Solar Nexus Review

Statistics show that attempts to building a complete suite of software to do the job for a particular business sector is fraught with risk. If an all encompassing software for your solar company is what you are looking for, Solar Nexus is the software platform that does the job. Solar Nexus’ solar companies focused suite of services covers all the stages of the solar installation process from lead generation, customer service, design, proposal & quote, project management and operation & maintenance. Solar Nexus can certainly be the only tool that is required but that is not necessarily the only operational model for installations that can be followed.

Solar Nexus’ Energy Systems Platform

Solar Nexus’ solar platform includes proposals (scope of work, pricing, economic analysis, document generation) and contracts. With completely customized installation and customer service management from experts who understand the demands of the solar industry.

Solar Nexus’ Solar CRM & Customer Service

The generation of quotes in Solar Nexus begins from customer lead capture. The company provides solutions such as a website form and API integrations with lead generation providers. Companies have the benefit of a fully integrated CRM, everything you need for your sales team to generate competitive quotes and remain focused on the needs of the customer.

Configure, Price and Quote

The configuration and design module allows your company guys to review & choose from a pre-configured set of solutions that you could offer your customer. The Solar Nexus’ solar panel system design can be completed remotely, with modules specifications available from their extensive database. The designer views the install site by the satellite image available as a way to place the solar panels on the roof, this process is straight forward with few issues likely to affect your company during the installation process.

Energy Consumption & Energy Efficiency

The energy consumption modeling allows you to review the customer’s energy consumption on the basis of a few months’ bills or Green Button Data. The solar system’s energy generation can be estimated using data from NREL’s PV Watts and review the various contributory factors to system losses. Companies who quote for energy storage can do so with Solar Nexus’ energy systems modeling along with a menu of other efficiency services such as Heat Pumps, HVAC, Lighting and Electric Vehicle Charging.

Financial & Contract Signature

Pricing can be created in a really granular manner that allows for pre-configuration and estimation ensuring that the staff will have the pricing accurately and more importantly quickly. The financial options that can be integrated directly into the platform can also be offered for the customer to review, the company can advice the customer on the prices, the cost benefit analysis and the cost of the post install O&M service. At the end a document that can be signed with an e-signature such as DocuSign results in a customer who simply reviews and approves based on the comprehensive information available for decision making.

Solar Nexus’ Solar Project Implementation Module

Throughout the software we have the ability to assign roles and restrict setting to administration users. This allows for a software that allows separation of roles and specializations, Administrators; create the operation process, Sales; focus on price, cost, quotes & customers’ reviews, Engineers; work on the mechanical & electrical design and Project Managers; concern themselves with operational process and permitting requirements.

The quality of the project management tool relies on other modules making the handover from sales closure to project management a seamless process. Part of the reason that Sales Nexus does not offer a Project management only option. The CRM handover post contract signature is a vital handover for the installation process that allows for efficient functioning. Once the contract has been signed it follows a fully customisable automated process which requires the steps to be taken by appropriate team members facilitated by team collaboration tools.

Site Survey, AHJ Permitting and Change Orders

The site survey tool provides information on the necessary data that needs to be captured. Photos of the site survey can be uploaded to be stored as part of the project. Permitting guidelines & AHJ requirements can be internally created & updated which allows for support to the document preparation and permitting process. It is also great to have a visual understanding of permitting timelines in preparation of the install. Change order management and integration with DocuSign allows for quick update, communication and approval of the changes by the customer. Solar Nexus features include request for quote and solar panel prices from suppliers & manufacturer for ongoing projects along with order tracking and lead time estimation service.

Pricing & Configurability

Solar Nexus’ solar software services can be conveniently subscribed to in a modular manner, which allows for flexibility in using the features of the solar platform that you require. When you dig into pricing you realize you would be unable to buy each module separately; the options are the Unified Platform: SolarNexus All Pro, The CRM & Proposal: SolarNexus Sales Pro or the CRM & Project Management: SolarNexus Project Pro. SolarNexus Customer reviews are indicative of a high quality of the software and the value that is experienced by the reviewers. Customer reviews on the price of the platform indicate a satisfaction of the offered features.

Cross platform functionality

While SolarNexus provides a full fledged software it does not presume that all customer requirements are the same and therefore there are several compatible integrations with well known solar system design software such as Helioscope & Aurora Solar. This allows the solar system installer to take advantage of the best functionalities of other software providers as well. Integration with financial provider for platform integrated offering of their products is available. Distributors and manufacturers who want to work closely with the solar installers to provide an integrated service as well as managing their network of customers and installers would benefit from the platform.

Conclusion

Solar Nexus is a great starting point for installers new to the industry who can possibly save themselves time spent on considering several software and then, add functionalities or improve effectiveness as they proceed. Weighing the customer reviews, pros and cons; Yes, SolarNexus is a tool every solar installer who is stepping into the market should consider. SolarNexus is the base on which a full suite of specializations can be built on. There are very few, if any, shortcomings in the product and Solar Nexus is most importantly a company that delivers value.