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The OnGrid Tool User Manual v4.0

1. The customer database backup 1s a full duplicate of the customer database so it s ready to be used in the Tool By default the backup file s name will be the original Customer Database s name followed by BACKUP lt date gt lt time gt Copy and paste the backup file into the folder where you keep your customer databases and remove the backup indication to avoid confusion Then make the recovered customer database available in the Tool see Managing OnGrid Files in this chapter OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 21 Manually Loading OnGrid Data We ve discussed user data and customer data which are both types of data you ll create and save The third and last type of data dealt with in the Tool is OnGrid data which is automatically available and can t be modified OnGrid data includes e Rates Utility info e Incentive programs e CSI modules amp inverters the long list as opposed to your short list of preferred modules When new OnGrid data is available the new data is loaded into your Tool copy automatically There might come a time when you want to work with an older set of data To load older data scroll to the OnGrid Data section on the Settings sheet In row 132 click on Load OnGrid Data 129 OnGrid Data 130 131 12 30 2009 up to date Currently Loaded Data 433 Load OnGrid Data 133 134 Yes Automatically Update OnGrid Data on Start Up In that form that appears click the
2. You ll see an orange border appear around the selected area This shows the prospective perimeter of the new page Only data within the border would appear in the print preview for this page If you re happy with the perimeter as it is double click on any cell inside the border to see a print preview consider adding some data to the page before showing the print preview D10 vi je CustLastName A B E F G H M 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ti 8 9 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 2 After the print preview of a proposal page is closed a small form will appear asking if you d like to save the page just previewed To be able to print this page from the Tool give it a name and click Save Page The page s name is completely up to you We recommend you give it a name that clearly distinguishes it from your other pages since you ll need to know which page is which when working in the Tool s template design form OnGrid Custom Proposals Save Print Area If you d like to save the page just seen in the Print Preview window enter a name and click Save Page Otherwise click Don t Save Basic Info New Page Name E G Environmental Pg 01 Save Page Don t Save Once the page is given a name the page s border color goes from orange to blue This means the new page is official and can now be printed from within the Tool Redefining the Page s Area As you re adding data and charts to
3. 294 255 256 257 258 259 SECOND ARRAY 260 261 262 263 264 Jump to Shadin Array Onentation Slope of Array up from horizontal You do have the option of turning the view filter off One reason to keep it off is that it might cause a noticeable lag time on older computers it s constantly refreshing the screen as you enter data Another reason is that you might want to have all variables visible all the time it can be helpful to know what s not applicable to your customer To turn off the view filter click on the Sheet Settings link in the first row of the Settings sheet Then in the Inputs Sheet section select Off for the view filter 159 Inputs Sheet 160 161 Convert to Lite View 162 3 Or Ins View ites Selecting Rates amp Adding User Defined Rates Your Tool copy has pre loaded rates for many utilities across the United States However there may be times when your customer s rate isn t in our database In which case you can add it directly to the Inputs sheet as a user defined rate Before we get into user defined rates let s talk about selecting utilities and rates in general The first step is to make sure you ve entered your customer s state in the Customer Information section The state you enter determines the utilities available below OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 30 7 CUSTOMER INFORMATION _ 4 2 3 36 SITE INFO of Customer Site Street Address
4. Use you re discretion on whether to override tan cell defaults gt Green Cells Green cells can t be modified Their purpose is to provide you with feedback based on data you ve entered in yellow and tan cells If you think a green cell shows the wrong data you can almost always adjust a related yellow or tan cell to get the green cell right gt Pink Cells There isn t necessarily a problem when a cell turns pink A pink cell is a warning It means that the data entered is outside OnGrid Solar s range of expected input for that cell If you decide that your data is appropriate disregard the pink Customizing the Default Inputs this section s feature forthcoming When scrolling through the Inputs sheet you ll notice that virtually all data entry cells have default data Some of these defaults probably won t apply to your typical customer For example perhaps most of your systems are installed in an area where spanish tile roofs are the norm It would be a hassle to enter the roof type Tile Spanish for almost every new customer We want it set up so every time you open or reset the Tool the default roof type will be Tile Spanish 267 BUILDING INFO 268 Composite Roof Ground or other Mounting Type 267 BUILDING INFO 268 Tile Spanish Roof Ground or other Mounting Type Consider scrolling through the Inputs sheet and checking the defaults now First you Il want to put all secti
5. i Commercial Non Profit Municipal Gov t Affordable Housing Detailed Incentive Program re Commercial incentives wil apply if left unchecked Residential incentives wil apply if left unchecked Close the form after saving your new UD incentive program Back in the Incentives section you ll now have the new UD incentive program as an option in the Incentive Program cell If you re ever confused on how the data you enter in the UD incentive form is actually applied go over the numbers in the twenty five year timeline on the Overview sheet after selecting the program Overview sheet reviewed in chapter 9 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 36 Resetting the Inputs Sheet Before you begin entering data for a new customer you ll probably want to reset the Inputs sheet This will ensure a clean analysis without relic customer information from whatever customer you were previously working with To reset the entire Inputs sheet scroll to the top of the sheet and then scroll over to column I After clicking on a link in column I labeled RESET TOOL you ll get a message box explaining what gets reset along with the opportunity to cancel Lower down in column I on the Inputs sheet you I find reset links for each section as well H J Resets the entire Tool _ RESET TOOL 11 12 13 14 Reset Custom Inputs to OnGrid Defaults Le Clear All C
6. High or 300 dpi resolution is optimal for printing and creating pdf files of OnGrid proposals To adjust the resolution click the Page Setup button in the lower left corner of the print dialog box In the Page Setup dialog box that appears make sure the print quality is set to High or 300 dp OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 63 Page Setup Margins Header Footer Sheet Orientation le Portrait fa Landscape Options Scaling one conos F adjustto 54 5 normal size On the Mac make sure the a i print resolution is set to high O Fit to 1 page s wide by 1l tall when printing and creating _ pdf files of OnGrid proposals tea Normal High 300dpi First page number Print quality Cancel 4 Proposal Headers The proposal s header and footer contain specific information like your name and company name Unlike the rest of the proposal page s content headers and footers are designed from within the Tool A benefit to applying them from the Tool is that your proposal can include pages from multiple sheets or even multiple Proposal Workbooks while having an identical header throughout The circled items in this graphic are part of the proposal s header rather than Ship Full User Acme Solar Fa 123 123 1234 ii i part of its main content Solar Electric Investment Incentive and Energy Savings Analysis Although the
7. ongrid net so that we can update the data as quickly as possible Tool Confidentiality and Security Use of the OnGrid Tool requires adherence to the terms of the Content License Agreement signed by a representative of your company One of the important terms of that agreement is that you not share copies of the OnGrid Tool with anyone not covered by the Content License Agreement covering users within your company Each sales representative using the OnGrid Tool is to be a registered and licensed user You may print hard copies or make PDF files for people not covered by the Content License Agreement but please DO NOT GIVE THE ACTUAL TOOL OR OTHER ONGRID FILES TO CUSTOMERS OR OTHERS NOT COVERED BY THE CONTENT LICENSE AGREEMENT Each copy of the OnGrid Tool is uniquely marked visibly and invisibly linking it to its original authorized user It 1s part of the license agreement that these marks not be removed OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 3 How to Use This Manual This user manual can be used as a reference or as a beginning to end walkthrough of the OnGrid Tool and other OnGrid files Although the user manual s graphics make it unnecessary we think you ll get a lot more out of the manual if you have the OnGrid Tool open and apply the manual s examples while reading no worries if you haven t installed the OnGrid Tool yet installation will be discussed below Because of the table of contents links and other links throug
8. 38 Customer Site Street Address 39 Customer Site City 40 Customer Site State 41 Customer Site Zip 4 Jurisdiction Once you ve confirmed that the right state is selected scroll to the Electric Rates amp Usage section in row 107 Click on the Utility Name cell and activate its drop down list In the list look for a utility that you intend to work with Upon selecting that utility you Il see the default electric rates change as well 107 ELECTRIC RATES amp USAGE EE 4 2 3 ETE 109 z C Service Utility Name 110 l Starting Current Rate Schedule T ariff 111 Ending Future Solar Rate Schedule T ariff PTs 107 ELECTRIC RATES amp USAGE 4 2 3 tility Name p m p m y F 1 a m 2 hes a Of UEMG Ai lle ee ice Arizona Public Serw arting Current Rate Schedule T ariff 111 P pale nding Future Solar Rate Schedule Tariff ucson Electric Power 112 Arizona Average General Ltilit 113 If your utility isn t in the list you have a few options The Tool includes state specific rate averages for residential commercial and industrial utility customers This data comes from the U S Energy Information Administration Selecting the state average works if you re trying to get a basic idea of whether the solar investment makes financial sense but it isn t recommended for an in depth analysis Another option is to select General Utility and then enter the cents per kW
9. Load Data button for the data set you d like to load Notice that you can scroll over the different data set release dates to see the updates OnGrid made for that release OnGrid Tool Load Data Manually Scroll over date to see updates crol over date to see updates Ee Date Version 12 30 2009 1 12 15 Updated PGE SCE SDGE LADWP Burbank rates Updated SCE baseline quanties AU dl dla 12 14 2009 1 Load Data 11 21 2009 1 Load Data OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 22 If you d like the Tool to keep the older data set the next time it s opened select No for automatic updating in the OnGrid Data section of the Settings sheet Changing Master Files The Master File contains user data and OnGrid data Unlike with the Customer Database Proposal Workbook and Document Workbook you can only have one Master File loaded into the Tool at a time Ideally you ll want all your user data consolidated in a single Master File so having only one loaded shouldn t be a problem At any time you can switch from one Master File to another Do this by clicking Change Master File Name or Folder in the Master File section starting in row 138 of the Settings sheet You ll be asked if you d like to save the Tool s user data into the replaced Master File before replacing it You ll also have the opportunity to save it into the new Master File or load user data from the new Master File In any case be aware
10. ceeeccccccccccessseeeeeeceeeeceeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeenaas 51 Averaging Shade Data inthe Too bienes ceet coda eeaioes netted ada eeend head aden a ieed atone 52 Chapter 9 The Overview Sheet sssscsisssssescososscssscicsscscscscsssessccocrososscstsssssscsssossescss 53 Viewing the IRR Timeline with After Tax Numbers ccccccssssesseccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeaeaeeeees 53 Chapter 10 Proposals caccini a ee ees 55 Editine Proposal Templates sx sven oot a a detaedateasea eed asank 55 Adding amp Removing Proposal Temp ates isisisi E 57 PHM Proposal oeren anion aa eee eee eee deri 60 Creatine Proposal PDFS Om he PC vecerais tints wnetend asa daisunntedisntladswneend mtd sume a 60 Adjusting Print Resolution on the PC cecccccccccccceeessseeeeeeeeeeeeaesseeeeceeeeseeeeeeeseeeeeeeeaaas 61 Creatine Proposal PDFs onthe NIAC cesarean a eaneceee 63 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 Adjusting Print Resolution on the Ma vacaciones nasi ote tine icsin ee cessation 63 Proposal TAS AG CES en buen dana asacuaiietboa teas sandals buena E ee eas sandal eee naeetecteats 64 AVC dis COME NUTOTICACCIS acess xieeticensusersicanenricuia ied iahataecametesarighahencaneiiaati ak ieeinnetncsiatatenaneeee 66 Changing the Header Font Type amp Font S1Z ccccscccsseccececeeeeeesesecceeeeeaaaeeeseeeeeseeeaaas 67 OVvermidin Pace Marsih aera A 67 Hador Anon e T E E 68 POTN ALSO O o cancers canes ie as E E T S 69 Chapter 1i Documents wssedericecssevecdscscccsc
11. Document a SkyO2Shading Microsoft Office Excel Comma Separated Values File SkyO3AnnualAccess JPEG Image im SkyO3AnnualAccessFullyAnnotated JPEG Image Music i a SkyO3DailySolarAccess Microsoft Office Excel Comma Separated Values File Searches Sky03FullFishEye JPEG Image Public a SkyO3Insolation Microsoft Office Excel Comma Separated Values File SkyO3MonthlySolarAccess JPEG Image Folders A 1 p File name Sky02Shading vy All Files v Tools v Open v Cancel vorite Links Computer Pictures Bear in mind that you can incorporate data for specific points at your client s property or averages of multiple points at the property When you export a customer file from the SunEye software you re not only exporting files for the separate SunEye pictures you took you re also exporting a file in which the data from all those pictures has been averaged So if you take a picture for each corner of an array you can use the specific data for one of those corners or take the combined data for all four corners Either way the data will be plugged into the same shading table in the Tool Below we ll discuss loading multiple files and averaging in the Tool When you incorporate shading data into the Tool from the shading software the Tool collects other information as well This includes 1 The name of the skyline or the number of skylines if it s an average 2 The date and time the picture was taken not appli
12. Key Vendor Information Installer Information if different than vendor Ship Full User 123 123 1234 123 123 3456 123 123 4567 fulluser acmesolar com Acme Solar 123 Ship Drive Bldg 3 Sunnyvale CA 94086 123 123 1234 123 123 4567 Cont Lic Cont Lic Type Authorized User Name Salesperson s work phone Salesperson s cell phone Salesperson s fax Salesperson s email Salesperson s website Vendor Company Name Vendor street address 1 Vendor street address 2 Vendor City Vendor state Vendor zip Vendor main phone Vendor alternate phone Vendor fax Vendor main email Vendor website Vendor state license Vendor state license types Vendor CEC ID if applicable Vendor certifications The Installer File The User Key is an Excel workbook that contains your personal information such as your name company name and contact info Your Tool copy is activated by loading in the User Key The information that appears in the User Key will appear in the header of proposals you create for clients All key info can be changed directly in the User Key except for your name vendor company name and vendor city in bold in the User Key form shown on the left To change these three main bits of info request a new User Key from OnGrid see Adding amp Editing User Keys in chapter 5 for more information Your personalized
13. Line Item Costs As with module and inverter pricing you have the option of pricing the line item by cost per watt or cost per unit Or you can enter the line item s total cost Just remember that the major benefit of this Pricing sheet is that it keeps your pricing automated So if you know your module shipping cost for a particular system is 750 you don t necessarily want to enter 750 because doing so means the module shipping cost is stuck at 750 for all future systems Instead you might take 750 and divide it by the number of watts in the system to derive an approximate module shipping cost per watt Then if the system size is doubled the shipping cost will become 1 500 Which is much more accurate than 750 for the larger system Notice that by default the cost basis for most line items is watt We know this because the unit cells and the total cells are green and recall from the Inputs sheet color legend that green cells can t be modified this rule applies throughout the Tool There are cases where it makes more sense to cost a line item by unit than by watt As an example let s say the line item we ve added is for two fake owls we re putting on the roof to ensure birds steer clear of the array an unlikely solution to bird splats We don t intend for the number of fake owls to vary from system to system always two And we know the owls cost Other possible custom line items include pyrometers monitoring
