AI for trades
AI for Australian solar installers.
A solar job is a five-figure decision the customer takes weeks to make, comparing three or four quotes, and the installer who keeps following up wins it. You are on a roof and cannot. We build the AI front desk that qualifies the lead, nurtures the quote through the whole cycle, and handles the rebate paperwork chase. The accredited install and the compliance certificate stay with you.
Plugs into the stack you already run
- simPRO, Fergus, Tradify or AroFlo (job + project management)
- your CRM and quoting tool for high-value proposals
- the STC / small-scale renewable rebate paperwork and CER assignment forms
- Xero or MYOB (invoicing + accounts)
- your mobile, a business number and a website enquiry form
What can AI actually do for a solar installation business?
It works the long quote-to-install pipeline for a big-ticket purchase, qualifying the enquiry, nurturing the quote across weeks of comparison shopping, and following up so warm jobs do not go cold. It chases the rebate paperwork the system owner needs for their STCs, books the post-install service and monitoring follow-ups, and answers the calls you miss on a roof. The accredited PV installation, the electrical work and the compliance certificate stay entirely with you. The AI runs the pipeline and the admin, not the installation.
The one that eats the week
What actually swamps a solar installer.
Nursing a big-ticket quote through a long, comparison-heavy sales cycle, then the rebate paperwork. Solar is not a same-day call-out. A homeowner or business deciding on a five-figure rooftop system takes weeks, gathers three or four quotes, reads reviews, second-guesses the panel brand and the payback maths, and goes with whoever stays in front of them and answers their questions promptly. The installer who follows up wins; the one who quotes once and goes quiet loses. Bolted onto the back of every won job is the rebate admin: the STC paperwork and assignment the system owner relies on to get their discount, which has to be collected and processed cleanly. The single highest-value thing AI does here is work that long pipeline relentlessly, nurturing every quote to a decision and keeping the rebate paperwork moving, so deals do not die in the comparison phase and the discount lands without drama.
What you're doing now · What we'd ship instead
The before and after, in plain terms.
You, today
Quotes die in the comparison phase
The customer is weighing three or four quotes over weeks. You send yours once, get busy on a roof, never follow up, and they go with whoever stayed in front of them.
The long sales cycle outlasts your attention
A five-figure decision takes weeks of questions and second-guessing. A one or two-crew operation cannot nurture every open quote through that whole cycle by hand.
Rebate paperwork stalls the discount and the job
The STC assignment and paperwork the system owner needs gets collected late and processed slowly, which drags out the deal and frustrates the customer at the worst moment.
Calls go to voicemail while you're on a roof
A hot lead rings, you cannot answer with both hands on an install, and voicemail does not convert. They dial the next solar company on Google.
Post-install service and monitoring follow-up gets dropped
A system underperforms or a customer has a question after handover, and with no one minding the inbox the follow-up slips, which costs you reviews and referrals.
After-hours enquiries from researchers go cold
Solar buyers research at night and on weekends. An enquiry that lands after hours and waits until you are off the tools is a warm lead gone lukewarm.
You, with us
Every quote nurtured to a decision
The AI follows up each open quote on a schedule through the whole comparison cycle, answering questions and keeping you in front of the customer until they decide.
Leads qualified before they reach you
It captures roof type, property, system interest, budget signals and timeframe, so the leads you spend time on are the ones worth quoting.
Rebate paperwork kept moving
It chases the STC assignment and documentation the system owner needs, prompting for what is outstanding so the discount lands cleanly and the job is not held up.
Calls answered in your business name
The AI picks up the calls you miss on a roof, answers as your business, captures the enquiry, and books the site assessment so no hot lead hits voicemail.
Post-install service and monitoring followed up
Handover, monitoring check-ins and service questions get a prompt, on-brand reply, protecting the reviews and referrals that drive the next jobs.
After-hours researchers caught instantly
Website and Google enquiries get a reply in seconds, day or night, while the buyer is still in research mode and deciding who to trust.
Solar is the opposite of an emergency call-out. Nobody buys a five-figure rooftop system on impulse. They take weeks, they gather three or four quotes, they read reviews and argue with themselves about panel brands and payback periods, and in the end they go with whoever stayed in front of them and answered their questions promptly. That is the whole game, and it is exactly the game a busy installer loses, because the person best placed to nurture the quote, you, is on a roof.
