5 ways automation can turbocharge your solar installation business

The solar industry is booming. 

Domestic installations are up more than 6% in 2024 and show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. 

But as your business grows so does the workload.

More jobs means more plates to spin, more admin to complete and more people to manage. It’s a nice problem to have. But if you’re going to successfully grow your business and keep your customers happy, you’re going to need a way to lighten the load. 

That’s where a solar field service management platform can help.

The software automates all of the tricky, time-consuming tasks your team is faced with – helping to streamline everything from back-office to on-site installation. 

But how does it work? And what exactly can automation do to boost your business?

Fed up with the headache of managing customers, team members and subcontractors across multiple locations – at the same time?

Use a field service management platform for a single view of all of the jobs running through your business.

Automation makes the messy process of managing multiple diaries and spreadsheets a thing of the past. 

In its place you get centralised scheduling, a single dashboard that makes it easy to see who’s where, and what they’re all doing. You can coordinate multiple trades to arrive on site at the right time. Make sure your panels and cabling are ready to go. Shift engineers over to another job if someone calls in sick. All from a single screen. 

Whether it’s turning up at a customer’s house to find that the design’s been done for the wrong property, or realising the cabling you’ve packed in the van is too short for the job – unless you’re across the details, it’s easy for installs to go wrong. 

Mistakes and miscommunications mean revisits. And every revisit sucks up time that could be spent on other projects.

With so many moving parts to every job, vital information can fall through the cracks. But a solar field service management platform automates these aspects for you. 

Features like remote surveying, which lets customers drop a pin directly on their property in Google Earth, means you’re better equipped to understand the exact details of the project, the state of their roof, even obstacles to installation and shading issues in advance of every job.  

At the same, site video uploads let engineers spot snags before they’ve jumped in the van. Your platform can even tell project managers who to have on site at each stage of the project – without the need to manually input the information into an Outlook calendar. 

They’re small changes that add up to make a big difference, slashing downtime and ensuring each installation goes off without a hitch. 

No one likes admin. But when it comes to solar installation it’s an unfortunate fact of life. 

There are two major problems with admin. 

Firstly, it’s time-consuming. There’s often too much red tape even for a team of people to deal with. Secondly, if they’re drowning in endless spreadsheets, your back-office staff might make mistakes. Honest errors can quickly add up and even the smallest snag can cost your business money.

Automating your admin can lighten the load for everyone on your team. 

The right software enables you to complete paperwork on the go (and makes sure that nothing can move on until it’s done.) Each element of a job is also integrated into one single platform. And everyone has access, so they can update their own progress while checking everyone else’s.

Compliance is a non-negotiable when it comes to installation. Failure to comply with rules and regulations could expose your business to costly legal battles or inspections.

Whether it’s risk assessment, DNO documentation such as G98, or Minor Works Certificates (MWC) – you need to be sure all the right boxes are ticked and that you’ve got the paper trail to prove it.

A solar field service management platform takes the heavy lifting out of completing compliance paperwork. Not only is this great news for your busy team at head office; it also means you can have total confidence the relevant rules are being followed on site too.

Whether they’re commercial or domestic – nothing is more important than keeping your customers happy.

You simply can’t afford to do a poor job, or even give the impression that you have.

Automation means your comms can be standarised and branded as your business for continuity. This ensures that you deliver consistent five-star customer service at every step of the process. You can also simplify tracking by seeing who’s been sent what, and consolidate information into one single source of truth.

So say “goodbye” to the Wild West of your shared inbox and “hello” to consistent customer comms you can be proud of. 

Automation can make your frustrations a thing of the past. With the right field service management platform in place, your firm can grow, safe in the knowledge your processes can cope.

It may sound too good to be true but it’s really not. Instead, it’s a way of harnessing technology to ease the burden on your hardworking team, so that they can focus on getting the job done – boosting profits and growing your business.

Got questions? Get in touch to book a demo of Jumptech and we’ll explain how automated solar field service management will help your business.