14. Ship Full User Acme Solar 123 123 1234 Salesperson Work Phone aii OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 66 To remove the cell phone label or any other label from the header or footer double click it Once you ve got the header s content right you ll probably want to adjust the header s formatting This is where the multipage to the right of the Label Options listbox comes in Label Options Current Selection Salesperson Name Required Ship Full User ix 2 Vendor Name Required Acme Solar 3 Copyright Vendor and or OnG Acme Solar and or O Info Page1 Font Margins Left Right Auto Align Align 2 Logo 4 Copyright Vendor and or OnGi Acme Solar and or O 5 Copyright OnGrid Solar OnGrid Solar 6 Copyright OnGrid All Rights Re OnGrid Solar All Right Overall Font Name Header Font Size Footer Font Size 7 Company Logo image Arial 25 19 8 Page Number 1 of 5 1of5 e Verdana b gt Calibri Personalized Caption Pe Bold Header Font Bold Footer Font j The Header Form s multipage shows different options based on what tab is selected at the top of the multipage Changing the Header Font Type amp Font Size Under the Font tab in the Header Form s multipage located to the right of the Label Options listbox you can change the header content s font type and font size As you re adjusting the font s
15. Updates Available 108 109 No Notify if File Updates are Available Regarding updates for the Proposal Workbook and Document Workbook we re either updating the data resources you can reference in your custom pages or we re updating the features that OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 24 will help you build those pages OnGrid updates will not affect the content and format of your custom proposals custom proposal design discussed in chapter 12 As with Tool updates we strongly recommend that you update non Tool files whenever possible Your cooperation in using the most current file versions will help facilitate faster development of new OnGrid suite features Settings Sheet Setup Conclusion If you ve been adjusting your Tool s settings while reading through the user manual now would be a good time to save your user data As with other Microsoft Office files save often to ensure your latest data won t be lost should there be a problem This section covered the different OnGrid files and how they relate to each other It discussed the different between user data customer data and OnGrid data If you change the name or location of a Customer Database Proposal Workbook Document Workbook the Master File or the backup folder you ll need to indicate the change on the Settings sheet and resave user data OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 25 Chapter 6 The Inputs Sheet This chapter will cover setting up the Inputs s
16. User Key is created when you install the Tool Default file name OnGrid Key lt your name gt xls The installer file is the only OnGrid file you ll receive directly from OnGrid in an email By opening the installer file in Microsoft Excel and following the file s steps the aforementioned files will be downloaded to your computer OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 Chapter 3 Installing OnGrid Files To install the OnGrid Tool and related files open the installer file that was sent to you in an email from OnGrid Solar Youll be opening this installer file in Microsoft Excel all OnGrid files are Excel workbooks and won t run in any program but Excel Enabling Microsoft Excel Macros OnGrid files use Microsoft Office VBA macros VBA Visual Basic for Applications Without this underlying code many of the more advanced features of the Tool couldn t be implemented We need to make sure macros are always enabled for OnGrid files In Excel 2003 and Excel 2007 you have the option of making OnGrid Solar a trusted publisher By doing this you re allowing all OnGrid Solar workbook macros to run automatically on your computer We strongly recommend this gt Attention Mac Users Unfortunately the trusted publisher feature isn t available in Excel 2004 for Mac Skip a section to Enabling Macros for Excel 2004 for Mac Making OnGrid Solar a Trusted Publisher for PC This section only a
17. a look at the Label Options listbox in the middle of the Header Form All the items in this listbox are available for use in your header styles However you might prefer to keep your header footer designs minimal and put this additional information within the proposal page itself proposal design is discussed in chapter 12 As an example let s see how to add the salesperson s cell phone number to the currently loaded header In the form s Label Options listbox Salesperson Cell Phone is the 23 label By clicking directly on Salesperson Cell Phone the label will appear in the Current Selection box over to the right Label Options Current Selection 22 Salesperson Work Phone 123 123 1234 il Salesperson Cell Phone 123 123 3456 cell Ei 23 Salesperson Cell Phone 24 8 Galecnerenn Fay 13931 133 4547 Once it s selected the cell phone label can be added to the header by clicking a blank box in one of its five rows To see the revised header you d click the Print Preview button at the top of the form Header Salesperson Name Required Ship Full User The information in the header style s Vendor Name Required Acme Solar h hat i 123 123 1234 print preview matches what s on the Salesperson Work Phone 123 123 3456 cell form Salesperson Cell Phone Header Salesperson Name Required Vendor Name Required
18. as 1f it were entirely residential If she s happy with the financial results for each version she will likely be happy with the blended overall result To learn more about the correct legal approach for proportioning the solar system between residential and commercial and related solar tax issues please see SEIA s Federal Tax Guide http www seia org Q2 Id like to use a time period other than the Tool s default twenty five year timeline Is this possible The Tool s only timeline option is the twenty five year timeline While we recognize that a well installed system is likely to last much longer than twenty five years we re unwilling to be aggressive with the Tool s figures We will only provide reasonably conservative figures If enough users request a shorter timeline we ll consider making it an option Only if warranties beyond twenty five years become common will we consider a longer timeline Beyond twenty years it makes relatively little difference in the results but going too long would diminish credibility Q3 I m practically offsetting my customer s entire bill but the tier graphic in the header says the customer is in tier two or higher after solar Why The sale of TOU electricity on peak allows proportionately greater credit so not as many kilowatt hours need to be produced to offset the customer s bill down to 0 or the minimum charge If less kilowatt hours are produced than used the net c
19. boxes weather stations etc OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 44 60 each In the fake owl case we don t want cost per watt because the cost doesn t vary by watt To change the cost basis for the new line item double click on the preferable basis cell this is the only case where double clicking a green cell makes something happen STC W 52 s Fake Owls 0 00 0 00 1 0 52 s Fake Owls 0 01 60 00 2 120 Double click a green cell to change the line item s pricing basis After accounting for the material cost of the fake owls you ll want to consider the labor cost In the example let s say the fake owls take an hour each to be installed and programmed to give off ear piercing shrieks every twenty minutes We d account for this item specific labor cost in the labor columns to the right of the material columns The extra labor cost can be based on watt hour as opposed to unit for the related material column or total In the fake owl case we d double click on the hour cell because we know the required hours to install program won t change from one system to the next Then we d enter the hourly cost wage of whoever s doing the work in the hour cell and 2 in the Hours cell Labor Labor Labor STCW Hr Hours 0 04 30 2 60 Alternatively we might find it more practical to keep the line item s labor at 0 and have the lead installer s
20. macros by Details OnGrid Solar Energy Systems Macros may contain viruses It is usually safe to disable macros but if the macros are legitimate you might lose some functionality Always trust macros from this publisher In the warning prompt make OnGrid Solar a trusted publisher by checking the box for Always trust macros from this publisher and clicking Enable Macros OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 10 Enabling Macros in Excel 2004 for Mac This section only applies to those using Microsoft Excel 2004 for Macintosh Every time you open an OnGrid file in Excel you ll be asked whether to enable or disable macros Always select Enable Macros F Microsoft Excel The workbook you are opening contains macros Some macros may contain viruses that could be harmful to your computer If you are sure this workbook is from a trusted source Tell Me More click Enable Macros If you are not sure and want to prevent any macros from running click Disable Macros When opening an OnGrid file always select Enable Macros when prompted Enable Macros j Do Not Open You have the option to allow all macros to run automatically but it isn t recommended Be aware that malicious and or poorly written macros can do serious damage to your computer Enable macros for non OnGrid workbooks at your own risk OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 11 Completing Installation
21. right on your computer OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 78 Editing Proposal Formulas The previous sections in this chapter showed how to refer to data on the Names sheet and Timelines sheet in your custom proposals This section discusses how to build formula in Excel so you can seamlessly incorporate raw data into grammatically correct prose This way you can make the data more personal and engaging Instead of your proposal text displaying Solar electric system slope 22 Solar electric system orientation South Roof type Composition Shingle You might want something like The anticipated orientation of your PV Array is 22 up from horizontal and facing south It will be mounted on your Composition Shingle roof If you prefer the latter option you d type the formula The anticipated orientation of your PV Array is sSysArraySlopes lip from horizontal and racing 4 amp It will be mounted on your amp SysRoofTypeText Notice in the formula that static text is enclosed in quotes and that the static text 1s separated from dynamic text cell reference names with ampersands Suppose you came across the previous formula in one of our template proposals and want to modify the verbiage If you prefer We intend to install your array at the same orientation as your roof which is 22 up from horizontal We d mount it on the roof side facing south We ll use the optimal mounting strategy for your Com
22. that if you ve made changes to user data in the Tool since saving to a Master File those changes will be lost unless you save during the switch 138 Master File 139 140 File Name Location on Computer or Server 141 OnGrid MasterFile_xls OnGrid Files Solar Desktop Bishop Users C 142 Change Master File Name or Folder 143 144 12 72 09 8 38 PM Last User Data Save Save User Data to Master File The Tool will not work without a Master File Tool Updating When you open the Tool you ll be notified if a Tool update is available If you d like to update click Yes in the prompt After clicking Yes wait for the new Tool copy to download and a confirmation message to appear We strongly recommend that you update the Tool whenever prompted Your data won t be lost in the update process If there s an issue with the new Tool version and you d like to revert to the previous version until the issue is resolved you can recover the old version from the backup folder listed on the Settings sheet In the backup folder you re looking for the file with your Tool copy s name followed by FULL BACKUP FULL BACKUP means the entire Tool was copied into the backup folder whereas BACKUP without FULL_ proceeding it means the file only contains raw data and thus can only be loaded into an open Tool copy OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 23 OnGrid Tool_FULL_BACKUP_2009 12 27_03 15PM lt An act
23. the Hide Pricing Info on Inputs Sheet link in the Pricing Sheet section on the Settings sheet Excel security is not bullet proof If someone really wants to extract pricing data from your OnGrid file they will The only way to ensure the security of your OnGrid data is to make sure only trustworthy people have access to your OnGrid files OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 47 Pricing Allowances Costs specific to a certain customer can be added directly to the System Pricing amp Results section on the Inputs sheet The benefits to putting this specific data on the Inputs sheet rather than the Pricing sheet 1 You can quickly see what costs are unique to a certain customer 2 You can keep the data on the Pricing sheet general and therefore applicable to all your customers 3 You can avoid unhiding the Pricing sheet if it s hidden 437 SYSTEM PRICING amp RESULTS o a EJ Ea oo 439 98 53 per Watt Base Cost per CEC rated watt 440 Base Cost 7 05 per STC watt 441 Base Cost 8 15 per PTC watt 442 Base Cost 8 53 per CEC watt 443 5 74 831 System Base Cost 452 5 000 service entrance upgrade 453 iowance 2 edit this text 454 Allowance 3 edit this text 455 Allowance 4 edit this text 456 Allowance 5 edit this text 458 9 831 System Total Cost OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 48 Chapter 8 The Shading Sheet If any features of your customer s property have the potential to shade the a
24. 1 015 based on estimated remaining savings to 25 years 11 To resize a chart hover your cursor over the chart s corner until the cursor turns into a white two sided arrow Once you get the two sided arrow click and drag towards the chart s center to make it smaller or away from the chart s center to make it larger 50 000 00 0 00 Yeas 1 3 5 7 fjete Resale Value 2 A a K Click and drag the chart s corner tip to resize it The formatting for charts tends to vary from one computer to the next If a chart you ve pasted into your proposals doesn t look quite right we encourage you to reformat it Reformatting OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 77 would mostly involve selecting an overlapping component within the chart and dragging its edge away from the interfering component Accumulated Savings Accumulated Savings lt rooante 30 000 00cSumulated Net Savings When Financed 25 000 00 20 000 00 15 000 00 5 000 00 0 00 1 19 21 23 25 5 000 00 10 000 00 lt 5 ___________ 6 Years BAccumulated Net Annual Savings with Loan Accumulated Net Savings 30 000 00 When Financed 25 000 00 20 000 00 15 000 00 10 000 00 5 000 00 0 00 19 21 23 25 5 000 00 10 000 00 Years BAccumulated Net Annual Savings with Loan Click and drag the edge of a chart s interior component to make it look
25. 1 Sharp ND 208U1 2 SMA SB5000US 240V Old 462 mo New 16 97 Offset Use 18 000 kWh yr Prod 14 294 yr 74 651 Gross 51 930 Net w Rebate Fed Tax Credit 21 4 IRR 9yrs 103 298 Resale 195 031 Lifecycle 219 1st Mo Cash Flow 276 017 NPV OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 28 The Inputs sheet header is the dashboard for your job so to speak Along with the customer s name it provides the most critical information about the job such as the system size the old electric bill versus the bill with solar estimated annual kWh usage and on site production It also provides a breakdown of the financial benefits As you re adjusting variables notice how the numbers change in the header We hope that continued observation of these relationships will help you gain a better understanding of how the nuances of electric rates and system design impact the overall status of the system There are two chart in the header To the left is the cash flow chart In the chart the tan slope in the background represents the customer s inflation adjusted electricity expenditures should she decide not to install a system The gray slope in the foreground represents the solar powered customer s loan cost over its term The spike in the middle reflects expected inverter replacement To the right of the loan chart is the tiers chart By default this chart is only visible if your customer is on or will go to a tiered rate after solar The green
26. E 300dpi 5 fo Image Color N 72dpi TET ICM Metha e3 ancl TCM Intent S Scaling 54 EJ 600dpi a TrueType Font R 2 1200dpi on rs Document Optio F 2400dpi bo Advanced Prir 7 3600dpi bo Pages per She F A000dpi OK cancer cee PostScript Options For the CutePDF Writer you ll need to click Advanced to adjust the print resolution OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 62 Creating Proposal PDFs on the Mac Apart from printing out a hardcopy of a proposal for a customer you can create a pdf file to send her electronically To create a pdf file of an OnGrid proposal open a print preview for that proposal At the top of the print preview window click the printer icon Then click the PDF button in the lower right corner of the print dialog box and select Save as PDF in the drop down list Print Printer Photosmart C7200 series Copies l collated Pages All 1 page E o From 1 to 1 Print What Selection i Active Sheets C Entire Workbook Scaling E Fit t 1 page s wide H ae lofl Wi wi Show Quick Preview Page s tall Scaling options change how the active document is printed and ge Setup displayed in page layout view PDF Preview Supplies Save as PDF Save PDF as PostScript a Cancel Adjusting Print Resolution on the Mac On the Mac
27. Inputs sheet data or any other custom calculations They re NOT for custom proposals and documents which should be incorporated into the respective workbooks discussed in Chapter 12 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 13 Adjusting Sheet Zoom Levels A sheet s zoom level determines how much of the sheet is currently visible to you and how big the text will appear Think of a high zoom level e g 100 or more as looking at your sheet with a magnifying glass To adjust a sheet s zoom level In Excel 2007 PC Use the little zoom bar in the lower right corner of the Excel window In Excel 2003 PC amp Excel 2004 Mac Click on the Excel menu s View option followed by Zoom Select a zoom level or enter a custom zoom level Saving Tool Data Now that we ve made some changes in the Tool sheet zoom levels we ll want to save them so we won t have to do it again the next the time the Tool 1s opened Data is saved differently in the Tool than in conventional Excel workbooks Rather than being saved into the Tool itself all data is saved into one of two files the Master File or the Customer Database Data saved into the Master File is referred to as user data and data saved into the Customer Database is referred to as customer data User Data User Key information The names of your non Tool OnGrid files and where they re located on your computer Viewing and setup preferences sheet zo
