SolarCleaningBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Billing a Panel Inspection as Its Own Line on the Solar Cleaning Invoice

Your crew is already on the roof, already looking at every panel up close, already seeing things the homeowner never will. A cracked corner. A loose conduit strap. Wiring hanging under the array. Fresh nesting. Turning that close look into a paid inspection, written up and billed as its own line, is one of the more natural extras in solar cleaning.

Another Extra, Another Line

Bird proofing and critter guards are covered in Invoicing Bird Proofing and Critter Guards Alongside a Solar Panel Cleaning. Inspection works the same way on the invoice: a separate item from your service list, never folded into the cleaning price.

In SolarCleaningBossPro, inspection is one of the extras that can be attached to a job, alongside bird proofing and critter guards. It shows on the tech's card with the rest of the panel details, so the crew knows it was sold before they climb up.

Be Clear About What It Is

The most important part of selling an inspection is saying plainly what it covers and what it does not. A solar cleaning crew is not an electrician and not the system installer. A sensible inspection from a cleaning company is a visual check of what can be seen safely from the roof or ground, such as:

• Cracked, chipped or discolored panels.
• Loose or damaged mounting hardware you can see.
• Wiring or conduit hanging loose under or near the array.
• Signs of birds, squirrels or other animals.
• Debris built up under the panels or in gutters below them.

Say clearly that it is a visual check, that you will not open anything electrical, and that anything concerning should be looked at by the installer or a licensed electrician. That keeps your crew safe and keeps the line on the invoice honest. Never suggest the inspection affects a warranty either way; the customer should check with their panel maker or installer for that.

Photos Are the Product

An inspection the customer cannot see is hard to value. The tech app lets the crew take photos with the job, and for an inspection, those photos are what the customer is buying. A good set includes:

• A wide shot of the whole array.
• Close-ups of anything noted, each with a short explanation in the job notes.
• A photo of the underside or edges if birds or critters were found.

Before-and-after photos of the cleaning itself back up the cleaning line, and inspection photos back up the inspection line. More on that in Before-and-After Photos: The Proof Behind Every Solar Cleaning Invoice.

Pricing It

Price the inspection as a flat item on your service list. The time it adds to a cleaning is usually modest, since the crew is already up there. The value is in the write-up and the photos. Some operators include a basic look with every cleaning and charge for a written inspection with photos. Others sell it only on request. Either works, as long as the invoice says exactly what was done.

Whatever you choose, write a short description of the inspection that goes on the estimate, so the customer knows what they are approving. Two or three sentences is enough: what the crew looks at, that it is visual only, and that photos come with the invoice. That same description keeps every tech doing the same inspection the same way, which matters once you have more than one truck.

Commercial customers often ask for an inspection with every quarterly cleaning, because their facilities team wants a record of the array's condition. That makes it a recurring line on their monthly statement, listed site by site.

When the Inspection Finds Something

Sometimes the inspection turns up work you can do: nesting that calls for bird proofing, missing critter guards, heavy buildup that needs a second pass. The tech notes it on the job with a photo, and the office sends an estimate for the fix. The customer approves online, and the approved estimate becomes a scheduled job. That flow keeps the upsell honest: the photo shows the problem, the estimate shows the price, and the customer decides.

If the inspection finds something outside your work, like a cracked panel or exposed wiring, tell the customer to contact their installer. Do not bill for a fix you cannot do. The inspection line still stands, because the inspection is what found it.

On the Invoice

Keep the line short and plain: “Visual panel inspection with photos.” If the customer pays by card on file, it is charged with the rest of the job when the tech taps Complete. If something was found, mention it in the message that goes with the invoice so they know to look at the photos.

For how inspection fits with cleaning, extras and card on file, see the solar cleaning billing software page.