Solar work that doesn't fit the round
More of your customers have panels on the roof, and some have asked if you clean them. You bought an extra-long pole and a brush head and started saying yes. The first few went fine. Then it got messy: panels cleaned in spring should be offered again next year, but nobody remembers who had them done. The price depends on the number of panels and the roof, but you quoted by eye. And panel days need the right kit and the right weather, which does not match the round's four-weekly rhythm.
Some installations are on bungalows you can reach easily. Some are on three-storey roofs that need different access or that you decide not to do. None of that is written down.
An annual service forced into a four-weekly system
Round management works on frequencies of weeks. Panel cleaning is an occasional, seasonal job with its own kit and its own pricing. When it lives in the round, it is either forgotten or it bloats the round days.
- Panel details (number, roof, position, access) are not recorded.
- Prices are set by eye instead of per panel or per array.
- Repeat cleans next year depend on memory.
- Panel jobs are fitted into round days and make them overrun.
- Customers who asked about panels are never followed up.
Whether and how a particular roof can be done is your judgement and your call. The system simply records your decision and plans around it.
A growing service that stays small
Panel cleaning can be a useful earner in the quieter months and a strong reason for customers to stay with you. Without a system, it stays an occasional favour, priced inconsistently and forgotten until the customer asks again. Worse, the round days that absorb it start running late.
A separate panel schedule linked to the round customers
We add a panel cleaning module to your customer records.
- Each customer with panels gets an installation record: number of panels, roof type, position, storeys, your access notes and whether you do it at all.
- Your pricing rules set a price per panel or per array with adjustments you choose, so quotes are consistent.
- Customers who ask about panels, or whom you notice have them, get a quote text with a link to accept.
- Accepted panel cleans go onto a panel list. You choose panel days, and the list is grouped by area to fill them.
- After each clean, the next clean is suggested at the interval the customer chose, and they get a reminder when it comes round.
- Before and after photos are sent with the invoice, which customers with panels tend to appreciate.
| Panel task | Today | With the panel schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Panel details | In your head | Installation record per customer |
| Price | By eye | Per panel from your rules |
| Booking | Squeezed into round days | Separate panel days by area |
| Next year | Forgotten | Reminder at the chosen interval |
| Proof of work | Nothing sent | Photos with the invoice |
Panel work that grows without disrupting the round
The round stays on its rhythm. Panel cleans happen on their own days, grouped by area and chosen around the weather. Prices are consistent. Repeat cleans come back every year without you remembering. And you can offer panels to the right customers at the right time, rather than waiting to be asked.
On a normal panel day, the list for the area is ready, the kit is on the van, and each house has its details and photos from last time.
Over a year or two you also build a clear picture of how much panel work your area has, which houses renew every year and which only once, and whether the service is worth more investment in kit. That is a decision made on your own records rather than on a hunch.
Is your panel work unplanned?
- You clean panels but have no record of who had them done.
- Panel prices are set by eye.
- Panel jobs make round days overrun.
- Customers have to ask you each year.
- You have customers with panels you have never offered to clean.