28. OnGrid Solar www onegrid net n r 408 428 0808 SOLA The OnGrid Tool User Manual v4 0 Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ssssesccccssscccecccsssccceccsoseccccccsseccecccssecccecccssecccccossseccecosssseee 1 D termining Your Excel Versi n sesosicaiasnriasnriinr sua aidea iia touts i SR TMM NS sega go penton oa sone E E ENE soansee seen twoe te dasesteetioonsbasieba seas nonece 2 OnGrid Tool User Precautions and Security ccccccccsssssseecceeeeeceaeeseeeeeceeeesaaaeesseeeeeeeeeaaaeeeees 3 POW BO Vse TSN eers E e EE r E macs E E 4 Chapter 2 OnGrid Tool Suite Overview ssssssecccccssscccccccsscccccccossecccccosseececccsssseee 5 OE OO E N A EE EA O E E A E E E 5 DNAS EE UNG E A A O A EE E A N A A E 6 Cartone VACA OS e E A E E 6 Proposal WorkDOOK senine e e R EE EEEE ET AET 6 Dooma HE N ORK DOK aea E E E EE E 7 CT tess teresa E ta ta acias net tse TS 8 AEN VS ANC assez ees cide sated E AA comcwadoveygndeasaapeeuote E EEN 8 Chapter 3 Installing OnGrid Files cccccccscssscccssscscscsssccsssccccsscccsssscsees 9 Enabling Microsoft Excel Macros ccccccccsccseeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 9 Making OnGrid Solar a Trusted Publisher for PC ec cesseeseccceeeceeeeseseeeeeeeeeeseeeeees 9 Enabling Macros in Excel 2004 for Mac cccccccccccccsssessseeeeceeeeeaeeeseeececeeeeseaeeseeeeeeeeeeaaas 11 Compe a Ph ede esa asaa cate decency casencsted
29. The installer file will download the OnGrid Tool into a folder of your choosing After the Tool is downloaded a prompt will ask you to either install the OnGrid suite or select OnGrid files already on your computer Assuming you haven t used version 4 or later of the OnGrid Tool click the Install button Upon selecting Install all necessary OnGrid files are downloaded into an OnGrid created folder placed within the folder containing the Tool You can change the location of these files at any time but you ll need to specify the new location within the Tool discussed in Managing OnGrid Files OnGrid Tool It looks like you haven t used the OnGrid Tool yet on this computer What would you like to do Computer Transfer nrn R Select Files Cancel amp Close If you select the Computer Transfer button you ll deal with the different OnGrid files one at a time With this option you ll be able to select OnGrid files already on your computer rather than automatically downloading new files from the internet Once installed there are further steps necessary to tailor the Tool to your situation This process will be discussed in the following sections OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 12 Chapter 4 Getting Started amp Basic Setup The first thing you l want to do in the Tool is take a cursory glace at the different worksheets 1 e sheets As with other Excel workbooks you can select a sheet by cli
30. View PIEI eect cetera deat a aa a eect cated aClonalesacenaadeemete aces 29 Selecting Rates amp Adding User Defined Rates 00 0 0 eessssseccccccneesseeececccessaeeseseeeeceeseags 30 Adding Preferred Modules amp INV Crters xs aincesa sonia vdadtnsestrcnis a a a EE AEE 33 Addine User Deped Incentive Prostam uss eterna 35 Resetting the Inputs Shee hesien E a nei eee 37 Data Entry Restrictions the Color Legend nnnnsseessssoeenssssssssseerrssssssssceressssssssereessssssseeerees 37 Customizing the Default Tipu 6 testes ceca aaetese ch npaetelne E 38 SOUS EOS I OD IN OLS ter tshirt e aap ace aba ra aha LE 39 EAU DFO SCE We Hod B10 CELDT EN on soer a a A A 40 Chapter 7 The Pricing Sheet oessoed e 42 Mod le amp Inverter ea eh 09 1 ca seepe E Tenn ne em ere te 42 Nod EWA ba a O a E O 43 A E ACE aaea a hues A A A S 44 ARPS tain Lme leni OSES eke star dscns E a N A 44 Moving Copying amp Removing Line ItemSs eesesssseeeeerssssssssserrssssssssceeersssssssseerressssssees 45 PCDS AUI ana a a a 46 Hiding amp Password Protecting the Pricing Sheet cc ccccccccccccccssssseseeceeeeeeaeeeseseeeeeeeeseaeeeeees 47 Prcs AVIOW anes oreren a a E a AE 48 Chapter 8 The Shading Sheet ssssssscsssssssccecoosscissessssscosescsssscscesssssesecsssssssscsssessss 49 Loadine Shade Data Automatically sic icsscensscwalestinetiectiualieedidiuaesdiaatilakiewebicsweiouds 50 Comparing Shading for Different Sites On a Property
31. a new page you might run out of room and want to add a few more rows or columns One way to do this is to insert the necessary rows or columns as you would with any other Excel workbook you ll need to turn off the page maker first Control t But inserting entire rows or columns might mess up other pages on the sheet A better option is to redefine the page s area To redefine a page s area select a few cells at once within the page s border with the page maker on select multiple cells by click and drag A form will appear asking if you d like to remove the page i e print area or just rename it Click the Remove Print Area button Now back in the sheet select the page s new area Double click on a single cell within the orange border to get the print preview Finally give the page the name it had before or any other name OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 3 OnGrid Custom Proposals Delete or Rename The new print area overlaps with the page Basic Info What would you like to do Rename Page Do Nothing Removing Proposal Pages To remove a page select a few cells at once within the page s border with the page maker on select multiple cells by click and drag A form will appear asking if you d like to remove the page 1 e print area or just rename it Click Remove When you remove a page your data will still be on the sheet it just won t be available for printing from th
32. af the Siye a Colorato Commission or PUC and WHEREAS Customer is interconnected with and receives electio service from Company s electric dittribution eystem under the terms and conditions of Company s Electric Tarilis and WHEREAS Customer owns operates and maintains on its premises a Small Generation System vith aderign capacity rating of 10 kW ahernating current AC or less by whichit generates olectiic onmigytion senowable resources of ie TEARC Quaified Facility GF for the Customer s exclusive use and WHEREAS Customer desires to operate such Small Generation F actity in parallel wth the Company s electric dstnbution system NOW THEREFORE in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants and NS BM siao Om um romes Tr nemas y gereEDCT cas om promises of the parties hareto il is agreed s follows Eee L Definitions Commission means tye Public Uilities Commission of the State of Colorado Electric Taritis means the Compary s electric taritis as in effect and on fle vih and overeat oe tei senec ase nee oua approved by the Commission as the same may be changed from trne to ime Poet Baer ay be Reed Esera i anetirnered te otemark of Brel Eners we IP uhi Sorece Canosa of Colerede Ahha Bord Centar Page lof 5 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 Quotation amp Contract for a Renewable Energy Power System Acme Soler r 09 hy Ot gE Pi canus e Omeri linwe Veen Oem bs Tipe che Dre BA draer
33. age to the next To add a logo to your header click on the Logo tab in the Header Form s multipage OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 69 Click the Select Logo button and then navigate to your company s logo file on your computer The file needs to be in a recognizable picture format such as jpeg gif or bmp the Tool won t extract a logo from a pdf file or Microsoft Office document To add the logo to the currently active header select Company Logo in the Label Options listbox and then click a line in the header or footer section you d like to add it to The logo takes up all five lines of a header section or all three lines of a footer section so you l need to clear labels from the section first double click a label to remove it Once your logo has been added take a look at it in the print preview You might want to adjust its size Changing the logo s size on the PC To change the logo s size click the arrow button in the middle of the Logo tab on the Header Form s multipage The size options are Very Small Small Normal Large and Very Large Auta Align Aign 2 Logo Change Logo Normal 4 gt Delete Logo Batra Note This logo applies to all applicable header Your Logo Here styles Info Page 1 Font Margins Left Righ Logo Size in Header Changing the logo s size on the Mac To change the logo s size in the print p
34. and system loss factors gt Incentives Your customer s federal state and local incentives Possible incentives to incorporate here are rebates performance based incentives tax credits grants and RECs In California if your customer qualifies for a CSI rebate you ll add the EPBB design factor and expected annual production in this section taken from the EPBB Calculator website gt System Sizing and Specifications Use this section to enter a system size or fine tune the Tool s automatically calculated system size You ll also select the module and inverter types from your list of preferred modules and inverters This section includes physical specs for the array gt System Pricing and Results This section shows the base system cost and various system cost increases and decreases You can enter your base cost directly in the section or on the Pricing sheet discussed in chapter 7 If the customer intends to finance the system or if you d OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 27 vi like to illustrate the benefits of financing to the customer specific terms for her loan can also be incorporated here Inputs Section Levels By default in full view you ll only see the section headings without section details To open one of these sections you have the option of clicking on the 1 2 or 3 button next to the heading By clicking on 1 only the most basic variables are shown While
35. ay in which it s used Typically the day is broken up into three periods called peak part peak and off peak The peak period is usually in the afternoon and has the highest electricity rate In the off peak period typically at night electricity is least expensive gt Feed In Feed in tariffs aren t currently common in the U S Under a feed in tariff the solar system owner is not trying to offset an electric bill but rather is generating electricity to sell to the utility Once you ve created a new rate in the form the rate s utility will be available in the utility drop down list in the Electric Rates amp Usage section After closing the form select the new utility and then select your new rate as the starting rate or ending rate or both Adding Preferred Modules amp Inverters You can add modules and inverters to the Tool in the System Sizing section located in row 323 of the Inputs sheet The section will need to be in level 2 or 3 in full view When activating the drop down list for the Module Type cell you ll notice that only a few modules are available by default To add your preferred modules to this list click on Add Modules Inverters to Drop Down Lists OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 33 On the left side of the form you ll see a list of all module manufacturers accepted for the California Solar Initiative On the right side is your short list Notice that the Inputs
36. bout Microsoft Office Excel If the Excel form s first line 1s Microsoft Office Excel 2003 you re in Excel 2003 otherwise you re in an earlier version of Excel About Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office Excel 2003 On the Mac Open your copy of Microsoft Excel Find out if you re using Excel 2003 by looking at the first line in the About Microsoft Excel form 7 8221 SP3 Click on Excel in the Excel menu and then click on About Excel If the form s first line is Microsoft Excel 2004 for Mac then you re in Excel 2004 About Excel Find out if you re using Excel 2004 by looking at the first line in the About Excel form Microsoft Excel 2004 for Mac Version 11 5 4 090302 2004 Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved System Requirements OnGrid files can be used on both the PC and the Mac All OnGrid files are Microsoft Excel workbooks They won t work in any program other than Microsoft Excel You don t need the entire Microsoft Office suite to run OnGrid files you only need Excel which can be purchased separately from the other Office programs On the PC OnGrid files are compatible with Excel 2003 and Excel 2007 We haven t tested the files in Excel versions earlier than Excel 2003 On the Mac OnGrid files are compatible with Excel 2004 OnGrid files don t work on Excel 2008 for Mac because the VBA programming langua
37. cable for averages and 3 The latitude and magnetic declination at the property 23 Skyline Info Optional 24 Sky02 Skyline Name 25 10 16 2007 Date of Creation 26 1 44 PM Time of Creation of af Latitude 28 14 Magnetic Declination Comparing Shading for Different Sites on a Property You can store shading data for up to four different points at your client s property or up to four shading averages for different locations around the property Notice that there are four shading data tables below the main data table Although only the data in the upper white bordered table impacts the performance estimate and the financial analysis the lower tables can be used to store different shading data To store data in the lower tables click on one of the Spot buttons The Y Spot 1 button stores the Active Table s data in the first storage spot VW Spot 2 for the second storage spot and so on Now this data will be safely stored allowing you to incorporate more shading data without loosing data already incorporated To transfer the shading data for a site location back into the Active Shading Table click on the related A Spot button A 0 E F G H l d E L 1 h E Y wt Ki v 2 44 46 AC AD SE AF Shading Inputs K E Stol adi E E T E T Lo i Load Shading Averages A 7 Spot 1 7 Spot 2 Spot 1 Spot 2 Return te Inputs Pathfinder Data _rspott 75 po na ji po Ald Select Hl Spot W Spore T Spot F T Sp
38. cking its tab at the bottom of the window 559 556 sof 558 M4 H Settings amp Support _ Inputs Pricing Shading Array 1 Shading Array 2 Overview Blankt Blank a1 4 OnGrid Tool To activate a sheet click its tab at the bottom of the Excel window The sheet names are meant to give you a general idea of sheet content gt Settings amp Support This sheet has the settings for your viewing file updating and backup preferences It also lists the names and locations of your OnGrid files You ll find your OnGrid support options lower down on the sheet including a link to this manual The Settings amp Support sheet is referred to as the Settings sheet hereafter gt Inputs The Inputs sheet is where you enter most of your customer s data It s where you ll spend most of your OnGrid time gt Pricing On this sheet you can set up an automatic pricing system With your pricing system in place project costs will be calculated automatically based on the variables you enter on the Inputs sheet gt Shading This is where you enter shading data from the Solmetric SunEye Solar Pathfinder or another shading device gt Overview This sheet shows your customer s financials over the twenty five year analysis gt Blank 1 amp Blank 2 These sheets are completely blank The blank sheets can be used for intermediate calculations that assist you in entering
39. closing the Tool or else your new defaults will be lost If at some point you want to restore the Inputs sheet defaults to what OnGrid originally had click Reset Custom Inputs to OnGrid Defaults in row 14 of the Inputs sheet Customer Job Notepad Along with customer information necessary for creating a solid financial analysis there s other customer info that will help you better understand where your customer is coming from and what her motivations are for getting solar The latter info isn t easy to select from drop down lists but is critical to getting your customer excited about purchasing a solar electric system from you For this more verbose information consider using the customer notepad Access the notepad by clicking Customer Job Notepad in the Inputs sheet Customer Information section Or access it from anywhere in the Tool by pressing Control and the letter n on your keyboard Keyboard Shortcut To access the customer notepad from anywhere in the Tool Control n notepad OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 39 OnGrid Tool Customer Job Notepad General Notes Customer Profile shading Data Notes Customer quotes to pick up key words and motivations for them Why Solar Rank their motivations Save Financial excited about locking in today s rates Environmental curious about energy payback include info in proposal Techno Coolness neighbor has solar seems jealous husband tried making
40. ct on how the Tool looks and operates Let s go through the sheet s different sections Adding amp Editing User Keys A User Key is a file created during install that allows activation and use of the Tool The User Key contains information about you and your company information that will appear in the headers and footers of proposals and in the appropriate lines of utility documents The User Key is truly your key to using the Tool Without a valid User Key the Tool wouldn t work Although you can store up to fifty user keys simultaneously only one can be active at any time You can see and change the active key in row 10 of the Inputs sheet 9 OnGrid Tool v4 2009 OnGrid Solar All Rights Reserved 10 Ship Full User Active User 11 Acme Solar User Company To load additional user keys into your Tool or edit information for an already loaded key activate the Settings sheet In row 67 click on Add Remove or Edit User Key 10 Licensed Tool Users 11 User Name Vendor Company Name 12 1 Ship Full User Acme Solar 13 67 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 16 Vendor Information Installer Information if different than vendor Ship Full User 123 123 1234 123 123 3456 123 123 4567 fulluser acmesolar com Acme Solar 123 Ship Drive Bldg 3 Sunnyvale CA 94086 123 123 1234 123 123 4567 Cont Lic Cont Lic Type Authorized User Name Salesperso