The deal dies in the comparison phase, not the quote
Think about what a solar lead actually is. Someone has decided to spend serious money and is now choosing between competitors over the course of a fortnight or more. You send your quote, it is competitive, and then you get pulled onto an install and never follow up. Meanwhile the company that sends a helpful check-in, answers the payback question, and keeps in gentle contact wins the job that was yours on price. The quote did not lose. The silence after it did.
A lead engine works that long pipeline relentlessly. It qualifies the enquiry up front, on roof type, property, system interest, budget signals and timeframe, so you spend your time on real prospects. Then it nurtures every open quote on a schedule, in your voice, answering questions and keeping you in front of the customer right through the comparison cycle until they decide. The deal that used to die in silence gets carried to a yes.
The rebate paperwork is the other half of the job
Bolted onto every won job is the STC admin. The system owner is counting on the small-scale rebate to bring the price down, and that depends on the paperwork and assignment being collected and processed cleanly. Done late or sloppily, it drags out the deal and sours the customer at the worst possible moment, right after they have committed. The AI chases that paperwork, prompting for whatever is outstanding so the discount lands without drama and the job is not held up.
Where the line sits, and it does not move
This is firm. Solar installation is accredited, licensed electrical work. Only an accredited installer, working under the national solar accreditation scheme that moved from the Clean Energy Council to Solar Accreditation Australia in 2024, can install or supervise the system, and that accreditation is what makes the owner eligible to create STCs. The work needs the relevant state electrical licence and must comply with AS/NZS 5033 and the wiring rules. The AI does none of it and never appears to. It does not size a system, give electrical or compliance advice, or certify anything. It runs the pipeline and the paperwork chase, and anything that sounds like a hazard or a faulting system goes straight to you. Under Australian Consumer Law it makes no overstated rebate, payback or savings claims. The accredited work stays entirely yours.
Spring is when it earns its keep
The value spikes with the sun. Spring and the run into summer push homeowners to commit before the high-bill months, and the annual January step-down of the STC rebate rate drives a year-end and new-year rush to lock in before the incentive shrinks. Quote volume jumps after every price rise and every heatwave bill shock. That is exactly when a one or two-crew installer cannot nurture every open quote by hand. An always-on pipeline catches the surge you would otherwise lose.
If you want the broader picture across the trades, the AI for Australian tradies guide covers quoting, follow-up and invoicing in depth, and the trades overview maps the whole stack. When you are ready, book a free 30-minute audit and Jenn will name the two or three agents worth building first for your business, quoted fixed in AUD.
Concrete, not hand-wavy
What the AI actually does for a solar installer.
- Qualifies enquiries on roof type, property, system interest, budget signals and timeframe before they reach you.
- Follows up every open quote on a schedule through the long comparison cycle, in your voice, until the customer decides.
- Books site assessments into simPRO, Fergus or Tradify against your live diary.
- Chases the STC rebate assignment and paperwork the system owner needs, prompting for what is outstanding.
- Answers missed and after-hours calls in your business name and captures the lead.
- Follows up post-install: handover, monitoring check-ins and service questions, on-brand.
- Replies to website and Google Business Profile enquiries within seconds, day or night.
- Escalates anything that sounds like an electrical hazard or a faulting system straight to you, never handling it as a bot.
Where the line sits
Solar installation is licensed, accredited work and the page must respect that the human owns it entirely. Grid-connected PV systems must be installed or supervised by an accredited installer under the national solar accreditation scheme, the scheme moved from the Clean Energy Council to Solar Accreditation Australia in 2024 and that accreditation is what makes the system owner eligible to create Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs); the work also requires the relevant state electrical licence and must comply with the AS/NZS 5033 standard for PV array installation and AS/NZS 3000 wiring rules. An AI agent does none of that and must never appear to: it does not give electrical, design or compliance advice, does not size a system, does not advise on whether an install meets standard, and does not certify anything. It runs the sales pipeline and the paperwork chase only. Anything that sounds like an electrical hazard or a faulting system is escalated to you, not handled as a bot. The accredited installation, the electrical work, the compliance with AS/NZS 5033, and the certificate stay entirely with the accredited, licensed installer. Claims to customers must not be misleading under Australian Consumer Law, so no overstated rebate, payback or savings figures.
