SolarCleaningBossPro Blog — Tech App

Using the Panel Count as the Solar Cleaning Tech's Checklist

A checklist does not have to be long to work. For a solar cleaning tech, the most useful checklist is a single number already on the job card: the panel count. If the tech counts the panels they cleaned and it matches the card, the job is done. If it does not match, something is missing, and the tech finds out before leaving the property instead of after the customer calls.

The Number Behind Fewer Callbacks

The first and most common cause in Cutting Callbacks: How the Solar Cleaning Tech App Stops 'You Missed a Row' Calls was a tech who did not know the whole job. The panel count is the simplest fix for that.

Where the Count Comes From

The count is entered on the job when it is quoted or set up, usually by whoever measured the house or looked at it on the map. It shows on the tech's card as the first item in the panel details: “24 panels · Roof · 2-story · Low pitch.” Because the count is saved on the job, it shows on every visit after.

The same count often drives the price, since many solar cleaners charge per panel with a minimum charge. So an accurate count matters for the customer's bill as well as for the tech.

Count Before You Clean

The habit is simple. When you get up to the array, count the panels before you start cleaning. Rows times columns is fast for a neat array. For odd layouts, count each section.

• It matches. Clean, take photos, tap Complete.
• You counted fewer. There is another array. Check over the garage, the back porch, a second roof face, the shed, a ground mount in the back corner.
• You counted more. Either the customer added panels, or the count on the job is wrong. Clean what is on the job, and note the difference.

Common Places Panels Hide

Missed arrays tend to be in the same places:

• A second roof face on the back of the house, not visible from the street or the ladder spot.
• A small array over the garage or a porch roof.
• A detached garage, shed or pool house.
• A ground mount at the back of a large lot.
• A carport section at the far end of a commercial lot.

If the access notes do not mention where the second array is, add it to your job note once you find it so the office can put it in the access notes for next time.

When the Count Is Wrong

Counts can be wrong. A quote done from a map or a quick look from the street can miss a roof face. Customers add panels. Some panels get removed during a roof replacement. When the tech's count and the card disagree, the note matters:

• “Card says 24. Counted 30: 24 on main roof, 6 over the garage. Cleaned all 30.”
• “Card says 32. Only 28 on the roof. Customer says 4 were removed during reroof.”

The office reads the note, fixes the count on the job, and adjusts the invoice if your pricing is per panel. Whether to clean extra panels the customer did not pay for is a company policy question. Decide it once, tell your crew, and make sure they always note it either way.

Extras Are Part of the Checklist

The panel count is the main number, but the extras on the card are part of the same checklist. If the card says bird proofing, the tech checks that the bird proofing was done. If it says inspection, the tech does the inspection and notes what they found. Panel count plus extras is a complete, two-line checklist for every job.

Photos Back Up the Count

Before-and-after photos of every array, including the small ones over the garage, prove the full count was cleaned. On a job with more than one array, a quick after shot of each one turns the count from a number into evidence. When a customer asks whether you got the panels on the back, the office can show them. More on photos is in Before-and-After Photos: Proof of Clean Panels From the Solar Cleaning Tech's Phone.

One Number, Every Job

A checklist that techs actually use has to be quick. Counting panels against the card takes a moment on the roof and catches the most common mistake in the trade. For everything else the tech app does, visit the SolarCleaningBossPro solar cleaning app page.