41. cuments and modifying current ones is exactly as it is for OnGrid proposals The major difference is that in the Document Workbook the data available to you is much more limited The Document Workbook has no charts no timelines and fewer names available on the Names sheet Also the generic header feature isn t available in the Document Workbook since the documents have no headers As with the Proposal Workbooks you can quickly open a Document Workbook by clicking its name in the Document Workbooks section of the Tool s Settings sheet OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 6 Frequently Asked Questions Q1 My customer s property is partially a residential space and partially a commercial space she has a home office How do I account for this in the OnGrid Tool The Tool s financial analysis approaches residential and commercial properties differently For the residential case electricity cost savings are treated on a pre tax basis in the IRR analysis while the commercial case is treated on an after tax basis see http www ongrid net papers PaybackOnSolarSERG pdf for pre tax vs after tax discussion Because of this fundamental distinction in the financial analysis the proportion of the solar system attributed to the residential portion of the property should be treated separately than the commercial proportion We recommend that you run the analysis as if the whole property and system were commercial then rerun it
42. cy OnGrid Proposals xls Close the Template Form by clicking Close in the upper right corner Your changes are saved automatically OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 59 Printing Proposals To print a proposal with actual customer data click Print Proposal in row 10 on the Inputs sheet The form that appears lists the proposals available to print without the extra detail shown in the Template Form For a print preview of one of the listed proposals double click it or using your keyboard press the down arrow until the desired proposal is selected and then press Enter If you re happy with how the proposal looks in the print preview window click Print or the printer icon to print it out Xx OnGrid Tool Proposal Printing Print Preview CLOSE Proposal Name Header Style For Long Medium For Medium Short Commercial For Short Short Residential For Short Timelines For Timelines Change Name or Header Style of Selected Proposal Keyboard Shortcut To print proposals from anywhere in the Tool Control p print Creating Proposal PDFs on the PC Apart from printing out a hardcopy of a proposal for a customer you can create a pdf file to send her electronically In order to create pdf files you ll need to have a pdf maker writer on your computer Along with the industry standard Adobe Acrobat there are several free pdf makers available One popular free option is the CutePDF Writer available
43. d Tool User Manual 2010 56 The listbox in the upper right corner of the form shows the proposals currently available for printing To the right of the proposal s name 1s the number of pages and the header style currently selected for that proposal header designs discussed in Proposal Headers in this chapter The lower right listbox shows the pages within the proposal selected in the upper right listbox in the order with which they II print In this form you can see what the different proposal pages look like To see a print preview for all the pages in a proposal double click the proposal s name in the upper right listbox To see a print preview for a single page double click the page name in the lower right listbox Proposal Templates Short Commercial Short Residential Timelines lt new template gt Double click to see a print preview of the entire proposal Pages in Selected Template 1 1 Commercial Double click to see a print preview of the single page Bear in mind that you won t be using this form to print proposals for your customers since templates viewed from here only have default customer data Use the Template Form for quick previewing Printing proposals with actual customer data is discussed in Printing Proposals in this chapter Adding amp Removing Proposal Templates To create a new proposal template select lt new template gt in the Template Form s upper right listbox Af
44. e represents full shade So if there s a lt in the December row at the column labeled 11 30 the array will be shaded at 11 30 each day in the month of December Aud In the Tool s default numbers there are more 1 s in the summer months of the table than in winter months because the days are longer As areference you can look at the percentage figures to the right of the table to see how much full sunlight is available for each month throughout the year for your customer s array The first column gives percentages for the particular orientation and tilt you indicated on the Inputs sheet The second column gives percentages as if the array were facing south at latitude tilt For those using the Tool in California note that the CSI EPPB calculator requires shading percentages for the system s actual tilt and orientation OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 49 Loading Shade Data Automatically The Solmetric SunEye is a digital shading analysis device Shading output from the SunEye s computer software can be transferred directly into the OnGrid Tool Data can also be exported digitally from the Pathfinder Assistant a software tool that complements the analog Pathfinder The output of these two software programs like the output entered manually from the Pathfinder is broken down by month and time of day To incorporate SunEye or Pathfinder data export the data folder from the shading software to your com
45. e Maintenance Inverter Replacement x State Tax Rate x Federal Tax Rate In this equation Maintenance and Inverter Replacement costs are negative numbers Please also refer to the IRR timeline since the IRR timeline delineates income and expenses from year to year For residential customers consider looking at after tax numbers see Viewing the IRR Timeline with After Tax Numbers in chapter 9 We hope this brings clarity to a complicated solar loan analysis Please join our free web conference calls if you have further questions OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 9
46. e Tool any longer The Generic Header Your page s header and footer will be added from within the Tool So there s no need to include your name your company s name and a copyright notice on the page itself nor any other information that you prefer to show in the header or footer such as page numbers It will be easier to account for the header during the page design process if you have a header actually appear when previewing pages from within the Proposal Workbook To have a generic header show up at the top of all pages go to the Settings section on the Proposal Workbook s Settings amp Support sheet Click the link Generic Print Preview Header to toggle the generic header on and off This setting has no impact on your proposal s appearance when printed from the Tool its only purpose is to aid you in the design process should you find it helpful OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 4 Settings 14 15 16 4 Number of Lines in Header 17 2 Number of Lines in Footer Page Setup Properties In Overriding Page Margins chapter 10 we discussed how to override page setup properties from within the Tool s Header Form You d do this to adjust the gap between the page s content the page s header and the page s edge You d also do this to make the page s content and header appear larger or smaller by using the scaling feature an alternative is to increase or decrease cell font sizes But
47. e full view before continuing with this user manual OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 26 Inputs Sheet Sections To make entering customer job information easier we ve divided the Inputs sheet into different sections Each section has a different focus but all sections are tied together in many ways 7 CUSTOMER INFORMATION a Saal Ee sa 106 io7 ELECTRIC RATES amp USAGE ES ET 3 246 247 SOLAR SYSTEM amp SITE VARIABLES m a 2 _3 322 323 SYSTEM SIZING amp SPECIFICATIONS Polke Ea EJ 3 3 374 INCENTIVES EA a EA 3 436 437 SYSTEM PRICING amp RESULTS 414 EJ Ea 524 525 SALES CONTRACT INPUTS J 1 gt Customer Information This section includes your customer s basic contact info and classification info customer type tax bracket etc gt Electric Rates and Usage Here you ll tell the Tool which utility company and rate schedules apply to your customer You ll enter the customer s monthly usage over the previous twelve months If your customer is currently on or will be on a Time of Use rate you ll specify her peak period usage percentage This section also covers demand quantities and charges efficiency and changes in expected usage gt Solar System and Site Variables In the third section you ll enter information relating to the solar array s This includes expected annual sunlight 1 e insolation at the site shading property and array features
48. e of OnGrid s automatic backup feature It will run in the background you ll barely notice when backups are created The Backups section starts on row 113 of the Settings sheet 113 Backups 114 115 Location on Computer 116 OnGrid Backups OnGrid Files Solar Desktop Bishop Users C 117 Change Backup Folder 118 119 30 minutes Tool User Data Automatic Backup Schedule 120 30 minutes Customer Databases Automatic Backup Schedule 121 122 Keep latest 5 backups only Backup Folder Cleaning applies to each backup type 123 124 125 Yes Disable Excel AutoRecover for this workbook All backup files are stored in the backup folder indicated on the Settings sheet If you selected Auto Set Up for the Tool installation a backup folder was created for you and put in the OnGrid Files folder As with the OnGrid files you can change the backup folder s location at any time Just be sure to indicate the new location on the Settings sheet If you re taking advantage of OnGrid s backup feature we recommend you keep Excel s standard auto recover feature disabled for the Tool But if you d like to enable it select No in row 125 of the Settings sheet OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 20 Recovering User Data With a Backup File To load a Tool backup file click on Load Tool Info from Backup File in the Backups section of the Settings sheet In the backup form that appears
49. e variety of available charts on the Chart sheet depicting data ranging from annual savings to equivalent area of trees planted To add a chart from the Chart sheet to a proposal page click on an empty space in one of the chart s corners to select it and then copy it either through the menu or by the keyboard shortcut OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 76 Control c You re clicking an empty space because you want to select the entire chart frame rather than the interior chart or an interior label Once the chart is copied click a cell on your proposal page close to where you want the chart to go and then paste keyboard shortcut Control v After the chart is on your proposal page you ll probably want to move it a little bit and adjust its size To move it click just to the inside of any corner and drag it to the preferred location While you re dragging you ll see the chart s outline Drag it to where you want it to be B C D E F G H l J Because savings increase over time due to electric rate escalation the increase in resale val as well However the limit to this increase will be the anticipated remaining savings left in Resale Value Over Time d at 25 years the module w _ we ll use this shorter time 250 000 00 200 000 00 150 000 00 Click and drag a chart to move it 50 000 00 0 00 Years 1 oe Effectiv The maximum resale value of 15
50. ecus E A 12 Chapter 4 Getting Started amp Basic Setup cccccccssssssssccccsssssssscccccccsssssscosees 13 Aduse Snecer Zooni LC CUS uree R RT too 14 a TOOD e a E E aaseeeeptacottasanetcunte 14 Chapter 5 The Selinas SPECI gncccictcescesssxsececscupsectessesenietsnsceandessvecncenseceuesssevtsesnenss 16 Addins Sc dite User K ySscssntenon eesi e n R N 16 Maon nr On T I erae e E E NEE E E E 17 EE A sE ROWS A A E A A E E E A E EE 20 Recovering User Data With a Backup File nnnnnnseessseoeenesssssssseerrssssssseceeesssssssserersssssssseeeres 21 Recovering Customer Data With a Backup File ccccccccccccnessseeeeceeeeeeaaeeeeeeceeeeeeaaaeeeees 21 Manually Loading OnGrid Data icciinsnviccaccaccscensesosswecarcavaceevisadecncessantesssauedevcceidenstsadewneadaandesesaales 2 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 Chaneme Master Biles siutrcncescuniuieutidusudlieue non ariel N 23 POOL GAGS sioner sien du tas eicdvondaas A AE tena miaadae oem naaeutetectonts 23 Non TOOPI Updanini asce T E 24 Settings Sheet Setup CONCHISION wetass nissan a E E AT A 25 Chapter 6 The Inputs Shet sicsssvecsvcicsdcasucencssessnsieersacessiusiaedesvesencvascaiedsussseneceesiseds 26 HEN Vona EA A A A ETA ee ee eee 26 INPUTS SHCCE SCCUONS nei A sedi vasaesiatl etoiondieuseiesedelas 27 TPH TS 3 COU ON Cy E E ee ceia E tece end a donee oneee end a A 28 THe se lO ces ee acta cae nce Se ce op le ner eaten eee see is anc acta aces ete ge hate oc cde 28 Inputs Sheet
51. er you ll probably want to have their company name show up in the proposal The decision making process looks like this If the test is a true statement do this otherwise do that The above intention is represented in a logical formula of the following format IF TEST result if test 1s true result if test 1s false 66 99 where the commas break up the returned values An example Excel formula is I f CustType Commercial CustCompany wir In the above formula we re testing to see if the CustType is Commercial If it is the result of this formula will be the company name CustCompany If not it will be blank or no text See http office microsoft com en us excel HP052011411033 aspx for more information on Excel s logical functions OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 0 Tip When using logical functions you can simplify your formulas by using boolean values true or false Example In the Boolean section on the Names sheet look for the name Commercial If the customer type is commercial the cell will equal true and will otherwise equal 0 false Using the boolean name we can say F Commercial GuceCompamy Instead of eae lmiGusulhyoc Commercial CustCompany Adding amp Removing Printable Pages You can add and remove sheets and printable pages from the Proposal Workbook To add a sheet to an Excel workbook In Exce
52. ere is that instead of typing 117 S Mary Ave throughout your proposal templates it can be entered in a single cell by the Tool with your templates automatically reflecting the entered data wherever CustFullSiteAddr appears The actual CustFullSiteAddr cell is in the Proposal Workbook s OnGrid Names sheet In this sheet you ll find over 900 pieces of Tool derived data The data is organized loosely along the lines of the Inputs sheet sections in the Tool customer info rate info etc Youll find the label CustFullSiteAddr in the OnGrid Names sheet s second section titled Customer Info The actual data is one cell to the right of the label If you select the cell containing the data by default 117 S Mary Ave and look at the name box which is above the sheet to the left of the formula bar you ll see that the cell is named CustFullSiteAddr If your formula bar isn t visible Excel 2007 PC In the ribbon click View and then check the box for Formula Bar in the Show Hide section Excel 2003 PC amp Excel 2004 Mac In the menu click View and then select Formula Bar you might need to click the down arrow at the bottom of the list to see the Formula Bar option OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 73 CustFullSiteAddr Je 117 So Mary Ave 30 B C D E Vendorlnfo Sustomerlnfo MainRatelnfo 5 oSystemVariables Prici
53. for download at http www cutepdf com Ai Once a pdf maker is installer on your computer you can select it as your printer when printing a proposal within the Tool Excel 2007 users The version 4 OnGrid Tool isn t currently compatible with the free Excel 2007 Adobe pdf add in Until it is compatible your only option for creating pdf files of OnGrid proposals is to use a separate pdf maker as discussed above xk d f We don t endorse or warrant any 3 party software nor do we assure its performance OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 60 Pri nt Printer Name Er CutePDF Writer Properties Status s CutePDF Writer PEE ae Fax Find Printer ke yg HP Deskjet 3820 Where g HP Photosmart C7200 series Comment rT HP Photosmart C7200 series fax _ Print to file Microsoft Office Document Image Writer J Frint range Copies All Number of copies C Page s Erom Print what Collate Selection Entire workbook Active sheet s Table E Ignore print areas The pdf makers installed on your computer show up as printers in the print dialog box Adjusting Print Resolution on the PC On the PC printouts and pdf files of OnGrid proposals look best at Normal or 300 dpi resolution With a resolution higher than this the edges of proposal pages might get cut off or extra blank sheets and or sections show up here and there within the proposal Also with a higher resolution pr
54. ge is omitted in this version of Excel However you can have both Excel 2004 and Excel 2008 on your computer simultaneously if you prefer to use Excel 2008 for non OnGrid purposes OnGrid anticipates compatibility with upcoming Excel 2010 2011 for Mac assuming that VBA will be reintroduced in this version OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 2 OnGrid Tool User Precautions and Security OnGrid Disclaimer Please note that the license and user agreement contain specific language that limits OnGrid s liability relating to the use of this Tool The Tool is designed to provide an illustration of the possible benefits of owning a solar system but makes no guarantee of performance All estimates and calculations should be confirmed with other sources All information relating to tax benefits should be discussed with a qualified tax professional relating to the appropriateness and applicability of any of the information provided to a particular situation Neither the Tool nor OnGrid Solar provide any tax advice and we are not qualified tax professionals Tool Data Accuracy We recognize that without accurate data the OnGrid Tool will serve limited value We take the accuracy of data very seriously However factors such as tax rulings and treatment product ratings and specifications state incentives and utility rates are constantly changing sometimes without notice If you notice something that appears out of date please notify us at andy
