Reference
Solar Fulfillment Glossary
45 terms that actually decide residential solar projects: defined plainly, and grouped by where they bite.
Why a fulfillment glossary rather than a solar glossary?
Most solar glossaries define equipment. The terms that decide whether a project completes on time are process terms, NTP, AHJ, PTO, M1, stipulation, correction notice, redline, adder, and they are the ones people are least often given a straight definition of.
Each entry below is written to stand on its own, and links onward where there is a longer answer worth reading.
Project process and milestones
The sequence a signed deal moves through, and the gates between each stage.
- Notice to Proceedalso: NTP
- The internal authorization that a signed deal has cleared every prerequisite and may now consume resources: material ordering, crew scheduling and, on most funding structures, the first milestone draw. Issued by whoever carries the financial risk of the install, not by the utility or the building department. What is Notice to Proceed →
- Site surveyalso: site audit, technical site visit
- The on-site inspection performed after signature and before engineering produces a plan set. It records roof planes and framing, the electrical service including main panel ratings, shading, obstructions and the conduit route. It is the first point at which a proposal is tested against the actual house. What is a site survey →
- Plan setalso: permit set, stamped drawings
- The drawing package submitted to the jurisdiction: site plan, roof layout, single-line electrical diagram, equipment specifications, attachment details and, where required, structural documentation. Its quality caps the permit approval rate downstream. Design and permitting →
- Plan review
- The jurisdiction's examination of a submitted plan set against the adopted code. It ends in issuance or in correction comments, and a correction restarts the review clock rather than pausing it. Why applications get rejected →
- Final inspection
- The jurisdiction's on-site verification that the installed system matches the approved plan set and complies with code: equipment models, conductor sizing, grounding, disconnects, rapid shutdown, and labelling. Passing it produces the sign-off the utility normally requires.
- Correction noticealso: red tag
- The written list of deficiencies from a failed inspection. It has to be cleared and re-inspected. A correction notice nobody was assigned to clear is one of the most common causes of a project sitting silently for weeks.
- Permission to Operatealso: PTO, authorization to operate
- The utility's written authorization that a completed system may be energized and export to the grid. It is the last step in a residential project. Energizing before it is issued can void the interconnection agreement. Interconnection and PTO →
- As-built drawings
- Revised documentation reflecting what was actually installed when it differs from the permitted design. Required by many utilities and jurisdictions before a file will close, and a routine cause of delay when a field change was never documented.
Parties and accountability
Who is responsible for what. The distinctions that decide outcomes when something fails.
- Authority having jurisdictionalso: AHJ
- The local governmental body with legal authority to enforce building and electrical codes at a given address: usually a city or county building department, sometimes a fire authority for access and setbacks. It issues the permit and signs the final inspection. What is an AHJ →
- Contractor of record
- The licensed entity that pulls the permit and carries legal responsibility for the installation. Accountability follows the licence, so this cannot be delegated by agreement even where the work is performed by others. Who is the contractor of record →
- EPCalso: engineering, procurement and construction
- A business that handles engineering, procurement and construction for a project. In residential solar it typically means a company that designs, sources and installs, as distinct from a sales-only organisation. Solutions for EPCs →
- Sales organisationalso: sales org, dealer
- A business that sells residential solar without installing it, routing closed deals to installing partners. The model depends entirely on the reliability of the fulfillment relationship behind it. Solutions for sales organisations →
- Installing dealeralso: installer
- A licensed contractor that performs physical installation, whether on its own sold deals or on deals routed from sales organisations. Solutions for installers →
- Fulfillment partner
- The party running the work between a signed deal and a producing system, design, engineering, permitting, procurement, installer connection and project management, on behalf of a seller who does not do it in-house. How it works →
- Utility account holderalso: customer of record
- The person on the utility account. The interconnection agreement must be executed by this person, and a mismatch with the contract signatory is a routine cause of rejection discovered long after install.
- Responsibility matrix
- A task-by-task map of who owns each step of a project, agreed between parties before work starts. Its purpose is to surface tasks that each party assumes the other is doing. Project responsibility matrix →
Financing and funding
How money reaches a project, in what order, and who carries the gaps.
