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Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

Updated


Add a new inverter, panel, module, battery

For panels/modules and PV inverters, please create a support ticket and send us the datasheet - we’ll get it added for you asap. For batteries and battery inverters, please check the Product Library first - the list on the System Design page only includes the items that are already in your inventory. You can add them from the Product Library: from the ‘Brand’ drop-down menu, select “- Add to Inventory”. A pop-up appears allowing you to select the brand and model and add them to the inventory. When the box closes, this component is added to your system and you can continue the design. You can alternatively add components and set pricing on the Inventory page at 'Admin > Inventory'.

See Managing Inventory

 

Largest system size I can design with SolarPlus?

This will depend on the processing capability of your computer. Generally, systems >1MW will be slow to handle on a laptop and will require a capable desktop computer.

 

Slow internet - what can help?

You can speed up the time it takes to flick between the design page and other pages by disabling auto image capture. Go to Admin > My Preferences >Design > Auto Generate Map Preview. Set this to Manual capture map image.

When manual capture is set, you will need to click the Camera icon on the map page in order to save the image for proposals.

 

Hide the quote line pricing and replace it with a system description?

If you wish to hide individual quote items and group them under a single heading this is now easy in SolarPlus. On the quote table, check the “Group items” box for the items you wish to group. When done click ‘Save’ or ‘Refresh’.

An item is added to the top of the quote called “Grouped items description”. Click on this to open a dialog and enter the description for this quote line item.

You can use this feature to hide all individual prices and create a quote with a single-line description.

See Pricing and finalising a quote

 

Do quote prices change when the inventory is updated?

NO. Quotes do not change.  But you can update a quote to make it reflect the prices of items in the inventory by clicking the button on the top left “Sync from Inventory”

See Pricing and finalising a quote

 

Can I compare a quote with a variation where I have changed the tariff, or consumption, or modules, or roof surfaces?

Yes. You can easily duplicate a complete quote to create a variation with any single factor or multiple factors varied.

See Creating quote variations

 

What is saved in a system template?

Please see more at System Pre-Build Package

 

How to clear the browser cache / do a hard reset on Chrome

Chrome has a simple option - click and hold the page refresh/reload button next to the address bar while holding down these keys:

 

How to clear the browser cache / do a hard reset on Firefox

 

How to clear the browser cache / do a hard reset on Internet Explorer

How to prevent SolarPlus emails from ending up in the spam folder section of my email service (Google, Outlook, Yahoo)?

You can easily prevent the SolarPlus emails from getting into the spam folder. By making use of a process called whitelisting, you can enable messages or emails from a particular sender to end up right in your inbox directly.

The user can easily add our domain “solarplus.co” to their ‘Safe Senders’ list by following the instructions displayed in the link below:

http://onlinegroups.net/blog/2014/02/25/how-to-whitelist-an-email-address/

 

How can I set up reporting of Sales from Invoices against the Cost of Goods Sold to see the profit margin? ( XERO Integration)

From https://developer.xero.com/documentation/api-guides/how-to-integrate-my-inventory-system-with-xero :

  1. If we are selling products then typically we want to show our Sales less the Cost of Goods sold on our Profit and Loss report. Xero provides great flexibility with reporting layouts so we can easily adjust the default layout of our Profit and Loss report to move the cost of goods sold expense up to be included in the Gross Profit calculation. 

    To do this, go to Reports > All Reports > Profit and Loss. Scroll to the bottom of the report and choose "Layout Options" and then "Create new Layout". 

    Tick the selection box to the left of your "Cost of Goods Sold" account and choose "Move selected accounts" at the top of the screen. Choose "Less Cost of Sales" in the drop down list shown in the popup window and choose "OK". Type a name in the "Layout Name" such as "My Profit and Loss". Choose "Save" at the bottom of the page. Your Profit and Loss report will now show the Cost of Goods Sold in the correct place.

Why Can't I see the invoice and Cost of Sales in the Profit and Loss? (XERO Integration)

Invoices will only appear in P&L report when:

  1. They are marked Approved

  2. When P&L is on a cash basis, when they are paid or have payments marked against them

  3. The invoice date is within the Reports date range

Cost of Goods Sold will appear in the P&L reports when:

  1. The COGS bill is marked Approved.

  2. The bill date is within the Report date range


How do I update my credit card details for payment of the SolarPlus subscription fees?

