Sometimes in order to get a project off the ground you need approval from management to move forward and in order to move forward you typically need at least a basic budget. This can be the biggest hurdle for a project. The ability to offer a Preliminary Assessment Study avoids the awkward dance between client and an engineering firm doing the ‘how much will it cost to put solar on our site?” and the engineering firm needing to invoice a significant amount of money to cover their time to complete a detailed and accurate site analysis. Lots of projects stall right at this spot.

Engineering firms typically want to do a comprehensive site analysis and feasibility study as it provides the client a very detailed deliverable for the client to work from. For larger commercial systems a complete site analysis and feasibility study are absolutely crucial however this complete analysis is an investment and if you are confident that you are moving ahead with your project this can be the perfect place to start. However, not everyone is in that position and for this situation the preliminary assessment study is a perfect option for those clients that aren’t quite ready to commit to something formal, expensive and very detailed and are satisfied with a very rough, quick, inexpensive estimate.

A preliminary assessment study can be completed in a short amount of time, and a significantly less expensive investment and delivers a report that provides a basic and general analysis of your site to determine how much solar you can fit on your site and a ballpark idea of how much it’s going to cost. Those numbers can be taken to management or the board to decide if a grid tie project is a path you’d like to proceed down or if you’d be better off investing in other energy efficient products first. Having a Preliminary Assessment Study to work from helps drive the initial conversation when it comes to proceeding towards a more formal commitment.

Deliverables

• Solar Capacity of Site
• Annual Generation Estimate
• Basic Cost Estimate