Frequently asked questions

Short answers, each pointing at the page that goes into it properly. If you are not sure which half of the product you are looking at, read the two sides first, because that is what most confusion turns out to be.

For homeowners

Is the estimate a quote?

No, and the difference matters. The estimate is arithmetic done on the answers you gave in six steps, using your installer’s own costs, and nobody has seen your roof. A quote is a priced, itemised document your installer builds for you and stands behind, and it arrives as a PDF after they have talked to you. Treat the estimate as a good reason to have the conversation, not as a price. What the estimate is not

I clicked “Start your estimate” and nothing happened

Reload the page and click it again. There is a known problem with the very first click, which can leave you looking at a sign-in page or at nothing at all. It only affects that first click, and once you are into the six steps it behaves. Before you start

I do not know how much electricity we use

Say so. “I honestly don’t know” is one of the four ways of answering step 3, and it is a proper answer rather than a failure: a typical figure for a home your size gets used, and your enquiry is flagged to the installer as one to confirm. That is far more useful to them than a number you guessed. Step 3, your energy use

I am not sure which way my roof faces

Leave it as “not sure”. The estimate then assumes south, which is the best case in the UK, and says on the page that it has assumed it. It is never silently treated as south behind your back. Step 2, your roof

Do I need an account?

No. You get your estimate either way, and the account is a tick box on the last step. It is worth having if you want to come back to the figures without hunting for the link, see any quote your installer sends, message them, or accept a quote online. Do you need an account?

Why is there no password?

Because you would use it about twice a year, and it would mostly be a thing to reset. Instead you ask for a sign-in link, it arrives by email, and you press a button in the page it opens. Nothing to remember and nothing to leak. Signing in

Links work once and expire after fifteen minutes, so ask for another one and open the newest email. Remember that the link is spent by pressing the Sign in button on the page it opens, not by opening the email, so it is worth finishing the job in one go. Signing in

I accepted a quote online. Am I committed?

No. The wording you confirmed says it plainly: it is not a contract, and your installer will confirm the details and arrange a survey before any work is agreed. What your acceptance does is tell them you want to go ahead, which moves your enquiry to Accepted on their side. Your quotes

I am talking to two installers. Why do I need two accounts?

Because your account belongs to one installer, not to Solar Desk. Neither of them can see that you are also talking to the other, which is the point: a single shared account would tell each of them exactly whose customer you are. Your data

Who can see what I put in?

The installer you enquired with, and nobody else. Solar Desk’s own staff can see that an installer has a number of enquiries and cannot open a single one of them. Your data

Can I send my installer a photo of the fuse box?

Yes, once you have an account and have signed in with an emailed link at least once. PDFs and photos up to 10 MB each, and anything you upload stays visible to you. Note the wording on the page: files are not scanned for viruses. Documents

For installers

Can I send customers my link as soon as I have signed up?

No, and you would not want to. A new account is pending, and a pending calculator answers 404 to the public, so a link sent now looks to a customer like your company does not exist. Get your pricing, a panel and a notification address in place, then Solar Desk switches you on. Not live yet

I clicked “Create your account” and nothing happened

Do not click it again. The account has usually been created, and a second attempt will tell you the web address is taken, by you. Go to the sign-in page and sign in with the details you just typed. Creating your account

I have forgotten my password

There is no “Forgot password?” link anywhere for installer staff, so a forgotten password needs Solar Desk to put it right. That is worth knowing on day one rather than on the morning it happens: put the password in whatever your company uses to store passwords, not in somebody’s head. Signing in

They are at the wrong door. Staff sign in at the Solar Desk address, never on your own calculator’s address, where the sign-in belongs to homeowners and takes an emailed link rather than a password. The two sides of the product

How do I add a colleague?

Ask Solar Desk. Roles exist, admin and rep, but there is no screen for inviting anybody, and signing up again would create a whole second company with its own separate pipeline rather than adding a person to yours. Roles

How do I upload our logo?

You cannot, yet. The branded header will show a logo, but there is no control anywhere in the product to set one, so send yours to Solar Desk and it gets put in place for you. Colours, tagline and step labels you can change yourself, any time. Branding

A customer accepted a quote online. Why is the lead Accepted and not Bought?

Because they are not the same event. A customer clicking “yes” on a PDF has had no survey, no deposit and no contract, so their acceptance moves the lead to Accepted and leaves it in your pipeline. Bought is yours to record, and recording it is what moves the value from pipeline to confirmed. Acceptance

A customer sent four messages and I only got one email

That is working as designed, and it is the behaviour that surprises people most. One email is sent per unread run: while you have an unread message in a thread, further messages do not send another alert, and the counter resets when somebody reads it. There is no re-nudge, so a thread nobody ever opens produces exactly one email, ever. Watch the unread badge on the quote list rather than relying on your inbox. Emails

If I change my pricing, do the quotes I have already sent change?

No. Saving the pricing page writes a new version rather than editing the old one, so anything already quoted keeps the figures it was built on. New estimates and new quotes pick up the new numbers straight away. Pricing

Can I edit a quote I have already sent?

You amend it, which writes v2 and leaves v1 standing. Nothing you have sent is ever rewritten underneath the customer, because they have the old PDF in their inbox and a document that changes after the fact is worse than a second document. Versions

Can I turn the finance section off?

Yes, with the “Show finance options” checkbox under Theme, and you should if you are not authorised to offer credit. While it is on, the representative example cannot be switched off: quoting an APR and a monthly payment is a regulated financial promotion. Branding

Why is Save greyed out on the Theme page?

Because one of your colour pairs failed its readability check, and the page will not let you publish a palette that makes your customers’ estimate hard to read. The failing pairs are listed with their contrast figures, and Save comes back when they pass. The server refuses the same thing independently, so there is no way round it. Branding

Can Solar Desk see my leads?

No. The operator console shows a count of your leads and gives no way to open one. Operators can activate and suspend accounts and preview a calculator, and that is the whole of it. The operator console

Does “Export to Excel” export everything or just what I am looking at?

Just what you are looking at. The export honours the search box and the status filter exactly, so filter to what you want first. It is a real spreadsheet, with money and dates as numbers and dates and a totals row that adds up. Exporting to Excel