Getting solar site teams to use the system: surveyors, installers and store staff
Most solar ERPs fail on the roof, not in the demo. Six field roles, the few tasks each does daily, and the design rules that stop the WhatsApp group from becoming your real system.
- Design from the daily tasks of six roles: surveyor, crew lead, supervisor, store keeper, O&M technician, accounts.
- Offline-first is not optional on rooftops and remote sites.
- One entry per fact. Photos, serials and checklists captured in the same step.
- Name a retirement date for the chat group as the record.
- Measure one task per role. Logins prove nothing.
Quick answer
Site teams use a system when it is faster than the WhatsApp group for the five things they do every day. Design the field app around each role's daily tasks, make it work offline, capture photos, serials and checklists in one step, and ask for each fact once. Name a date when the chat group stops being the record, appoint one champion per role, and measure one task per role instead of logins.
Why do field teams go back to WhatsApp?
Because it is fast, familiar and works with one hand on a ladder. A system that asks for six fields, a login and a signal will lose to a photo sent to a group. When that happens, the system is half-empty, and the data you bought it for never arrives. The general pattern is covered in will my team actually use the new system.
Which roles, and what do they do daily?
| Role | Daily tasks (our model; verify by watching your own people) | What the screen should offer |
|---|---|---|
| Surveyor | Measure roof, photograph shading and structure, note load and meter details, note cable route | A structured survey form with required photos, works offline |
| Crew lead | Check material on site, assign tasks, follow the install checklist, scan serials, photograph work | Today’s job, material list, checklist, serial scan |
| Site supervisor | Check progress across sites, approve changes, flag blockers | A list of sites with status, change request with price field |
| Store keeper | Receive goods, scan serials, issue to project, record returns | Goods receipt against PO, issue to project, stock count |
| O&M technician | Take tickets, visit, log fault, parts and photos | Ticket list, unit history, visit form |
| Accounts | Match bills to projects, raise milestone invoices, chase collections | Cost lines by project, milestone view, evidence attached |
The method: watch three real people in each role for a day. Write down the five tasks they repeat. Build the screen for those five and hide the rest.
What design rules matter most?
Field capture: one step, many records
- Works offline. Roofs and remote sites lose signal. Capture locally, sync when connected, and show clearly what has synced.
- One entry per fact. The serial scanned on site feeds warranty, commissioning and subsidy. See serial and warranty tracking.
- Photos and checklists in the same flow. Not a separate upload step later.
- Language and simplicity. Large buttons, local language where needed, minimal typing.
- Role-based screens. Hiding options is design, not decoration.
- Immediate value. Show the crew lead tomorrow’s material list and the supervisor a live site view. If the app gives something back, people open it.
How should the rollout run?
- Pilot with one crew or one project type. Not the whole company.
- Appoint a champion per role. Their job is to collect friction, not to enforce.
- Run old and new in parallel for a short, fixed period.
- Name the retirement date when the chat group stops being the record. Without a date, two systems run forever.
- Review friction weekly. Fix the top three annoyances before adding anything.
What should you measure?
One task per role, weekly:
- Surveyor: share of surveys completed in the app.
- Crew lead: share of installations with all serials captured.
- Store keeper: share of material issues logged against a project.
- Technician: share of tickets closed with photos.
Do not use logins or hours in the app.
Where does this not apply?
If your crew is three people who do everything together and the owner is on site daily, a shared checklist and a photo folder may be all you need. Formal field software pays when work is spread across several sites and people you cannot watch.
What to do this week
- Shadow one crew lead for a day. Write down every message they send and every form they fill.
- List the facts they enter more than once.
- Decide the retirement date for one WhatsApp group as a record.
Part of the guide Running a solar EPC business on connected systems.
The roles, tasks and design rules are our own model and need to be checked by watching your own teams. They are not measured findings. The adoption approach follows our general guidance in will my team actually use the new system.
More by GarunaCDX
Let's talk about your build.
Tell us what you are building. A founding engineer replies within one working day with how we would approach it.
