What Goes Into a Solar Proposal That Actually Converts

The Proposal Is the Deal

By the time a customer sees your proposal, they have already compared two or three installers. What separates a win from a "we will think about it" is rarely the panel brand — it is whether the proposal answers every question the customer was going to ask next.

Section by Section

1. Branded Cover

Company name, logo and contact details on the first page. It sounds trivial; it is the difference between looking like a company and looking like a contact number in WhatsApp.

2. System Design

Panels, inverter, capacity, and what gets mounted where. Say what is being installed and why it fits the roof and load — not just a total wattage.

3. Generation Estimate

Be conservative. Rooftop generation in India commonly plans around 4 to 4.5 units per kW per day, and quoting the optimistic end of that range is how "performance complaints" start. Show the yearly estimate, not only the daily one.

4. Cost Breakdown with GST Per Line

Customers compare your number with other numbers. If your GST is bundled into a single blended figure, it invites suspicion. Show each line — panels, structure, inverter, installation — with its own GST rate, since solar PV goods and structures or services typically attract different rates.

5. Subsidy (Residential Only)

For domestic customers, PM Surya Ghar support changes the effective cost meaningfully — up to ₹30,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and a fixed ₹78,000 at 3 kW and above. For commercial jobs, leave it out entirely; including it signals you do not know the rules.

6. Financing Options

Most customers will ask about EMIs whether or not you bring it up. Show 3, 5 and 7 year tenures so the monthly number is visible next to the one-time number.

7. Payment Terms

Clear milestones — typically an advance and a balance tied to stages of work — with dates. Ambiguous payment schedules cause the worst kind of customer relationship.

8. Warranties

Panel, inverter and workmanship warranties, each with who honours it.

9. Signature and Contact

Who the customer is dealing with, and where to sign.

One Document, Several Audiences

The customer wants a total; your vendor wants line items; procurement wants a proforma. Serious proposal tools — see Doctor Solar Wala's proposal module — generate these formats from the same data so the numbers never disagree between documents. The quotation module produces the priced first draft that proposals build on.