Free Solar Business Tool
Direct Pay Working Capital Calculator
See exactly how much capital you tie up in materials every month, and what zero upfront through Direct Pay frees up.
Calculate Your Working Capital Exposure
Adjust the sliders to match your business. Results update instantly.
Materials per deal: $15,750
Deals in pipeline at once: ~30
Your numbers
Without Direct Pay, capital tied up
$472,500
rolling balance at any point in time
With Direct Pay, capital required
$0
Seamless Home covers material costs upfront
Est. annual cost-of-capital saved
$37,800
at 8% cost of capital
Deals in pipeline at once
~30
each requiring $15,750 in materials
Estimates use standard working-capital modeling. Cost-of-capital savings calculated at 8% annual rate on the rolling capital balance. Actual figures depend on your lender product mix, advance schedule, and material sourcing. Ballpark estimates only, not financial advice.
Informational use only, please verify before you rely on it
Capital figures are illustrative estimates based on the values you enter. Actual material costs, supplier payment terms, credit-line rates, and funding timelines vary by supplier, lender, market, and project.
This tool is provided for general informational and educational purposes only. Its output is an illustrative estimate generated from the values you enter and from general assumptions that will not match every deal, market, lender, or homeowner. It is not tax, legal, accounting, financial, or professional advice, and it is not a quote, an offer, a credit decision, or a guarantee of pricing, approval, timing, savings, or eligibility.
You are solely responsible for independently confirming all information presented here including any figures, rates, fees, margins, timelines, tax treatment, and federal, state, local, or utility incentives, with the applicable lender, authority having jurisdiction, and your own qualified tax, legal, and financial advisors before acting on it, relying on it, or presenting it to a homeowner or any third party. Incentive programs, lender terms, and permitting requirements change frequently and vary by jurisdiction.
Seamless Home is not a tax advisor, law firm, lender, or licensed installing contractor, and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the information produced by this tool. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Seamless Home accepts no liability for any decision made or action taken in reliance on it.
Why working capital is the #1 growth constraint for solar sales orgs
The solar sales cycle creates a structural cash-flow problem: deals are closed and materials must be procured weeks before the lender funds the project. A growing sales org closing 20 deals per month, each with $15,000 in material costs, can easily have $300,000, $500,000 of working capital tied up in the pipeline at any given time.
Most sales orgs manage this with a combination of credit lines, supplier payment terms, and cash reserves. All three options have costs and limits. A credit line at 7% annual interest on $400,000 in materials costs $28,000 per year before any overhead. That's margin that goes to a lender instead of your business.
Direct Pay through Seamless Home eliminates the exposure entirely. Materials are procured and delivered based on each deal's BOM without requiring upfront payment from the sales org or installer. The capital cost goes to zero, which means growing your deal volume doesn't require growing your credit line in lockstep.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Direct Pay in solar and how does it affect working capital?+
Direct Pay is a material procurement model offered by Seamless Home where the platform purchases and delivers panels, racking, inverters, and BOM components on behalf of the sales org or installer, without requiring the org to front the cost. This eliminates the working capital gap that occurs when an org must pay for materials before the lender advances funds after installation.
How much working capital does a solar sales org typically need?+
It depends on deal volume and material cost per deal. At 15 deals per month with an average system cost of $35,000 and 45% material cost, materials alone represent ~$15,750 per deal. With a 60-day gap between material delivery and lender funding, a sales org may have 30 deals in various stages of the pipeline at once, requiring $472,500 in working capital just for materials. This calculator shows that number for your specific deal flow.
How long after installation does a solar lender typically advance funds?+
Funding timelines vary by lender and product. Loan lenders (GoodLeap, Sunlight Financial) typically advance funds within 30-60 days of permission to operate (PTO). TPO providers (LightReach) may fund at or after installation. Some lenders have milestone-based advances; others fund at a single point. The 30-90 day range in this calculator reflects the most common band across Seamless Home's lender network.
Does Direct Pay apply to both sales orgs and installers?+
Yes. Sales organizations use Direct Pay to eliminate the need to front material costs while the deal is in permitting and installation. Installers use it to procure materials without tying up their own working capital in inventory. Both use cases route through Seamless Home's fulfillment platform, which manages procurement and delivery based on the deal's BOM.
Related resources
Direct Pay materials
Cover material costs with no upfront working capital required.
Learn more →Multi-lender solar financing
Offer every funding option on every deal across a network of lenders.
Learn more →How solar financing works
How each financing path affects cash flow and working capital.
Learn more →Eliminate the working capital problem entirely
Direct Pay through Seamless Home covers material costs so you can scale deal volume without scaling your credit exposure. Get in touch to see how it works for your org.
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