This normally follows the passed inspection and involves the utility's own process and timelines, sometimes including a meter change.

Only after permission to operate may the system be turned on. Switching it on beforehand is not a shortcut. It can breach your interconnection agreement and your permit, and it puts the responsible contractor in a difficult position.

The wait is commonly several weeks and is largely outside your installer's control, though a well-prepared submission moves faster than a poorly prepared one, the PTO and interconnection checklist sets out what a complete one contains. The full picture is in interconnection and permission to operate.

What to expect afterwards

• Inspection, and re-inspection if corrections are required.
• Permission to operate from the utility.
• Commissioning. The system is switched on and checked, and monitoring is configured. Make sure you can log into monitoring yourself.
• Your documents: permit and inspection sign-off, equipment list with serial numbers, warranty documents, and the interconnection approval. Keep these together. They are exactly what you would need if the installing company were ever no longer around.

The bottom line

Installation day is short, noisy for a while, and ends with a system that does not yet work. That last part is normal and legally required, not a fault.

The parts worth your attention are at the edges: photograph the roof beforehand, be present for the walkthrough, learn where the shutdown switch is, and collect your documents. The work that determines whether the installation lasts, the flashing at each penetration, is the part you will never see, which is why the licensed contractor responsible for it matters more than any other choice in the process.

Want to know exactly who would be accountable for your installation? Get in touch.