A rooftop solar EPC project in India runs through about thirteen steps: enquiry, qualification, site survey, design, quotation, booking, approvals, procurement, installation, inspection and net metering, commissioning and billing, subsidy and handover, and service. Each step produces something the next one needs, and most delays come from a step that started without it. This guide goes through the steps in order, with what to record at each one and where projects usually slip.
1. Enquiry
Enquiries come from calls, WhatsApp, your website, marketplaces, walk-ins, referral agents and past customers. Record every one in a single list the moment it arrives, with the name, mobile number, location and source.
Where it slips: enquiries that stay in someone's phone. Catch duplicates by mobile number so two people do not call the same customer with two different prices.
2. Qualification call
The first call decides whether a site visit is worth the fuel. Ask and record:
- Monthly electricity bill and units, ideally a photo of a recent bill.
- Type of connection: residential, commercial or industrial, and single or three phase.
- Roof type and whether the customer owns it.
- Whether the customer wants the PM Surya Ghar subsidy (residential only).
- Budget, timeline and who decides.
3. Site survey
The survey is the foundation of the quotation. Record the roof dimensions and type, the direction it faces, water tanks, stair rooms, parapets, trees and neighbouring buildings that cast shade, the sanctioned load, the meter and its location, the cable route to the inverter and the earthing pit, and the condition of the roof.
Take photos of the roof, the meter, the distribution board and the cable route. Photos stamped with GPS location and time settle later questions about what was on site.
Where it slips: a survey filled in from memory back at the office. Record it on the phone, on the roof.
4. Design and sizing
Size the system from the customer's consumption and the usable, shade-free roof area, not from a round number. Lay out the panels, check shading through the year, choose the inverter and string the modules within its voltage and current limits, and size the cables.
The design produces the panel count, the capacity, the expected generation and a bill of materials. Keep them together; the quotation, the purchase and the installation all read from them.
5. Quotation
The quotation turns the design into a price. It should list the system, the main components with make and quantity, the price with GST, the subsidy as its own line for residential customers, the net cost, the payment stages, the validity date, the warranty and the scope of work.
Send it as a clean PDF on WhatsApp and keep every revision. When the customer asks for a cheaper inverter, change the item, not the total by hand.
6. Booking
When the customer agrees, take the booking advance, record it against the quotation, and convert the lead into a customer and a project. From this point the project team owns the work, so everything they need must travel with it: the final quotation, the bill of materials, the survey and the payment stages.
7. Approvals and documents
For grid-connected rooftop systems, the customer's DISCOM must approve the connection. For residential customers using PM Surya Ghar, the application starts on the national portal and the DISCOM gives feasibility approval before installation. Commercial and industrial customers follow their state's net metering or gross metering regulations.
Collect the customer's documents once: identity proof, latest electricity bill, property papers where asked, and bank details for the subsidy. Fill the DISCOM forms and agreements from the customer record so names and consumer numbers match exactly.
Where it slips: a single character wrong in the consumer number or the name. Forms typed by hand are the usual cause.
8. Procurement and stock
Raise purchase orders for what is not in stock, receive goods against them, and record serial numbers of modules and inverters on receipt. For subsidised residential systems, modules must meet the domestic content requirement, so check this at purchase, not at inspection.
Issue material to the project from a store or van. Issuing against the project makes the cost of each project visible and makes missing items show up before the team reaches the site.
9. Installation
Install the structure, modules, inverter, DC and AC cabling, distribution boxes, earthing and lightning protection according to the design. Record which serial numbers went on which roof, take photos at each stage, and get the customer's signature on completion.
Where it slips: changes on site that never reach the office. If the team moves a string or swaps an inverter, record it, because the inspection and the warranty will be checked against it.
10. Inspection and net metering
Submit the installation details to the DISCOM and apply for the net meter. The DISCOM inspects the system, installs or replaces the meter and records the connection. Keep a list of every project waiting at this step with the date it was submitted; this is where projects most often sit unnoticed.
11. Commissioning and billing
Once the meter is in place, commission the system, check generation, and hand over the operating instructions. Raise the final GST invoice from the quotation so the amounts match, record payments against each stage, and follow up the balance on a schedule.
12. Subsidy and handover
For PM Surya Ghar customers, once the DISCOM has inspected and the commissioning is recorded on the portal, the customer submits bank details and the central subsidy is paid into their account. Track each customer's subsidy status and help them with the portal; a customer waiting for their subsidy will call you, not the government.
Hand over a file with the warranty cards, serial numbers, the single line diagram, the commissioning report and your service contact.
13. Service and AMC
After handover, schedule cleaning and inspection visits, record faults and warranty claims against the installed serial numbers, and renew annual maintenance contracts before they lapse. Satisfied customers here become your referrals, which takes you back to step 1.
How RAYVO follows this workflow
RAYVO keeps each step in one place: leads and scoring, site surveys with GPS-stamped photos, 3D design with shading and a bill of materials, quotations with GST and subsidy, conversion to customer and project, purchase and goods received with serial numbers, stock issue to projects, document automation that fills DISCOM forms from the customer record, invoices and payments, and AMC renewals. Field staff can use it on a phone without signal. Try it with one real project and see which steps your team stops chasing by phone.
Frequently asked questions
Installation itself takes one to a few days for a home system. The total time from booking to commissioning depends mostly on DISCOM approval and net meter installation, which vary by state and season.
Usually an identity proof, the latest electricity bill, and the customer's bank details for the subsidy. Some DISCOMs ask for property documents or an agreement. Check your DISCOM's current list.
The application is in the customer's name, but in practice the installer prepares and submits it. Under PM Surya Ghar the customer registers on the national portal and selects a registered vendor.
Waiting for DISCOM inspection and the net meter, missing material at site, and mismatched names or consumer numbers on forms.
Warranty claims, subsidy inspections and service visits all refer to the serial numbers installed at a particular site.