55. h amount directly into the starting and ending rate cells If your customer s utility or rate schedule isn t on the list and you know your customer is paying a flat rate of 0 17 per kWh for example type in 0 17 for the starting and ending rate Be aware that most rates are more complicated than this they might include customer charges minimum charges time differentiated rates demand charges etc If your customer s rate involves any of these complications and your goal is an in depth analysis we recommend that you avoid entering a kWh amount directly OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 31 107 ruo 109 110 111 112 113 UO 109 110 111 107 ELECTRIC RATES amp USAGE Utility Name You can enter a kWh amount directly in the starting amp ending rate cells 4 2 3 Starting Current Rate Schedule T ariff Ending Future Solar Rate Schedule T ariff Another option is to create a formal user defined rate i e UD rate Not only does the UD rate feature facilitate complicated rate schedules but will also allow you to use your UD rates for future customers UD rates are saved into the Master File To access the UD rate form put the Electric Rates amp Usage section in level 2 or 3 and click on Add or Review User Defined Rates ELECTRIC RATES amp USAGE View Electric Rate Detail eal eae a Utility Name Starting Current Rate Schedule Tariff Residential Tiered kWh Ending Future Sola
56. he lower left listbox and double click it to see the printable page you created on that sheet 5 In the upper right listbox click on lt new template gt If you only see lt new template rename me gt rename or delete that proposal to make the option lt new template gt available 6 After selecting lt new template gt add the new page to the empty proposal by copying it from the lower left listbox to the lower right listbox select the page and press the right arrow key on your keyboard 7 Give the proposal a brief descriptive name Use a labeling system that you ll be able to make sense of six months from now Now that the Tool knows about our new page we re ready to see a print preview Instead of looking at the Template Form s print preview with default customer info let s see a preview with real data 8 Close the Template Form and click the link Print Proposal at the top of the Inputs sheet or press Control and the letter p on your keyboard the latter is an OnGrid shortcut for quick proposal printing See Printing Proposals in chapter 10 for a review of proposal printing 9 Double click the new proposal template to see a proposal preview loaded with the customer data currently in the Tool Coneratulations you ve successfully created your own custom proposal template g y y y prop p Chapter 13 Designing Custom Document Pages The process for designing new do
57. header design is up to you you ll always need to include three pieces of information e Your name e Your company s name e One of the Tool s four standard copyright notices Optional header info includes but isn t limited to e Page numbers OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 64 Logo Date amp time Customer contact info Solar electric system info Customizable text you choose To open the Header Form go to the Proposal Workbooks section on the Settings sheet Click on Proposal Header Design amp Review which is right below the Template Form link Two areas in the Header Form loosely resembles a printed page with five lines in the left center right header and three lines in the left center right footer When a proposal using this header style is printed information appearing in the header and footer lines on this form will appear in the same place on the actual print out OnGrid Tool Proposal Header amp Footer For Long 4 gt Delete This Header Go to Template Form Print Preview CLOSE up to 20 Header Salesperson Name Required Vendor Name Required Salesperson Work Phone Label Options Current Selection Salesperson Name _ Requi Ship Full User x 2 Vendor Name Required Acme Solar 3 Copyright Vendor and or OnGi Acme Solar and or O Info Page 1 Font Margins Left Right Auto Align Align 2 Logo 4 C
58. heet and entering your customer s data Lite View As you may have already noticed there are a lot of details you might consider when sizing and pricing a solar electric system in the OnGrid Tool But some details are more important than others You have the option of using the Tool in Lite View this hides the less relevant variables and brings key variables to the foreground Once you ve become familiar with these basic entry points you ll want to go to the full view Your Tool copy might already be in the lite view You can find this out by looking at the header of the Inputs sheet If it says OnGrid Tool LITE in row 2 your Tool is currently in the lite B C D r OnGrid I OnGrid Tool LITE You can toggle back and forth between the lite view and the full view by clicking the link at the top of the Inputs sheet that says either Convert to Full View or Convert to Lite View Your data isn t affected when you switch views 8 g OnGrid Tool v4 2009 OnGrid Solar 10 Ship Full User 11 Acme Solar If you intend to use the Tool in the lite view when preparing actual bids we strongly recommend you first put the Tool into the full view and expand all sections to level 3 explained in the next section Take some time to consider the different variables Then once back in the lite view you ll have a better idea of what variables you re not adjusting from one project to the next Make sure your Tool is in th
59. hout we recommend that you view this user manual electronically This manual is oriented towards the fully licensed user of the OnGrid Tool Although many segments are also relevant to the demo user some information doesn t apply OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 4 Chapter 2 OnGrid Tool Suite Overview Document Wkb Master File Proposal Wkb Tool settings print documents save user data print proposals save amp load customer data Customer Database OnGrid Tool The OnGrid Tool file is where you l be most of the time It s where you enter customer data review results and print proposals amp documents It contains the engine that performs all the production and financial calculations The OnGrid Tool will be referred to as the Tool hereafter Although you ll have at least six different OnGrid files on your computer after installation the only file that you ll normally need to open is the Tool The Tool is the interface with which you can access all other OnGrid files From within the Tool you ll be able to enter your customer data and print out automatically complied proposals and documents immediately upon completing the installation We d recommend that you get acquainted with the Tool before opening other OnGrid files OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 Default file name OnGrid Tool xls Master File Your user data is saved into the Master File User data is all data y
60. inancial analyses We hope you ll find other benefits to using the OnGrid Tool many of which will be discussed below While we have tried to make the OnGrid Tool as straightforward and intuitive as possible it takes time and effort to learn how to get the most out of it There are a substantial number of variables that go into designing and pricing a solar energy system Proper use of the OnGrid Tool requires the ability to recognize assess and accurately reflect these numerous variables Hopefully with the use of this manual and the OnGrid Tool conference calls you ll quickly gain the understanding you need to master the OnGrid Tool We greatly appreciate your interest in the OnGrid Tool and look forward to helping you master it Determining Your Excel Version Because we occasionally refer to specific Excel versions in the user manual you ll need to know which version of Microsoft Excel is on your computer before continuing To find out which Excel version you have On the PC Open your copy of Microsoft Excel Look at the upper left corner of the Excel window If it has a circle containing the Office logo you re in Excel 2007 Otherwise you re in Excel 2003 or earlier Wa sc Ra A circle in the Excel _ Home window s upper left corner means you re in Excel 2007 A OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 1 If you re in Excel 2003 or earlier click on Help in the Excel menu and then click on A
61. inting can be dramatically slowed With a lower resolution qualify suffers To adjust the selected printer s or pdf maker s resolution first create a print preview of an OnGrid proposal In the print preview window click Print to access the print dialog box Select your preferred printer or pdf maker and then click Properties Print Printer ene properties oo crue ate nctiy z to adjust the active iias Idle rr printer s or pdf Type CutePDF Writer maker s print Where CPW2 resolution Comment Print to file After clicking Properties a dialog box specific to your printer or pdf maker will appear Somewhere in that box you ll have the option of adjusting the print resolution The following OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 61 example of this process is specific to the CutePDF Writer dialog boxes for other printers and pdf makers will look a little different To adjust the print resolution for the CutePDF Writer click Advanced Then under Print Quality set the print resolution to 300 dpi for optimal printing results ss ADDE Wiritoa NE f a ortic mron pats ig ig a iain _ perm B CEON NOE CutePDF Writer Advanced Options Paper Quality i CutePDF Writer Advanced Document Settings ay Selection Paper Source Automatically Select X a Pa ee ee Paper Size Letter Color O Copy Coy nt 1 Copy lt a i Graphic Black amp White Color b gt ERST
62. inverter type number of inverters and number of array sections Module amp Inverter Pricing In the main table at the top of the Pricing sheet you can separately price the variety of physical components and other elements that constitute a solar electric system As a first step in setting up your automated pricing let s consider adjusting module and inverter costs In the header of the Pricing sheet click on Module Inverter Pricing B C D System Pricing Module Inverter Pricin In the form that appears yov ll notice your preferred modules any module you add to your preferred list in the Inputs sheet System Sizing section will show up in this module pricing form In the list of modules select a module to adjust its cost Looking in the upper left corner of the form you ll see you have the option of changing the module s cost per watt or the cost per OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 42 module unit Change one and the other will change accordingly do whatever s more convenient Along with entering your cost you can enter your markup for this module markup being the amount above your cost you re selling it to your customer for The module specific markup is optional You might prefer to enter 0 for the markup and instead enter your total system profit and overhead directly on the Pricing sheet OnGrid Tool Module amp Inverter Pricing Pricing Defaults Module Pricing I
63. ize we recommend you toggle between the Header Form and the Template Form double clicking the appropriate proposal template in the Template Form to see if the header font size seems right relative to the template page s other content When going between the forms it s quicker to use the GoTo buttons at the top of the forms rather than closing the form and clicking the other form s link on the Settings sheet Overriding Page Margins Page margin settings encompassed in Microsoft Excel s page setup properties determine how the header and footer is positioned relative to the page s main content and its edges Page margins also determine how close the page s content gets to the page s edges Another useful feature of the page setup properties is the page scaling The scaling percentage determines how much content will fit on a single page and how big the content and the header appears sort of like the zoom feature for the spreadsheet itself OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 67 To get your proposals formatted properly you might find it necessary to adjust one or more of the page setup properties You can either adjust these properties directly from the Header Form under the multipage s Margins tab or from within the Proposal Workbook discussed in Page Setup Properties in chapter 12 By default page setup properties for your proposals aren t overridden in the Tool That is to say the print preview use
64. l 2007 PC Click on the little tab to the right of the current sheet tabs at the bottom of the window In Excel 2003 PC and Excel 2004 Mac Click Insert in the menu and then click Worksheet View Insert Format Tools Data Columns Consider giving new sheets a more distinct name such as Acme Proposal 1 if your company was named Acme Solar You can change the sheet s name by double clicking its tab at the bottom of the window OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 1 The Proposal Workbook has a feature that will help you quickly create new proposal pages It s called the Page Maker Before we can add a new proposal page to the sheet we need to confirm that the Page Maker is on To do this go to the Proposal Workbook s Settings amp Support sheet Under Settings youll see the link Print Area Maker If it says Print Area Maker is OFF click it to turn the page maker on Keyboard Shortcut Turn the Page Maker on and off from anywhere in the proposal wkb Control t toggle g Settings control t t for Toggle To add a new proposal page first identify the sheet s area you d like to include in the page Then click on the upper left cell in that area and drag down to the lower right cell you drag by holding down your mouse s left click button and moving the cursor towards the lower right cell not letting go until your cursor is over the target cell
65. labor line item encompass the fake owl labor there are many ways to approach system pricing Moving Copying amp Removing Line Items If you want to remove an item from a row click the 1tem s description in column D and press Delete on your keyboard To move a line item from one row to another first select the line item s description cell in column D Then cut the cell select the blank description cell of the row you want to paste it to and paste on your keyboard press Control and the letter x to cut press Control and the letter v to paste OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 45 If you d like to copy the line item rather than move it copy the line item s description cell instead of cutting it on your keyboard press Control and the letter c gt Attention Mac Users When copying and pasting line items be sure to use the Control key not the Apple key Pricing Adders To complement line item costing you might also want to cost your systems based on how they differ from the norm For example let s say your company typically installs on composite roofs but occasionally installs on spanish tile roofs Assuming composite roofs are easier to install on than tile roofs you ll probably want to charge extra for tile roof installations By default the Tool is set up so that if you select spanish tile as the roof type on the Inputs sheet an extra 1 w is added to the system cost We call these addi
66. n s work phone Salesperson s cell phone Salesperson s fax Salesperson s email Salesperson s website Vendor Company Name Vendor street address 1 Vendor street address 2 Vendor City Vendor state Vendor zip Vendor main phone Vendor alternate phone Vendor fax Vendor main email Vendor website Vendor state license Vendor state license types Z Vendor CEC ID if applicable Vendor certifications Notice in the User Key form that your user name vendor name and city aren t editable If you d like to change one of these things please fill out our online sign up form with your new information http www ongrid net payback signup html and send us an email letting us know you d like a new key andy ongrid net If you re changing your user name or vendor name please also fax a signed license agreement with your new information available through the cited link Managing OnGrid Files The Tool is constantly accessing the Customer Database to load and save customers And it s constantly accessing the Proposal Workbooks and Document Workbooks to print proposals and documents The Tool refers to the Settings sheet to get the names of the files and where they re located on your computer If you ever change the name of an OnGrid file or move it to a different folder you ll need to indicate the change on the Settings sheet This can be done through a form accessed by clicking the Add or Remove li
67. n tier two or higher after solar Why cccccccsssssseececceceeeeeeseeeeeees 87 Q4 Why can t I just enter the annual available sunlight after shading as a percentage of the FOU Wy TE POMN SACS E E A E EE E coe aia E VEE PA SAAT NE AE AE eet ET 88 Q5 The loan timeline doesn t make sense to me What are your assumptions for it 88 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 Chapter 1 Introduction Solar energy systems have many positive benefits for the environment and local communities It s becoming increasingly obvious that for many situations solar also has good or oftentimes outstanding financial benefits These financial benefits are not yet obvious to many people The primary purpose of the OnGrid Tool is to help solar representatives accurately demonstrate the financial benefits a customer can expect for her particular solar energy system The OnGrid Tool is designed to do as many of the calculations as possible and automatically prepare the related proposals so that the Tool user can spend more of her time getting leads doing site visits and getting contracts signed Another purpose of the OnGrid Tool is to help solar representatives design the optimal system for the customer whether it be a system that offsets the customer s entire electric bill or a system that fits a limited roof space or meets a customer s budget etc As you ll see the design process is inherently linked with the development of accurate f
68. ng Financial RateDetail Date Added Default Name Value CustSiteStateLong California CustSiteZip 94087 CustFullSiteAddr 117 So Mary Ave 30 l CustFullSiteCityStZip Sunnyvale CA 94087 So when you type CustFullSiteAddr into a cell in a proposal page you re creating a formula that says the cell s value is equal to the content of the particular named cell on the OnGrid Names sheet There are two ways to refer to a name in a cell In either case you ll first need to select the referring cell The first way is to type the equal sign followed by the applicable name The second way is to type the equal sign and then click on the cell you re referring to after activating the referred to cell s sheet if it s on a different sheet than the referring cell init OnGrid Proposals 2 Compatibility Mode D E no 126 9 127 10 128 Utility PG amp E 11 129 UtilityLong Pacific Gas 4Electric 12 130 UtilityState CA 13 Utility Company UtilityLong 131 UtilityTariffStarting PG amp E E1 14 132 TariffStarting E1 15 133 UtilityTariffEnding PG amp E E6 16 134 TariffEnding E6 17 135 RateCustType Residential 18 136 RateEndCustlype Residential 19 137 RateDescription Residential Tiered 20 138 RateEndDescription Residential Tiered TOU ral BPO Ee ee LOE te s a y hs M n P M 4 gt gt OnGrid Names Short Medium Lon JM IEH M 4 gt Long Timelines Sheet1 434 One wa
