Commercial solar tools
The part no generic CRM has
Four numbered steps that hand their output to each other. This is the workflow Solaro was built around.
1 · Utility bill analysis
A commercial bill is not a number. It is a rate structure.
Photograph or upload up to five pages of a utility bill in one go. Solaro extracts the account and service address, consumption, billed demand, time-of-use buckets, riders and fixed charges, then reconciles them against each other.
- The extracted bill opens on the same screen as the fields, so you verify figures against the document without leaving the app
- Reconciliation flags what does not add up and says which field it blames — a check that cannot be run is never reported as passed
- Demand charges are modelled properly: the kW the money was actually calculated from is tracked separately from the metered peak, because ratchets make those different numbers
- Where a value is derivable, Solaro offers it as a suggestion with the arithmetic shown. It never silently overwrites what you typed
- The bill document itself is stored with the record, so the evidence stays with the deal
2 · Roof and site estimate
An estimate that admits it is an estimate.
Solaro produces an AI-assisted starting estimate of roof area, usable area, panel count and indicative system size from the site address.
- These figures are a scoping estimate, not a survey and not a measurement. Solaro labels them that way in the product
- The estimate persists on the project, so reopening never silently re-runs it or spends another AI credit
- Every figure is editable — the estimate is a starting point for a person who knows the building, not an answer
Worth being clear about: Satellite-derived panel layout imagery is not shipped. It requires an imagery provider that is not yet enabled, and detection quality on large flat commercial roofs is the open question we will not paper over.
3 · ITC and adder screening
A traceable incentive assumption.
Screen a project against the federal Investment Tax Credit and its adders so the incentive percentage in your proposal has a reason behind it rather than a habit.
- Base credit plus adder screening, including domestic content and energy-community considerations
- The screened percentage carries forward into the proposal as a starting value, marked with where it came from
- Solaro applies the statutory basis reduction when calculating depreciation. If your in-house spreadsheet does not, Solaro will show a lower depreciation figure — and Solaro is following the tax code
Worth being clear about: Solaro is software, not a tax advisor. Screening output supports your own analysis; it does not replace advice from your tax professional.
4 · System sizing and proposals
Your pricing, your panel, your assumptions.
Size the system against the reconciled bill, price it automatically at your company’s own rate per watt, run the project financials, and generate a branded PDF proposal.
- System cost prices itself from your company rate multiplied by the calculated size — you should not have to type a system cost into a tool whose job is to calculate one
- Solaro ships no platform default price per watt. If your organization has not set a rate, the cost stays blank and says so. An invented price in front of a customer is worse than an empty box
- Panel wattage, production factor, system losses, target offset, escalation, degradation, O&M, term and tax rate are set once per organization in Proposal Settings
- Proposals are versioned, not overwritten. Generating a new one supersedes the last and both stay reachable
- Output is a branded PDF with your company details, preparer block, logo and disclaimer, attached to the account
The rep-to-director handoff
In most commercial solar organizations the rep who photographs the bill is not the person who builds the analysis. Solaro shares the whole account with the manager — contacts, notes, emails, meetings, months of history and the bill itself — and the rep keeps their copy and stays in the loop. It replaces the separate request form that requests get lost in.
Ready to see it on a real bill?
Bring a commercial utility bill and a building. We will run it end to end.