Templates

SolarGrade templates, sometimes referred to as frameworks, are organized into a ‘mind-map’ of sections, categories, and items. These items are then split into informational Items and issue items.

These templates are designed to streamline workflow and standardize fieldwork, while trimming inefficiencies. You can preset the severity of certain issues, while also making other issues required for site visit completion. All of this together is designed to ensure folks in the office and the folks in the field are operating on the same (digital) page.

To offload hours setting up a new program, every SolarGrade account comes with half a dozen default templates. We recommend using these as a foundation for your field checklists. After all, why reinvent the wheel?

If done correctly, your technician will

1. Gather all the appropriate and necessary information
2. Not examine extraneous items on the checklist
3. Follow appropriate procedures
4. Not need to write anything while in the field

Because every SolarGrade account comes with default templates that can be edited to match your checklists, we don’t recommend you create a template from scratch. This is primarily because the man-hours involved in writing out all the descriptions for each issue will take a considerable amount of time.

That said, if you did want to create your own, here’s how:

• Navigate to the templates tab
• Make sure you’re viewing MY TEMPLATES
• Scroll to the bottom of the page
• Select ADD TEMPLATE
• Name template
• Click CONFIRM

From there, you can add sections, categories, informational items, and issue items.

The default templates were built for using guidelines from NREL and are easily transferrable to EPC, O&M, commissioning, etc. They are very comprehensive, and it’s easier to delete unnecessary parts of the inspection than to build one from scratch.

To create a new template from the default templates:

• Navigate to the Templates tab
• Toggle over to DEFAULT TEMPLATES
• Select the default template you want to use as your foundation
• Select USE AS A PATTERN FOR A NEW TEMPLATE

From there, you can customize the copied template. You can drag and drop sections, categories, and items to reflect the ideal workflow.

Additional Notes:

• If you want to track issues to have greater insight and analytics into your space, it is better to rely on issue items than informational items. Every issue item has three options: pass, fail, and n/a.
• It is better to keep your template broad and general. That way, you can tailor it to each inspection. Remember: it is always easier to delete than to create new. So it might be better to have only “Inverter 1” as a category, which you can duplicate once you create an inspection.

If you find you regularly have to change a template for most site visits, but one particular site visit is very dialed in, you can set that site visit as a template.

• Navigate to the projects tab
• Select the associated client
• Select the associated project
• Scroll down to site visit history
• Click the site visit you would like to set as a template
• Scroll down to the green GENERATE REPORT button
• Click the gear symbol to the right of the button
• Click SAVE AS A TEMPLATE
• Navigate to templates tab
• Make sure you’re in the MY TEMPLATES view
• Find the new template
• It will be the name of the previous site visit, followed by the date you created it
• Click the new template
• Select RENAME TEMPLATE to rename it

What is an Informational Item?

An informational Item is used to tag information that is not an addressable issue, but needs documentation. We’ve outlined the different types below.

Types of Informational Items:

BINARY CHECKBOXES

Binary Checkboxes are for questions with only two possible answers.

Example: Were you granted access to the project site? 
– Yes
– No

Note: these are not the same as Issues!

MULTIPLE CHECKBOXES

Multiple checkboxes are for prompts where there might be more than one answer.

Example: How did you hear about SolarGrade? 
– Word of mouth
– Internet search
– Social media
– White paper
– Tradeshow

DATE

You can add a date when necessary.

Example: When did the project reach COD?

RANGE

A range of values can also be tagged.

Example: What was the temperature on-site?

NUMBER

Add a number field with optional units.

Example: What is the breaker rating?

TEXT

Write instructions or gather information with freeform text.

Example: Point of Contact for Project Site? 

PHOTO

Prompt users to add photos. Once a user uploads a photo, they can hover over the image and click the caption icon to add a caption to the photo.

Example: Take a Photo of the Site Gate. 

TABLE

Gather measurements like IV curve traces or other information in a table. Add (+) or subtract (-) rows and columns by hovering over them.

Within site visits, the information in these table informational items is interactive with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. You can both copy the SolarGrade text to those programs and paste information from those softwares into SolarGrade.

Example: Collect Combiner Box 1 string voltages. 

GEOLOCATION

Specify a geolocation. Use your device GPS to input the location.

Example: Locate the Met Station on-site. 

SIGNATURE

Team members can sign off on completed information or sketch an image on their device.

Example: Did you complete the JHA?

PROGRESS BAR

Note your team’s progress on that particular procedure. Try out the options for the bar by inputting a minimum and maximum value.

Example: How many RSDs were replaced? 

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp is a way to capture a specific date and time without entering it in manually. Just tap the “timestamp” button to pull an exact date/time.

Example: Arrival time on-site.

DOCUMENT

This allows you to upload a .pdf or .docx file to a site visit. It will appear as a hyperlink in the interactive and .pdf reports.

GEO NOTES

​This new informational item combines the geolocation, photo, document, and text informational items into one. It is perfect for when you want to add more data to a specific item.

Note: all failures and non-conformities should still be issue items!