- TPOalso: third-party ownership
- An arrangement in which a third party owns the system and the homeowner pays for the power or leases the equipment, rather than owning it. Covers lease and power purchase agreement structures. TPO vs loan vs cash →
- Dealer fee
- The amount a lender deducts from the financed contract price when funding a deal, which varies by product, term and rate. It is a direct input to what a sold system actually yields. Dealer margin calculator →
- M1 and M2also: milestone draws
- The staged payments a lender releases against a project, commonly a first draw around the start of work and a second on completion. Triggers and timing are set by the funding agreement and vary by product. Milestone funding explained →
- Stipulationalso: stip
- A condition a lender attaches to an approval: a document, a verification, a correction. Individually small, collectively one of the largest causes of deals ageing before Notice to Proceed. Why loans get declined →
- Lender agnostic
- Describes a fulfillment arrangement that is not tied to a single funding source, so a deal can be placed with whichever product fits the homeowner rather than the only one available. What lender agnostic means →
- Redline
- The per-watt amount a sales organisation retains above the fulfillment cost of a deal. It is a fixed margin per project, which is why any unpriced cost arriving after the contract price is agreed comes straight out of it. Commission calculator →
- Working capital gap
- The interval between paying for materials and labour and receiving funding on the same deal. It opens at Notice to Proceed, not at install, and it grows proportionally with volume. Cash conversion cycle calculator →
- Direct Pay
- Seamless Home's material procurement arrangement, discounted material costs with no upfront working capital required from the seller. Direct Pay materials →
- Pay-when-paid
- A contract clause conditioning payment to a subcontractor on the upstream party first being paid. A stronger variant, often called pay-if-paid, can make upstream payment a true condition of any payment at all. Enforceability varies by state. Subcontract review checklist →
- Clawbackalso: chargeback
- The recovery of commission or funding already paid, triggered when a deal cancels or fails to complete after payment was made. Deal fallout cost calculator →
Design, equipment and interconnection
The physical and electrical terms that most often change a design after signature.
- Adder
- Any cost beyond the base system that a specific property or customer choice requires: panel upgrade, roof work, trenching, tile-roof labour premium, battery, critter guard. Priced before signature it is margin; discovered after, it is exposure. What is a solar adder →
- Main panel upgradealso: MPU, service upgrade
- Replacement of the home's main service panel, usually because its busbar or main breaker rating cannot accept the solar backfeed. Frequently its own permit and utility coordination, and the single largest category of post-signature surprise.
- Busbar rating
- The current rating of the conductive bars inside an electrical panel. Together with the main breaker rating it determines how much solar backfeed a panel can accept. It cannot be established from aerial imagery, someone has to open the panel and read the label.
- Backfeed
- Current flowing from the solar system into the electrical panel, in the opposite direction from utility supply. How a panel may accept it is the governing constraint on interconnection at the house.
- Single-line diagramalso: one-line
- The schematic in a plan set showing the electrical path from array through inverter and disconnects to the panel and meter. Reviewed by both the jurisdiction and the utility, against different criteria.
- Rapid shutdown
- A code requirement for de-energizing conductors on and near a roof-mounted array so that emergency responders can work safely. Its equipment and labelling are standard inspection checks.
- Interconnection agreement
- The contract between the utility and the utility account holder permitting a generating system to connect to the grid. Separate from any net metering agreement and separate again from the jurisdiction's permit.
- Net meteringalso: net billing, net energy metering
- An arrangement under which exported solar energy is credited against consumption. Terms, credit rates and successor structures are set by state and by utility, and change over time.
- Witness test
- An on-site verification by some utilities that a system's shutdown and anti-islanding behaviour work as specified, performed before permission to operate is granted.
- Derate
- A reduction in system size or output from the design, usually because of a constraint found after the proposal: panel capacity, roof positions lost to obstructions, or a utility export limit.
- Bill of materialsalso: BOM
- The itemised list of equipment and components required to build a specific system, derived from the plan set and used to order materials.
Warranty, compliance and risk
The obligations that outlive the install, and the parties who owe them.