69. nia the CSI module amp inverter list is extensive The modules and inverters eligible for your state s incentives should be on the list Please let OnGrid know if they aren t OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 34 To add a module from the full list to your short list On the PC gt Option 1 Select the module and press the right arrow key on your keyboard gt Option 2 Click and drag the module from the left list to the right list On the Mac gt Option 1 Select the module and press the right arrow key on your keyboard gt Option 2 Click the right arrow button between the two lists after selecting the module To delete a module from your short list select it and press Delete on your keyboard This same logic applies to adding inverters Access the inverter page on this form by clicking the Select Inverters tab at the top of the form Also in this form click the Module Dimensions tab to enter the height width and weight of the modules on your short list This is optional With the correct dimensions entered the surface area needed for the array is calculated and shown in the System Sizing section of the Inputs sheet level 3 in full view You ll also want to have the correct dimensions entered if you intend to relay dimension info to customers in custom proposal template pages custom template page design discussed in chapter 12 Adding User Defined Incentive Programs Before looking at incentives make su
70. nk in the applicable section located below the list of files In this form you can also make OnGrid files available for use in the Tool by either selecting them from a location on your computer or downloading them from internet OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 17 As an example let s say you want to work with two different Customer Databases in the Tool one for each county you work in Currently our Customer Database name is OnGrid CustData xls In our example this database has Fresno county customers You could indicate this by changing the file s name outside of Excel Since you re going to have more than one Customer Database you might want to create a folder within the default OnGrid Files folder called Customer Data Example file tree in Windows Vista Example file tree in Mac OS X y OnGrid Files kd T Customer Data OnGrid CustData Fresno County xls l E Or L Solar OnGrid Files Customer Data rrm mi ii fat oo Fah d rR ay ganize Y VIEWS ka G Burn z Name a _ Type OnGrid CustData Fresno County XLS File To add a new Customer Database for customers in the other county you d click on Add or Remove Customer Database 71 Customer Databases f2 File Name Location on Computer or Server T3 1 OnGrid CustData xls OnGrid Files Solar Desktop Bishop UsersiC T4 2 To 3 16 4 Tf 5 T8 Add or Remove Customer Database In the form that appea
71. nverter Pricing BP Solar BP3220N Close 3 50 Cost per STC Watt Module Specific Adders optional Module Rating 9 9 770 Cost per Unit 720 STC Watts Labor STC Watt Materials STC Watt 0 Labor Unit 0 Materials Unit 5 00 Markup as Your Short Module List per STC Watt per Unit Markup Adders STC Watt BP Solar BP3220N 3 50 770 5 00 0 0 Sharp ND 208U1 3 50 728 5 00 0 0 Some of the modules you work with might be significantly more time consuming to install than other modules This could be because they re very small and tedious to attach or are very big and require more people to move around etc With these modules consider adding a module specific labor adder in the upper right corner of the form If the small modules requires extra rails and clips or other components you might want to add a module specific material adder as well As with the general module cost you have the option of entering module adder costs on a per watt basis or per unit basis If you ve changed the cost of the currently active module or inverter in the form you ll see that change reflected in the module line item or inverter line item on the Pricing sheet Note that unlike other costs module and inverter costs can t be adjusted directly on the sheet only in the form Line Item Description i 3 STC W The active module s cost entered in the form is reflected on the Pricing sheet Modules A
72. ocuments both for the customer herself e g sales contract introductory letter and for third parties such as utilities net metering agreement rebate application Like with the Proposal Workbook documents can be modified directly in the Document Workbook but can only be printed out from within the Tool Default file name OnGrid Documents xls Pade tem ot California Solar teitatve Progam P TAY Mto Sage fesersation egasi form sre zagar Contract 0 Xcel Energy a toes r SMALL GENERATION SYSTEM INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT 10 kW OR LESS Interconnection Agreement Terms and Conditions Ths Small Generation System interconnection Agreement 1D kv o less Ageemert is made and emered ino this d y ol 20____ by and beeen PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF COLORADO dibla Xcel Energy a Cokeado Comeoration having a mating address of P O Box 840 Denver Colorado 80201 hereinafter referred to as Company and Jack Sun a Customer whose service address is 117 So Mary Ave 830 Sunnyvale Colorado Customer s mailing address is T7 So Mary Ave 30 Sunnyvale CA 94087 WITNESSE TH WHEREAS Compary it a public uskty engaged in the business of generating transmitting and distributing electric power and ermegy to vatious areas in the State of Cokeado under the Retes Mules and Meguistione of the Company s Electric Partie Electric Taris which ore om Fe with eed eubjren to the puideron of the Public Unites Commincion
73. om levels file backup schedules etc Inputs sheet defaults Custom data on the Inputs sheet and blank sheets Custom proposals documents and proposal header styles User defined rates amp incentives OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 14 e Preferred modules amp inverters e Pricing data entered on the Pricing sheet Customer Data e Inputs sheet data customer contact info electric usage site variables etc e Shading sheet data e Customer notes entered on the customer notepad Whenever you save Tool data you ll be asked whether to save user data Master File or customer data Customer Database or both To access the save form In Excel 2007 PC Click the circle in the upper left corner of the Excel window and then click Save In Excel 2003 PC amp Excel 2004 Mac Click File and then Save in the Excel menu OnGrid Tool Save Options A form with multiple save options appears when the user clicks Save If you re ever in doubt as to whether you ve changed user data or customer data or both select Save User amp Customer Data on the form And you might find it more practical to always save both types of data although this takes a little extra time and gives you less control over what s saved Keyboard Shortcut To save Tool data Control s Save OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 15 Chapter 5 The Settings Sheet The options on the Settings sheet make a big impa
74. on regarding proposals Keyboard Shortcut To print documents from anywhere in the Tool Control p print OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 71 Chapter 12 Designing Custom Proposal Pages We ve created tools that will help you incorporate custom template pages into an OnGrid Proposal Workbook and utilize the OnGrid Tool s wide variety of calculated data In this chapter we ll review those tools as well as some basic Excel concepts that apply when creating custom proposal pages Specifically we ll discuss e How to refer to OnGrid data in custom proposal pages How to incorporate OnGrid charts into custom proposal pages How to make pages more engaging with Excel text formulas How to make pages printable from within the Tool How to modify page margins within the Proposal Workbook as opposed to in the Tool s Header Form To get a better understanding of the connection between the Tool and the Proposal Workbook create a print preview of the short commercial page recall that you can preview a single page by clicking on Proposal Template Design amp Review in the Proposal Workbooks section of the Tool s Settings sheet and then double clicking on the page you want to view After looking at the short commercial page in the preview window find it in the actual Proposal Workbook You can quickly open a Proposal Workbook by clicking directly on its name in the Proposal Workbooks section of the Tool s Settings shee
75. ons in level 3 in full view with the view filter turned off view filter discussed in Inputs Sheet View Filter in this chapter Adjust a few of the obvious defaults As you use the Tool more you ll be able to make more nuanced adjustments to the Inputs sheet defaults OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 38 If you ve entered some random defaults on the Inputs sheet while getting familiar you ll want to reset the Tool first see Resetting the Inputs Sheet in this chapter A few obvious changes you might want to make e Customer Type Customer Information section change it to commercial if you only do commercial systems Customer Site State amp Zip Code Customer Information section State Income Tax Rate amp Sales Tax Rate Customer Information section Utility amp Rate Schedules Electric Rates section NREL Location Solar System amp Site Variables section Active Module amp Active Inverter System Sizing section After entering some of your own defaults make them permanent clicking the link Save Current Inputs as Defaults in row 14 of the Inputs sheet Reset Custom Inputs to OnGrid Defaults 14 Save Customer Data 15 Save User Data Save Current Inputs as Defaults Clear All Custom Data Sections To test out what you just did override one of your new defaults Then reset the section to see your default repopulate the cell Like other Tool settings you ll need to save user data before
76. onsumption will still be positive even with a 0 bill or minimum bill So the customer might still be in tier two or higher This is common among very large residential consumers with large PV systems OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 7 The tier graphic considers 1 The net usage after solar 2 Where the client is in the tiers after solar based on average net monthly usage Net metering is valued on a dollar basis not a kWh basis Q4 Why can t I just enter the annual available sunlight after shading as a percentage of the total without shade Plugging in an average percentage would make for an inaccurate financial analysis in any case where e A utility charges and pays a different amount for electricity during different seasons or times of day or both e The customer is on a tiered rate tiered electricity charges are applied monthly not annually e Your customer wants to see the estimated production on a month by month basis and wants to compare those estimates with actual monthly production after the system is installed In general properly accounting for shading variance over the entire year is critical to a sound analysis Q5 The loan timeline doesn t make sense to me What are your assumptions for it The Tool assumes that as a solar system owner receives tax benefits tax credits and depreciation if applicable those benefits will be put towards paying down principal on the loan Given our expectation
77. opyright Vendor and or OnG Acme Solar and or O 5 Copyright OnGrid Solar OnGrid Solar Two Header 6 Copyright OnGrid All Rights Re OnGrid Solar All Right Overall Font Name Header Font Size Footer Font Size Form areas 7 Company Logo image Arial 25 19 loosely resemble 8 Page Number 1 of 5 1 of 5 ha C Verdana gt gt the header and Calibri Personalized Caption footer of a PO Bold Header Font Bold Footer Font printed page Copyright Vendor and or OnGrid Sol Footer Clicked Box Expanded Salesperson Work Phone The Header Form The header style s name is in the upper left corner of the Header Form You can quickly see which proposals are using this header style by clicking the Go to Template Form button at the top of the Header Form the Template Form is discussed in Editing Proposal Templates at the beginning of this chapter In the Template Form the header style is listed to the right of the proposal template name Click the GoTo Header Form button at the top of the Template Form to return to the Header Form OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 65 In the Header Form you can change the name of a header style at any time by typing the new name over the old name in the upper left box As with proposal templates use a short descriptive name rather than naming them for a particular customer Adding Content to Headers Take
78. osals xls L1 07 Recommended System OnGrid Proposals xls L1 08 Usage with Solar OnGrid Proposals xls L1 09 Costs and Incentives OnGrid Proposals xls L1 10 Payback OnGrid Proposals xls L1 11 Resale Value OnGrid Proposals xls L1 12 Cash Flow OnGrid Proposals xls L1 13 Cash Flow Graphics OnGrid Proposals xls L1 14 IRR OnGrid Proposals xls Short worksheet Medium worksheet Long worksheet Timelines worksheet Drag Page to Right WOON DUO A O NES The Template Form accessed by clicking Proposal Template Design amp Review on the Settings sheet In the Template Form notice that the Proposal Workbook listed on the Settings sheet is in the form s upper left listbox In the lower right box you ll see a list of all the sheets in the Proposal Workbook that contain printable pages To see the printable pages on a sheet double click the sheet s name You can double click the sheet name again to rehide the sheet s pages Proposal Pages in Selected Workbook Short worksheet Medium worksheet Long worksheet Timelines worksheet Proposal Pages in Selected Workbook Short worksheet Medium worksheet Mi 1 Usage and System M1 2 Bills Costs and Incentives Double clicked on Medium to see printable pages on the sheet M1 3 Environmental and Investmer M1 4 Cash Flow Mi 5 Resale Value and Payback Long worksheet Timelines worksheet OnGri
79. ot 4 Spot 3 4 Spot 4 Spots Spots b Spots Spot 4 mm qo m Jump to User Defined Insolation OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 51 Averaging Shade Data in the Tool Rather than loading an property average file from the SolMetric or Pathfinder software you may want to bring data for the four corners of the array into the OnGrid Tool separately and then average them here This way you ll see which corners have the biggest shading issues To do this first load your four corners storing each in a Spot before loading a new one into the Active Table Once you have all four corners stored in the OnGrid Tool hit the All 4 Spots averaging button at cell Z3 to load them into the Active Shade Table You may want to take an average for less than four spots at the property In which case select the storage spots to be included at cell AD3 and then hit the Select Spots button If you d like to learn more about the Solmetric SunEye visit the website http www solmetric com To learn more about the Pathfinder shading device and Pathfinder Assistant software visit http www solarpathfinder com OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 52 Chapter 9 The Overview Sheet The Overview sheet has timelines displaying system income costs and other projections over the twenty five year analysis The timelines will give you a clear view of OnGrid calculations that can be presented in countless ways in OnGrid proposal
80. ou enter into the Tool that isn t specific to a customer see Saving Tool Data in chapter 4 for elaboration The Master File also contains OnGrid data such as rates and incentives You ll never need to open the Master File directly think of it as a black box Default file name OnGrid MasterFile xls Customer Database All customer data is stored in an Excel workbook called the Customer Database There s no need at this time to open the Customer Database directly it s accessed from within the Tool Default file name OnGrid CustData xls Proposal Workbook When you ve finished entering your customer s data in the Tool you ll probably want to print out a proposal The Proposal Workbook contains a variety of proposal pages that can make up a proposal It s accessed from the Tool within the print process You can open the Proposal Workbook directly to modify pages and add new pages covered in chapter 12 Default file name OnGrid Proposals xls te P LD a Sa a SET G DSE Er eged t present A personalized solar electric analy sis for Jack Sun and Jill Sky 408 IHI 1911H 405 222 22220 408 333 3393x333 Cong 5 y Ave 30 Suneyvale CA 94057 2 6 kW Residential PV System OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 6 Document Workbook The Document Workbook is structured similarly to the Proposal Workbook but without charts and financial timelines It contains d
81. p Site Variables Mnemonic enter the array T ilt in this section M System Sizing Mnemonic select the M odule type in this section I Incentives Mnemonic I ncentives D System Pricing amp Results Mnemonic DJollars TOGGLE SECTION LEVEL Press Control and the applicable letter above TWICE to change the level of the Inputs sheet section This toggles the section between level 2 where you ll usually want to be and level 0 minimized SET LEVEL OF ALL SECTIONS Press Control and the number key 1 2 or 3 to open all Inputs sheet sections to level 1 2 or 3 respectively Press Control and the number key 0 or the grave accent to minimize all Inputs sheet sections ACTIVATE LINK Press Control and the letter l to activate the link in the selected cell s row Mnemonic L ink RESET LINE ITEM Press Control and the letter r to reset the line item Mnemonic R eset CUSTOMER NOTEPAD Press Control and the letter n to open the customer notepad from anywhere in the Tool Mnemonic N Jotepad While the Tool is active many of your standard Excel keyboard shortcut combinations are overridden by OnGrid For example while pressing Control and the letter 1 ordinarily italicizes the active cell s contents this key combo takes you to the Incentives section in the Tool The shortcut combinations are reset to Excel defaults when the Tool is deactivated If you don t want
