Guides
The paperwork to keep after a solar installation
Six things: the commissioning sheet with string voltages and first-day output, equipment serial numbers, all warranty documents, the single-line diagram, the net-metering approval, and the installer's written workmanship warranty. The commissioning sheet is the one nobody asks for and the one that matters most later.
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The commissioning sheet is your baseline
String voltages, insulation resistance and first-day generation, measured and written down at handover. Without it, nobody can later say whether the array has degraded, a string has dropped out, or the system is simply dirty — every future diagnosis becomes a comparison against expectation instead of against fact. Ask for it before the crew leaves.
Serial numbers, because warranties need them
Panel and inverter serials, recorded against their positions where practical. A warranty claim needs the specific unit identified, and reading a serial off a panel already mounted on a roof is a job in itself. Ten minutes at handover saves a considerable amount years later.
The single-line diagram, kept current
This is the drawing submitted with the net-metering file, and it should describe what is actually installed rather than what was originally proposed. If anything changed on site, the drawing should have changed with it. An inaccurate diagram is a common reason an inspection goes badly.
Written scope of the workmanship warranty
Duration, what it covers, what it excludes, and how to invoke it. Most problems in the early years are installation issues rather than equipment failures, so this is the document you are most likely to use — and the one most often left as a verbal assurance.
What documents should I get after solar installation?
My installer did not give me a commissioning sheet. What now?
Ask for one; if the readings were taken they exist. If they were not taken, have someone measure the system now and record it — a baseline set a year late is far better than none, though it cannot tell you what the array did when new. We record fresh figures at the end of any visit for exactly this reason.
How long should I keep all this?
For the life of the system, which means twenty-five years for the panel documents. Keep a digital copy as well as paper — the paper set will be in a drawer that gets cleared out, and a warranty claim in year twelve depends on documents nobody has thought about in a decade.
Do I need anything for the distribution company?
Keep the net-metering approval and the reference number for it, along with the first billed statement after the bidirectional meter was fitted. Any later query about crediting is far easier to raise when you can point at the approval and the first correct bill rather than reconstructing the history.