The cost question, answered straight
What this runs for a solar installer.
A solar job is a five-figure ticket, so the maths is stark: recovering a single deal a month that would otherwise have died in the comparison phase covers the system many times over. For a one or two-crew installer, the lift in quotes nurtured to a decision, plus the rebate paperwork and post-install follow-up handled, typically pays it back inside the first month, before counting the leads no longer lost to voicemail.
Where most solar installers start
The packages we'd actually quote you on.
AI Lead Engine
Every enquiry triaged, qualified and replied to in your voice, in under 5 minutes, even at 11pm on a Sunday.
The flagship for solar. Nurtures every big-ticket quote through the long comparison cycle so deals do not die before the decision.
$2,000 AUD setup + $499 AUD/month
Read the brief →
AI Front Desk
An always-on receptionist for service businesses, answers enquiries after 5pm, books appointments, sends reminders, escalates the tricky ones.
Answers the calls you miss on a roof, qualifies the lead and books the site assessment.
$1,500 AUD setup + $199 AUD/month
Read the brief →
AI Content Engine
A content production line in your brand voice, Instagram, LinkedIn, blog, newsletter, drafted, scheduled, and refined from what actually performs.
Turns completed installs into Facebook and Instagram posts, photos in, on-brand posts out, you approve.
$1,500 AUD setup + $499 AUD/month
Read the brief →
The short version
- The killer workflow for a solar installer is the long quote-to-install pipeline plus the STC rebate paperwork: five-figure deals die in the comparison phase when nobody follows up.
- AI works the pipeline and the admin, qualifying leads, nurturing every quote to a decision, chasing the rebate paperwork and booking post-install service, while the accredited install and the certificate stay with you.
- Solar installation is accredited, licensed work under the solar accreditation scheme (now Solar Accreditation Australia) and must meet AS/NZS 5033; the AI never sizes, advises or certifies, and makes no misleading rebate or payback claims under the ACL.
- A solar job is a five-figure ticket, so recovering one deal a month that would have died in comparison covers the system many times over, usually inside the first month.
Real questions solar installers ask
Before-you-book questions.
Will the AI give electrical or system-design advice, or certify the install?
No, and that is non-negotiable. Solar installation is accredited, licensed electrical work. The AI never sizes a system, never gives electrical, design or compliance advice, and never certifies anything. It runs the sales pipeline and the paperwork chase only. Anything that sounds like an electrical hazard or a faulting system is escalated straight to you. The accredited installation, the compliance with AS/NZS 5033 and the certificate stay entirely with you.
Does it work with simPRO, Fergus or Tradify?
Yes. We build around the job and project software you already run. The AI captures and qualifies leads, books site assessments into your diary, and writes the details where you expect to find them. We do not migrate you off simPRO or Fergus; we add the pipeline and follow-up layer on top of it.
How does it handle the STC rebate paperwork?
It chases and prompts for the paperwork only, the assignment and documentation the system owner needs so they can claim their STCs, flagging what is outstanding so the discount lands cleanly and the job is not held up. It administers the chase; it never advises on rebate amounts or eligibility rules, and it never overstates a rebate or payback figure, because misleading claims breach Australian Consumer Law. The accreditation that makes the system eligible stays with you.
Solar is a long sales cycle. Is automated follow-up not too pushy?
It is the opposite of pushy when it is done in your voice and on a sensible cadence. The buyer is comparing several quotes over weeks and genuinely wants their questions answered; the installer who stays helpfully in front of them wins. The AI keeps that contact warm and useful, not spammy, and you stay in control of the tone, most installers run it in shadow mode for a week first.
We build this Australia-wide
Every agent we ship is remote-first, so we work with solar installers across the country. AI consultants in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast, Newcastle , or anywhere in Australia.
If you run a solar installer business, book the 30-minute audit.
Jenn maps your business live on the call, names the two or three highest-ROI agents we'd build for a solar installer, and quotes them fixed in AUD on the spot. No deck. No pitch theatre. No obligation.
Or email Jenn directly: jenn@onautopilot.com.au, reply within 1 business day, AEST.