82. p Site Variables section affect the adders Some Tool users prefer not to use the pricing adder system If that s you click the Clear Adders link at the top of the Adders section and adder charges won t be applied refer to the previous graphic Hiding amp Password Protecting the Pricing Sheet Once the Pricing sheet is set up you can keep it from prying eyes by hiding and password protecting it To do this go to the Sheet Settings section on the Settings sheet Under Pricing Sheet click on Hide amp Password Protect Pricing Sheet 156 Sheet Settings 174 Pricing Sheet 1 75 1 6 Hide amp Password Protect Pricing Sheet 17T Show Pricing Info on Inputs Sheet In the password form that appears enter a private password twice and a secret question amp answer the latter because OnGrid won t recover lost passwords After clicking OK in the form you ll notice that the Pricing sheet is no longer visible At the same location on the Settings sheet click Show Pricing Sheet to enter your password and make the Pricing sheet visible again Ideally you shouldn t need to access the Pricing sheet very often after setting it up Be aware that even though you ve hidden the Pricing sheet pricing information still appears in the System Pricing amp Results section on the Inputs sheet which you may or may not consider confidential To hide the info on the Inputs sheet as well click
83. position Shingle roof Then your revised formula would be We intend to install your array at the same orientation as your roof which is amp amp up from horizontal We d mount it on the roof side facing amp amp We ll use the optimal mounting strategy for your Gog ae You can find these three names and hundreds of related names on the Names sheet OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 79 A great way to learn more about creating formulas is to peruse the formulas in the OnGrid template proposals Feel free to copy and paste the formulas you like into your own custom proposal pages If you re really enthusiastic about creating your own proposals consider getting a book We like books written by John Walkenbach such as Excel 2007 Formulas and Excel 2003 Formulas To see all of Mr Walkenbach s books visit his Spreadsheet Page at http spreadsheetpage com Logical Functions Logical functions in Excel such as IF AND and OR allow your formulas and therefore your proposal text to incorporate decision making logic the ability to choose one bit of text or another based on some other condition Regarding the IF function Ideally you d want to be able to use a single proposal for all of your customers So your formulas might need to return different information for different customer scenarios For example if your customer is a business rather than a homeown
84. pplies to those using Excel 2007 or Excel 2003 on a PC as opposed to a Mac In Excel 2007 With the default Excel settings you should see a security warning between the blue ribbon and the spreadsheet itself when opening the OnGrid installer file for the first time Click the Options button Oa gr General 3 4 B 3 4 Cad a Home Insert Page Layout Formulas Data Review Security Warning Macros have been disabled Options OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 9 In the form that appears select the option for Trust all documents from this publisher and click OK Microsoft Office Security Options W Security Alert Macro Macro Macros have been disabled Macros might contain viruses or other security hazards Do not enable this content unless you trust the source of this file Note The digital signature ts valid but the signature ts from a publisher whom you have not yet chosen to trust More information File Path C Users Bishop Desktop OnGridTool_2009 11 25 xls Signature Signed by OnGrid Solar Energy Systems Certificate expiration 5 2 2011 Certificate issued by VeriSign Class 3 Code Signing 2004 CA Show Signature Detail Trust all documents from this publisher Open the Trust Center In Excel 2003 Expect to see a Security Warning form when opening the OnGrid installer file for the first time Security Warning C Users Bishop Desktop OnGridTool_2009 11 25 x1s contains
85. proposal page and then clicking on the Timelines sheet cell you want to refer to Be aware that no cells are named on the Timelines sheet so instead of having a resulting formula like CustFullSiteAddr the formula will look more like OQnGrid Timelines E12 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 75 Tip Excel s AutoFill feature will be particularly helpful when referring to the Timelines sheet Let s say you want to show your customer s avoided electricity costs throughout the twenty five year analysis avoided costs change over time because of rate inflation and module degradation It would be woefully tedious to add reference formulas to your proposal for each year of the analysis Instead enter the formula for the first year something like OnGrid Timelines E12 and click enter to exit edit mode Then take your cursor to the lower right corner of the modified cell Once the cursor turns into a black cross click and drag to the right formulas will automatically fill in with QOnGrid Timelines F12 OnGrid Timelines H12 and so on through the twenty five years of the analysis 8 078 Take advantage of Excel s AutoFill feature 8 078 8 361 8 654 8 956 OnGrid Charts All OnGrid charts are available in the OnGrid Charts sheet 1 e Chart sheet in the Proposal Workbook Sprinkling charts throughout your proposals is a great way to keep your customers engaged You ll see a wid
86. puter Once the data has been exported go back to the Tool s Shading sheet and click on the header button labeled Transfer SunEye or Pathfinder Data After clicking the button read the message that pops up before hitting OK This message tells you the type of file to look for as well as the format of the file name In the window that opens after you hit OK navigate to the folder that your shading data was exported to this folder will be indicated during your shading software s export process OnGrid Tool Please select a SunEye or Pathfinder shade file For SunEye look for AverageShadina csv or Sky Shading csv For the Pathfinder Assistant lt ANameYouChose csv It can be for a solar array average or for a specific point at the property This shade file must first be manually exported from the SolMetric or Pathfinder software Refer to the SolMetric or Pathfinder user manual if you dont know how to export shade Tiles es a x OnGrid Tool gO OnGrid Shading Reports Gordo Report ExportedFiles v Search Organize Views gt iy New Folder Name Type me SkyO2FullFishEye JPEG Image Documents I a SkyO2Insolation Microsoft Office Excel Comma Separated Values File Recently Changed Sky02MonthlySolarAccess JPEG Image Desktop i a SkyO2ObstructionElevations Microsoft Office Excel Comma Separated Values File Recent Places Sky02ObstructionElevations XML
87. r Rate Schedule T ariff Residential TOU View Utility Info Add or Review User Defined Rates In the UD rate form you can enter six types of rates The button you click determines the types of data you ll be entering next Before clicking a button be sure to check the box for Same Rates Annually if your customer s rate schedule has the same rate charges year around with no distinction made between summer and winter For any rate type other than feed in you ll be able to enter a customer meter charge and a minimum charge These charges are both monthly By checking the box for demand charges youll be able to enter demand charges after clicking a button OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 32 Rate Types Tiered Rate non TOU Time of Use Rate non Tiered Tiered Time of Use Rate Feed In Tariff non TOU TOU Feed In Tariff gt Basic A basic rate has a flat kWh charge gt Tiered By saying a rate is tiered we mean that as your customer uses more and more electricity over a month the marginal electricity used will get more or less expensive So the utility might say that the first 5 00kWh cost 0 10 each and all remaining kWh cost 0 20 each If your customer used 1 000 kWh in a month her total bill under the tiered rate structure would be 150 500 x 0 10 500 x 0 20 gt Time of Use Under a time of use rate electricity 1s more or less expensive depending on the time of d
88. re you ve entered your customer s utility in the Electric Rates amp Usage section In the Tool the selected utility determines the default incentive program Now scroll down to the Incentives section on the Inputs sheet If you selected a utility in the Electric Rates section that was made available by OnGrid as opposed to a user defined utility you should see the right program in the Incentive Program cell If you selected a user defined utility or a state average above you ll see no default program in the cell If you see no default program for the incentive program you have two options Similar to the Electric Rates section you can enter incentive information directly into cells in the Incentives section So if you know your customer will get a 2 per STC watt rebate and no other state incentives you might want to just type 2 into the rebate cell 386 2 00 per Watt Rebate per STC Watt This customer would receive 2 per STC Watt the rating type basis can be adjusted in the Tool If you use an incentive program made available by OnGrid the rebate rating type STC watts PTC watts CEC watts is automatically set If row 376 says no default program and you enter incentive info directly into cells the rebate rating type is based on the rating type entered in row 326 of the System Sizing section If you create a user defined incentive program the rebate type is selected on the incentive p
89. represents the portion of the customer s tiered charges that will be offset by solar the avoided amount of tiered electricity Note that electricity in the highest tiers the most expensive 1s offset first See the manual s FAQs for a more detailed explanation of this chart Inputs Sheet View Filter Having the Inputs sheet in lite view is an excellent way for new users to ease their way into the Tool And the lite view can also be useful for veteran users running initial call screens However don t expect to create a solid analysis for your customer 1f you don t consider the variables available only in the full view While we encourage the full view we understand that many of the full view variables aren t applicable to particular customers For example 1f you only intend to install one array there s no need to have data entry cells for a second array Unless you specify two arrays the second array info is useless clutter This is where the Inputs sheet view filter comes in The view filter hides information irrelevant to your customer while allowing you to stay in the full view making a robust analysis possible OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 29 With the view filter A Number of Arrays 1 or 2 Array Orientation Slope of Array up from horizontal 254 255 256 257 258 263 264 Jump to Shading Without the view filter Number of Arrays 1 or 2 Array Orientation Slope of Array up from horizontal
90. review you ll need to change the logo s size in the actual logo file itself using a graphics editor outside of Excel In the graphics editor open the logo file make it bigger or smaller save amp close the file and reselect it from within the Tool s header One popular and free Mac graphics editor is Paintbrush Header Company Logo image Company Logo image Salesperson Name Required Vendor Name Required Company Logo image Salesperson Work Phone Company Logo image Company Logo image Ship Full User Canada Acme Solar aly 123 123 1234 looks better every dn OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 70 As with other header labels you can remove the logo from the header by double clicking any of the Company Logo image labels Chapter 11 Documents Document setup and printing in the Tool is similar to that of proposals The major difference is that your documents don t have headers and footers To access the document Template Form scroll to the Document Workbooks section on the Settings sheet and click Document Template Design amp Review in row 100 To print a document with your customer s data click on Print Document in row 11 of the Inputs sheet To better understand how to add new documents or reorganize the pages in current documents refer to the chapter 10 discussi
91. rogram form OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 35 Another option is to create a user defined incentive program i e UD incentive program As with UD rates a major benefit to creating a formal program is that it will be available for future customers To create a UD incentive program click Add or Review User Defined Incentives at the top of the Incentives section level 2 or 3 in full view 374 INCENTIVES o a Ea EN 376 AZ APS Incentive Program 2010 Installation Year 377 Contractor Installer STC DC Incentive Rating Type 378 379 View Incentive Program Detail Add or Review User Defined Incentives In the form that appears you ll have two incentive program options Basic and Detailed If your customer s incentive program offers a different rebate amount depending on the system size or if the program offers multiple performance based incentive periods you ll want to click the Detailed Incentive Program Notice that you can also select applicable customer types on the form Leaving a customer check box unchecked doesn t mean there are no incentives for that customer type It means that in the case of non profit and municipal customers the commercial incentives you enter would apply And in the case of affordable housing the residential incentives you enter would apply The idea is to prevent you from entering the exact same data more than once Incentive Program Customer Types Residential
92. rray it s very important to conduct a shading analysis and incorporate the results into the Tool This data should account for variations in available sunlight between different times of the day and year Go to the Shading sheet for the first array named Shading Array 1 Youll see a data table at the top of the Shading sheet surrounded by a white border Data entered into this table is applied to the Tool s system design and financial analysis Let s disregard the additional data tables below it for now The data table is designed to mimic the layout of the Solar Pathfinder a popular analog shading device December the month in which the sun is lowest in the sky is at the top of the table June the month in which the sun is highest in the sky is at the bottom Where each row represents a month of the year each column represents a half hour increment of an average day for each month The Solar Pathfinder will indicate the times of day when the solar array is shaded as an average for each month Active Shading Table Oo No Sun Wof Partial Sun T Full Sun December January hovember Octhober E oad i Sam X30 J bam 6 30 tam T 30 fam 8 50 Sam 3 50 Fam WO ilam 11 30 f i ncoo 12 30 ipm 1 30 f2pm 2 30 f pm 2 30 fdpm 4 50 f 5pm 5 30 fF bom 6 50 Latitude Tilt ears aed 1 a ee DARA DARS EARS September August Cet aed Sept 1 1 1 iL 1 1 In this data table 1 represents full sunlight wher
93. rray 1 Sharp ND 208U1 Array 2 Sharp ND 208U1 Main Pricing Section Below the module and inverter line items you should see a variety of other costing line items if you don t see anything here click Load Main Pricing Defaults in the Pricing sheet header OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 43 3 26 5 Bear in mind that the pricing defaults are only meant as a starting point for you to set up your own pricing system You can add many things that aren t currently included and remove many things that are Default line item costs are placeholders and should be adjusted Adding Line Items To add a new line item click on an empty description cell in column D and then activate the drop down list The item you want to add might be available in this drop down list If it isn t disregard the list and type your item s description directly into the cell Whether you select from the drop down list or type something in directly the row will fill with data automatically after you enter the description Line Item Description 5 Line Item Description MAIN COMPONENTS MAIN COMPONENTS shipping on Modules s Shipping on Inverters Module Shippi Shipping on Modules Shipping on Inverters MAIN COMPONENTS Shipping on Array 1 Modules Shipping on Array 2 Modules Shipping on Modules Shipping on Inverters Select a line item description from the drop down list or type your own description Adjusting
94. rs you d click the button labeled Download New Customer Database OnGrid Tool Add or remove a customer database X Download New Customer Database File Name Location on Computer or Server De _1__OnGrid CustData xls OnGrid Files Solar Desktop Bishop Users C a Select a Customer Database Change Wkb Name or Location Remove the Selected Wkb Close You d then navigate to the folder where you d like to keep the new database and click Save OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 18 xe OnGrid Tool Where would you like to save the file x gO gt Solar OnGrid Files Customer Data 5 Search ay Organize Views v F New Folder 2 A Name Type OnGrid CustData Fresno County XLS File ee Bars fe LINI Documents Recently Changed Desktop Recent Places Computer Pictures More gt gt Folders 4 i aT p File name OnGrid CustData Madera County Save as type Excel 2003 Workbook v Authors Andy Black Tags Add a tag Hide Folders Tools v Cancel Finally while the add remove database form is still open you d click Change Wkb Name or Location to indicate that the database previously named OnGrid CustData xls is now named OnGrid CustData Fresno xls and is located in the new folder called Customer Data In this example the correct Customer Databases are now indicated on the Settings sheet Notice that the folder name i
95. s Looking over the timelines before printing out proposals is a good way to catch outliers i e data that s unexpected given surrounding data For example notice in the following graphic that REC income jumps from 6 664 to 88 412 between years 3 and 4 REC renewable energy credit Something must be wrong here 17 Residential Pre Tax Analysis 18 19 Operating Savings 1 2 5 6 T 20 Avoided Electricity Purchases Annual Savings 3 139 3 280 3 743 3 912 4 088 21 REC Green Tag Income 6 731 6 698 of 972 67 535 In our example when checking the REC cells in the Incentives section on the Inputs sheet we notice that 400 was entered as the REC kWh amount for the 2 contract We accidentally entered 400 when we meant 40 After entering the right amount in the cell more reasonable numbers appear in the timeline 396 S REC Green Tag kVWh in 1st contract 397 S REC ist contract length 398 REC kWh in 2nd contract 399 S REC 2nd contract length 2014 2016 Viewing the IRR Timeline with After Tax Numbers Converting dollars to pre tax equivalents is appropriate for a residential customer s IRR analysis However looking at pre tax numbers isn t particularly convenient if you re trying to follow the basic logic of rate and incentive calculations This is why you might want select the option button for View Analysis w o Adjustment above the 25 year timeline on the Over