- Workmanship warranty
- The installing contractor's warranty on the installation itself: mounting, penetrations, roof integrity at those penetrations, wiring and labour. Distinct from module and inverter warranties, which are manufacturer obligations. Who stands behind the warranty →
- Manufacturer warranty
- The module or inverter maker's warranty covering product defect, and for modules typically performance degradation over a stated term. It is that company's obligation, not the installer's. Warranty coverage checker →
- Contractor licence
- The state-issued authorization to perform contracting work, in a classification that covers the work performed. It is held by a specific legal entity, and a licence held by an affiliate does not cover the contracting business. How to verify a licence →
- Surety bond
- A financial guarantee, required for licensure in many states, that pays a limited class of claimants up to a limited amount if a contractor fails to meet its legal or contractual obligations. A floor, not comprehensive protection.
- Certificate of insurancealso: COI
- Evidence of a contractor's insurance coverage. It is a snapshot of one day unless you are named as certificate holder, which is what causes you to be notified of lapse or cancellation. Installer vetting scorecard →
- Additional insured
- Status under another party's liability policy extending its coverage to you for claims arising from their work. Materially different from being merely a certificate holder, which conveys notice but no coverage.
- Lien waiver
- A document by which a party gives up lien rights in exchange for payment. Conditional waivers take effect only when payment clears; unconditional waivers take effect on signature. Form and timing are governed by state statute in many places.
- Turnkey
- Used to describe an arrangement in which one party takes a signed contract and delivers a completed, permitted, inspected system. The term is applied to a wide range of arrangements, so what matters is which single entity is accountable rather than how many services are listed. What turnkey actually means →
The six terms worth knowing if you only learn six
Contractor of record, because it tells you which single licensed entity is accountable, and everything else follows from that answer.
NTP, because it is the real boundary between a promise and a project, and the place healthy-looking pipelines quietly stop.
AHJ, because confusing it with the utility sends people chasing the wrong party for days.
Adder, because unpriced ones come out of the seller's margin, and the timing of their discovery decides whether they are revenue or loss.
Redline, because it is a fixed margin per deal, which makes every unexpected cost a direct subtraction rather than a percentage.
Workmanship warranty, because in year three it is the only obligation that answers the homeowner's phone call, and it is worth exactly the durability of the entity behind it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does NTP mean in solar?+
NTP stands for Notice to Proceed. The internal authorization that a signed residential solar deal has cleared every prerequisite and may now consume resources such as material ordering, crew scheduling and, on most funding structures, the first milestone draw. It is issued by whoever carries the financial risk of the install, not by the utility or the building department.
What is the difference between AHJ and utility approval?+
They approve different things against different rules. The authority having jurisdiction enforces building and electrical code. It issues the permit and signs the final inspection, deciding whether a system may be built. The utility governs connection to its grid, it reviews the interconnection application and grants permission to operate, deciding whether the system may export. Both are required, they run in parallel, and neither substitutes for the other.
What is a solar adder?+
Any cost beyond the base PV system that a specific property or customer choice requires: a main panel upgrade, roof repair, trenching, a tile or steep-roof labour premium, tree removal, a critter guard, or battery storage. Property-driven adders are non-optional and are best identified before signature; customer-driven adders are elective and are a sale rather than an exposure.
What is the difference between a workmanship warranty and a manufacturer warranty?+
They are separate obligations owed by separate parties. Module and inverter warranties cover product defect and, for modules, performance degradation. They are obligations of the manufacturers. The workmanship warranty covers the installation itself: mounting, penetrations, roof integrity at those penetrations, wiring and labour, and it is owed by the installing contractor.
What does redline mean in solar sales?+
The per-watt amount a sales organisation retains above the fulfillment cost of a deal. Because it is a fixed margin per project, any cost that arrives after the contract price is agreed, most commonly an unpriced adder discovered at the site survey, comes directly out of it rather than being spread across the deal.
What is a contractor of record?+
The licensed entity that pulls the permit for a project and carries legal responsibility for the installation. Because accountability follows the licence, it cannot be delegated by agreement even where other parties perform parts of the work. Identifying which legal entity holds this role is the single most useful question when assessing an installation arrangement.
Where to go next
How Seamless Home works
The sequence these terms describe, end to end.
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
Direct answers on financing, installer connections, materials and accountability.
Learn more →The blog
Long-form answers on fulfillment, accountability, permitting and financing.
Learn more →Free tools
Calculators and checklists that turn these terms into numbers for your own deals.
Learn more →Licensed, lending and labor under one roof
Financing, materials, design, permitting, installer connections and project management, run as one accountable layer, with coverage confirmed per service area.
Get In Touch