How to Design Proposals with AI

SubcontractorHub’s AI-Assisted design tool allows sales reps to quickly generate a solar layout optimized for efficiency. If adjustments are needed, such as realigning panel sets, editing facets, or removing obstructions, the design can be customized using Edit Mode. This guide walks you through each step of the design process, including how to use different modes and make manual edits as needed.

Follow the steps below to design with SubcontractorHub's AI-Assisted tool.

Step 1: Click on the “Customers” tab on the left-hand side.

Step 2: Locate the “Actions” section and click on “Proposals”.

Step 3: Click “View Detail” on the proposal card. To name a proposal, click “Add Title”. Proposal card titles can be edited as well.

Step 4: Fill out the Consumption profile.

Step 5: Click “Start Design”.

Step 6: Set the crosshair over the home and click “Run AI Design”.

Step 7: The AI design will be generated automatically. 

Step 8: When the AI design is complete, sales reps can adjust the solar offset with the slide bar.

Step 9: Toggle “Show panels with colour” to show a visual representation of production for each panel. The lighter-colored solar panels indicate higher solar production. The darker orange panels indicate lower solar production.

Step 10: Click on the “Change Panel” dropdown to select a different panel for the design. 

Step 11: Click on individual solar panels to add or remove them. Removed panels will become transparent and have a white border.

Step 12: After adding or removing solar panels, the “Recommend panels” button will become available. Clicking this button will provide the optimum solar layout for maximum efficiency. Once selected, the button will become unavailable again unless you make further changes to the design. 

Choosing Design Modes

There are three design modes available within the AI-Assisted tool.

Default mode: Production data is pulled from Sunroof, and the design image data is provided by Google HD, with the option to switch to Nearmap.

NREL (Assisted Design) mode: Production data is pulled from NREL, and the design image data is provided by Nearmap, with no option to switch to another data source. The AI tool will generate a solar layout. 

NREL (Manual Design) mode: Production data is pulled from NREL, and the design image data is provided by Nearmap. Production data is filled automatically by the predictive AI, but the solar layout is not generated. Users must switch to edit mode to create a solar layout. 

Step 13: Click “Facet List” to see the details of each facet.

Step 14: Clicking on a facet’s details will highlight the facet in the design.

Step 15: Edit panel alignment by clicking on the "Edit" icon in the left corner.

Step 16: The panels are shown in edit mode. To enable setbacks, click “Show setbacks” on the right.

Step 17: The yellow lines surrounding the roof facets indicate the setback area where solar panels cannot be placed. To draw facets, click the "Draw Facet" icon. 

Step 18: When the facets are complete, click the “Done” button highlighted in blue. The AI tool has been updated to ensure that facets are unable to move beyond the limits of the roof layout. This ensures that designs are as accurate as possible and do not incur facet placement errors.

Step 19: To create a facet for a flat roof type or ground mount, select “Draw Facet” and toggle “Flat” or "Ground Mount" on before drawing the facet.

Step 20: After drawing a flat facet, click “Done” to fill the facet with panels.

Step 21: To edit a facet, click “Edit Facet” and drag the dots to modify the facet. Click “Done” after making the required changes.

Step 22: Obstructions on a roof are marked with a red circle. Obstructions can be deleted by clicking the “Delete Obstructions” icon.

Step 23: Click on obstruction marks to remove them. Then click “Done” to save or the “X” icon to cancel.

Step 24: Once the obstructions are removed, left-click on the facet and choose “Recalculate Layout” to add panels in place of the obstructions. 

Step 25: Use the "Change Orientation" button to switch facet orientation between landscape and portrait. Select a facet to change its orientation. 

Step 26: Click the "Delete" icon to delete a facet.

Step 27: Click the "Recalculate Layout" button to recalculate the solar layout of a facet. 

Step 28: Click “Add Panels” to add a single solar panel to the layout.

Step 29: Select the orientation of the panel and click “Yes”.

Step 30: Click to place a panel on the facet. Click “Done” to save the panel placement. 

Step 31: Toggle “Multi Panel” on to add multiple individual panels to a facet at once. Click “Done” to save your changes.

Step 32: Use the highlighted buttons to move or delete an individual panel. The panel snapping feature ensures that when moving individual solar panels, the alignment of the panel is correct. If you try to place a panel outside the bounds of the roof, it will snap back into its original position.

Step 33: Move the panels into the correct position and click “Done” to save.

Step 34: Select a panel set to move it to a different position. Use edit mode to rotate and properly align a misplaced panel set. Clicking the orange box allows you to rotate a panel set.

Step 35: Once the panel alignment is correct, click “Done” to save.

Step 36: To exit edit mode, turn the toggle off.

Step 37: When the design is complete, click “Save” to continue with the next steps. 

You can view your AI solar design along with the solar details, where you can add an inverter, inverter number, escalation rate, mounting type, and PPW.

To design in 3D mode, click on the 3D icon located to the left of the full-screen button.