The billing portal is a separate site to the SolarPlus app. Please log in here to update the card details https://accounts.solarplus.co/accounts/index.php/account/paymentmethods

The primary user for your account set up the login email and password to the billing portal when you first registered with SolarPlus. Please note that these login details may be different from your SolarPlus login details - you may need to hit Password Reset if you’ve forgotten the password.

How do I model system performance in areas that have Flexible Exports / Dynamic Export Limiting?

First contact the Network Provider (eg SAPN) for an estimate of the frequency of flexible export limits for the region in question, and then apply a system de-rating accordingly, using the Grid Availability de-rating option on the Design Page.

Install image files not appearing on the PDFs Job pack

The install images are expected to be post-install, so not included in the job pack. To show images in the job pack, please upload them on the Survey page.

In the design, the number of strings per MPPT is higher than what the inverter datasheet states

The number of strings shown on the inverter datasheets are usually design guidelines that may differ based on the selected PV panel. Low current panels could allow more strings than the datasheet states while abiding by the current limits. In cases like these, please check with the inverter manufacturer about whether they impose a hard limit on the number of strings per MPPT for warranty purposes.

How do I model the 3 hours of free power scenario in NZ?

Firstly, in the energy tariff, add a TOU period and set the energy charge to 0 c/kWh.

When quoting a battery system that plans to use this period for charging, you’ll need to set up a grid charge profile. More info can be found here https://solarplus.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SPHC/pages/1305477121/Battery+System+Configuration#Grid-Charge

I am getting a message saying “no more user licenses” when trying to invite a new user

The number of licenses in use is counted as the number of active users (as seen in the manage users section; other than "Installer" users) plus the number of "pending" invites (as seen in the invite user section).

If you want to invite a new user, you can delete one of the pending invites before proceeding, or you can consider upgrading your business account.

Some of the logos don’t appear on the Reports / Proposals

The logos of major brands have been included in the SolarPlus database. If a logo for another brand is missing, please contact Support and we will add it to the database.

 

The map image isn’t showing on proposals

We have turned off the automatic image capture on the map page to facilitate 3D image capture and speed up navigation. To capture the image, please click on the Camera icon. 

If you would rather, you can re-enable auto image capture in Admin >  My Preferences > Design > Auto Generate Map Preview. This will however mean that it is a little slower to navigate away from the map page.  

 

How do I assign a quote to a different customer rep/installer?

The staff assignment section has moved to the sidebar. Open the quote and click on the Briefcase icon next to the Contact heading. Then click “handoff quote” and select the user and their role. Then click Notify. To confirm that the assignment was successful, just refresh the page and check the “staff assignment” section in the handoff area.

 

 

 

Why are the Solar / CO2 and/or STC calculations missing?

These calculations are based on the site address, so if it is entered incorrectly, there may be a flow-on effect. Please go to the Site Survey page and update the site address, making sure to select an option from the drop-down menu that appears when you start typing the address.

 

I have set up the tariff rate, but why is it changing back to previous value?

If you’re changing the tariff rate in the “Basic” tab of the energy cost section, this is just a form field to load the custom rate you input as the current tariff. After you load it as a current tariff, the value is updated in the energy tariff section. The form field then reverts to the default value. To check the actual tariff rate in use, go into the “current tariff” view:

image-20241002-055709.png

 

How do I change the STCs deeming years to quote for next year?

There’s 2 ways to do this:

First, for existing quotes, this can be done by going to Pricing > Tax & rebates > Deeming years section (reduce the deeming years by 1).

Next, if you want all new quotes to have STCs for next year by default, go to Admin > My business > Quote preferences > Incentives > check the box for “Reduce STC Deeming Years (for installs next year)”

 

Password requirements

For proper security, your SolarPlus password must contain:

  • Upper and lower case letters
  • At least 1 number
  • At least 1 special character (eg #)
  • At least 8 characters

 

 

 

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