96. s listed backwards This is by design 71 Customer Databases T2 File Name Location on Computer or Server f3 1 OnGrid CustData Fresno County xls Customer Data OnGrid Files Solar Desktop Bishop Users C T4 2 OnGrid CustData Madera County xls Customer Data OnGrid Files Solar Desktop Bishop UsersiC 15 3 76 4 TT 5 78 Add or Remove Customer Database The same logic applies for changing the names and locations of Proposal Workbooks and Document Workbooks If the Tool can t find one of the files on the Settings sheet it will let you know by painting the row pink When you see pink click on the Add or Remove link and re select the file 71 Customer Databases f2 File Name Location on Computer or Server 3 1 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 19 At least when you re starting out you ll probably want to work with a single Customer Database Proposal Workbook and Document Workbook As you become more experienced you might have good reasons to work simultaneously with up to five of each five 1s the Tool s limit Automatic Backups Automatic backups are useful in rare cases when things go wrong This can include e Excel crashes while you re working in the Tool e you forget to save Tool data when closing e you accidentally delete your latest Master File copy or Customer Database copy e your latest Master File or Customer Database has become corrupt To avoid major loss of data we strongly recommend you take advantag
97. s the page setup properties as they are within the Proposal Workbook If you d like to override page setup properties for all pages in a proposal check the box for Override Sheet Margin Settings Info l Page 1 l Font Margins Left Right l Auto Align l Align 2 l Logo l Top 1 30 4 d Header 0 50 4 l Left 0 25 q d Right 0 85 q d Scaling 54 i Bottom 1 10 d Footer 0 50 d Override Sheet Margin Settings v The upsides to adjusting the page setup properties from within the Header Form is that you can ensure consistent margins and scaling from one proposal page to the next and you can quickly see the print preview with your tweaked settings applied by going to the Template Form and double clicking an applicable proposal The downsides are that the print preview will take a little longer to prepare and the optimal page setup properties won t be saved into the Proposal Workbook s sheets themselves instead the data is saved into the Master File Header Alignment Unfortunately every printer driver handles Excel content a little differently so what looks perfect on one computer might not look right on the next This issue is especially evident with the alignment of the header compared to the alignment of the page s main content If your header isn t lining up right in the print preview you can add spaces until it does line up properly OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 68 Ship F
98. select a Tool backup file on your computer and uncheck the types of data you don t want to load if any Then click the button labeled Load 9 Now OnGrid Tool Transfer Too Data Backup File to Load From OnGrid Tool_ BACKUP_2009 12 27_02 44PM xls Cancel Load Data to Load M File amp Folder Data Settings sheet Load Now v Custom Inputs last 15 rows of each Inputs sheet section v Pricing sheet data Select All v Custom Sheets Blanki amp Blank2 Unselect All Logo lv User Keys Don t remove User Keys already in this Tool copy lv User Defined Rate Schedules Don t remove UD rate schedules already in this Tool copy lv User Defined Incentives amp Tax Related Schedules Don t remove UD incentive data already in this Tool copy v Module amp Inverter data Don t remove component data already in this Tool copy v Proposal Page Lists Don t remove proposal page lists already in this Tool copy v Header amp Footer Styles Don t remove header styles already in this Tool copy v Document Page Lists Don t remove document page lists already in this Tool copy You can load all data or specific data from a Tool backup file Recovering Customer Data With a Backup File If your Customer Database gets lost or corrupted you can replace it with a Customer Database backup located in your backup folder assuming that you re using the automatic backup feature discussed in Automatic Backups in this chapter
99. sheet module drop down list mirrors the short list on this form To see the available modules for a particular manufacturer double click on the manufacturer s name in the left listbox Alternatively you can select the manufacturer and press Enter on your keyboard to see the manufacturer s modules OnGrid Tool Module amp Inverter Selection Last OnGrid Component List Update 1 19 2010 ex SAVE Changes amp Close CANCEL Changes amp Close Select Modules Select Inverters Module Dimensions Atlantis Energy AES SS 100 W Full Module List Your Short Module List Aavid Thermalloy BP Solar BP3220N Abound Solar Sharp ND 208U1 Advanced Renewable Energy aleo solar Alps Technology Andalay Solar Apollo Solar Energy Applied Solar ASUN Energy Atlantis Energy AES SS 100 C Drag Module Auxin Solar to Right BP Solar Brightwatts CA Solar Canadian Solar CEEG Shanghai Solar Science and Technology Centrosolar America Changzhou Nesl Solartech Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Chi Mei Energy China Sunergy Chinalight Haoyu Photovoltaic Technology Beijir Chint Solar Zhejiang CSG Pvtech To remove a module from the list click it and hit Delete on your keyboard The module amp inverter form as it appears on the PC there s an arrow button between the lists on the Mac For those using the Tool outside of Califor
100. solar thermal once Profession owns restaurant Hobbies goes to Costa Rica every year include solar vs tree info in proposal Other Green Purchases interested in electric cars Demeanor pleasant Attitude Disposition seems to really care Who else is part of this decision husband Do you want Batteries UPS or other option eee Do you want Monitoring What kind What you type in the notepad is specific to the current customer and will be saved with that customer in the Customer Database Keyboard Shortcut Keys We strongly recommend that you take advantage of keyboard shortcuts for navigating around the Tool and accessing Tool forms Your proficient use of shortcut keys will save you the tediousness of scrolling up and down on the Inputs sheet And in general will make you much less dependent on the mouse for you keyboard people We ve tried to make the shortcuts easy to remember To see the available Tool keyboard shortcuts click on the no mouse icon in the upper left corner of the Inputs sheet header OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 40 OnGrid Tool Keyboard Shortcuts Click to see useful Excel shortcuts GO TO SECTION Press Control and the following letter not case sensitive to go the applicable Inputs sheet section A Customer Information Mnemonic enter the customer A ddress in this section E Electric Rates amp Usage Mnemonic E lectric rates T Solar System am
101. t or you can open it from outside the Tool as you would any other Excel workbook In the Proposal Workbook go to the Short sheet In the upper left corner of the sheet you ll see the page that was just print previewed in the Tool Any changes you make to this page will be reflected in the print preview back in the Tool so long as you save your changes before closing the Proposal Workbook 82 Proposal Workbooks 3 File Name Quickly open a Proposal Workbook by clicking on its name o4 1 OnGrid Proposals xls 85 OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 72 OnGrid Names amp Excel Cell Reference Names In the Proposal Workbook you can set up custom proposal pages that will automatically incorporate the data of whatever customer you print a proposal for Once the custom proposal pages are created they can be used over and over again with no extra effort on your part To see how this automation works consider the following The customer s site address 1s shown on the top of OnGrid s short commercial page While the text on the sheet says an actual address 117 S Mary Ave the Excel formula bar says CustFullSiteAddr 117 S50 Mary Ave 30 sunnyvale CA 94087 CustFullSiteAddr is called an Excel cell reference name or name The cell doesn t actually contain the customer s site address Instead it has a reference to another cell that does contain the site address The idea h
102. te s name to something more distinct To do this click on the button at the top of the form labeled Change Name or Header Style of Selected Template In the small form that appears type your preferred name in the upper left box and click Close This proposal template may apply to many of your customers so don t give it a particular customer s name Instead consider using a short descriptive name based on the template s type or style OnGrid Tool Proposal Template Details Non Profits Basid Template Name CLOSE OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 58 If you don t intend to use a template in the Template Form s upper right listbox you can remove it by selecting it and pressing Delete on your keyboard If you d like to remove a page from a template select the page in the lower right listbox and press Delete When removing a template or a single page you re only removing it from the list the actual Proposal Workbook isn t affected Pages in Selected Template L1 01 Cover OnGrid Proposals xls 11 02 Letter OnGrid Proposals xls 11 03 Usage OnGrid Proposals xls L1 04 Escalation and Site OnGrid Proposals xls L1 05 Efficiency OnGrid Proposals xls To delete a template page select it and press Delete on your keyboard Pages in Selected Template L1 01 Cover OnGrid Proposals xls 11 02 Letter OnGrid Proposals xls 11 03 Usage OnGrid Proposals xls L1 05 Efficien
103. ter selecting lt new template gt notice that there are no pages listed in the lower right listbox Select a page in the lower left listbox that you d like to add to your new proposal Then press the right arrow key on your keyboard to move it from the lower left to lower right listbox Another option to move pages from the lower left listbox to the lower right listbox On the PC Click and drag the page over to the lower right list box On the Mac Select the page and click the right arrow button located between the two listboxes OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 57 After adding pages to a new template you might want to change the order with which they print After selecting the page you d like to move press the Control key and the up or down arrow on your keyboard Another option to move pages up or down 1n the list On the PC Click and drag the page up or down On the Mac Select the page and click the up or down button to the right of the listbox Proposal Templates Long Medium Short Commercial Short Residential Timelines lt new template gt Pages in Selected Template des On your keyboard press Control and the up or down arrow to move a page up or down in the page order 11 01 Cover 11 03 Usage 3 L1 07 Recommended System 4 L1 05 Efficiency 1 5 L1 14 IRR 6 11 15 Environmental After adding template pages and putting them in your preferred order you might want to change the templa
104. tes How to create your own header styles In a separate chapter we ll discuss how to modify current printable proposal pages and how to create new ones within an OnGrid Proposal Workbook Editing Proposal Templates To modify current proposal templates or create new ones you ll need to access the Template Form Do this by clicking Proposal Template Design amp Review in the Proposal Workbooks section of the Settings sheet 82 Proposal Workbooks 63 le Warne Location on Computer or Server 64 1 OnGrid Proposals xls OnGrid Files Solar Desktop Bishop UsersiC 65 2 66 3 of A 86 2 89 Add or Remove Proposal Workbook Froposal Template Design amp Review 90 Proposal Header Design amp Review OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 55 OnGrid Tool Proposal Template Design amp Review Info Hidden gt Go To Header Form Change Name or Header Style of Selected Template CLOSE j Proposal Workbooks Proposal Templates Header Style OnGrid Proposals xls Header Style 1 Medium Header Style 2 Short Commercial Header Style 3 Short Residential Header Style 3 Timelines Header Style 4 lt new template gt Header Style 1 Proposal Pages in Selected Workbook Pages in Selected Template L1 01 Cover OnGrid Proposals xls L1 02 Letter OnGrid Proposals xls L1 03 Usage OnGrid Proposals xls L1 04 Escalation and Site OnGrid Proposals xls L1 05 Efficiency OnGrid Proposals xls L1 06 How Solar Works OnGrid Prop
105. that extra principal payments will happen we make the monthly loan payments lower than they d otherwise be for a standard loan in which additional pay downs of principal are not expected So in the first month of the loan term the interest costs may be higher than the monthly payment causing the overall amount due to increase rather than decrease called negative amortization Notice that if we didn t negatively amortize the loan and a ten year loan term was selected for example the effective loan term might be more like five or six years since so much extra principal is reduced through the tax benefit payments We want to spread the fixed monthly payments out over the intended time period specified in the Inputs sheet while still putting received tax benefits towards the loan thus negative amortization at the outset The impact for commercial is even more complicated because of depreciation which is assumed to be put towards principal as the benefits are received Other things to consider when reviewing the Tool s loan timeline OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 8 1 the loss of annual tax deductions for electricity no longer purchased their bill drops so their business expenses drop so their net profit increases causing increased taxes on the difference 2 the expected income tax expense on certain solar incentive income For commercial In the loan timeline s Annual Electric Bill Without Solar line we include
106. the Tool interfering with your own OnKey events or you want the standard Excel shortcuts while using the Tool you can turn off Tool shortcuts on the Settings sheet In the Inputs Sheet section select Off for Inputs Shortcut Keys 159 Inputs Sheet 169 Inputs Shortcut Keys s Attention Mac Users In OnGrid shortcut key combos be sure to use the Control key not the Apple key OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 41 Chapter 7 The Pricing Sheet All the data on the Pricing sheet s main table is combined into a single cell of data on the Inputs sheet This cell is at the top of the System Pricing amp Results section and is labeled Base Cost per watt If you d prefer to calculate your system s base cost outside of the Tool you can override the automated pricing by entering a cost per watt directly into this Base Cost per XXX rated watt cell Or you can directly enter the System Base Cost four rows below the cost per watt cell 437 SYSTEM PRICING amp RESULTS oal 3 Base Cost per CEC rated watt 439 An Base Cost 7 07 per STC watt m Base Cost 8 17 per PTC watt Base Cost 8 55 per CEC watt 72 062 System Base Cost Of course we encourage you to use the Tool s pricing system The idea being that after you ve set up the Pricing sheet your customer s system cost will calculate automatically based on system variables you enter on the Inputs sheet such as module amp
107. the actual electric bill before solar less the deduction taken at the federal and state level plus the income tax paid at the federal level on the state tax deduction which 1s considered income at the federal level The equation logic for the first year before inflation effects Annual Bill Before Solar Annual Bill Before Solar x Combined Tax Rate Annual Bill Before Solar x State Tax Rate x Federal Tax Rate The New Annual Energy Cost line includes the average monthly electric bill after solar as well as the grid electricity expense deduction for the grid electricity still purchased after solar This amount is reduced by PBI Performance Based Incentive income and REC Renewable Energy Credit income received in that year With the OnGrid Tool defaults the PBI income is after federal tax and the REC income is after federal and state tax and after the deduction taken at the federal level for the expense of state income tax tax assumptions can be modified on the Inputs sheet The New Annual Energy Cost line is increased by the maintenance cost and inverter replacement cost if applicable for that year after tax effects The equation logic is Annual Bill After Solar Annual Bill After Solar x Combined Tax Rate Annual Bill After Solar x State Tax Rate x Federal Tax Rate REC Income PBI Income Maintenance Inverter Replacement Maintenance Inverter Replacement x Combined Tax Rat
108. tional costs adders 106 Adders Load Adder Defaults Clear Adders 107 108 109 110 ROOF TYPE 111 112 Composite 0 1 0 0 113 Composite w Flashings 0 25 114 EPDM Membrane 0 50 115 Flat Roof no Penetrations 1 00 116 Flat Roof with Penetrations 0 50 117 Foam 0 50 118 Ground Mount 1 00 119 HardiShake 0 75 120 HardiSlate 0 75 121 Metal Corrugated 0 75 12 Metal Standing Seam 0 75 123 Metal Tile 1 00 124 Roled Roofing Torchdown 125 Tar amp Gravel 0 50 126 Tile Concrete 0 75 127 Tile Spanish 1 00 128 Trellis 0 75 129 Vinyl Membrane 0 50 130 Wood Shake 1 00 Another adder example involves the slope of the array You might want to set it up so that if the array is Sloped more than y an extra amount per watt is added to the system cost where y is the slope threshold where more effort and precautions are required from your crew As with the main pricing section it s up to you what your adder dollar amounts are Your adder costs will be determined by all sorts of vendor specific factors including your company s experience with different installation scenarios and the tricks you ve got for handling those scenarios OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 46 Once you ve refined the adder costs you can go to the System Pricing amp Results section on the Inputs sheet to see the total adder costs applied to the system s base cost Adjustments to the variables in the Solar System am
109. tsceces lt decedesss cavasecuauius ois ceussvucevercseecsessauncore 71 Chapter 12 Designing Custom Proposal Pages sscccsssscccccccsssssssssssees 72 OnGrid Names oc Excel Cell Reference Names ccc arene a a ecco alowed 73 onmia By ina Cel Wa hss eer ener rie ee 75 MAPEMA ease sett cas ig E T E T E TE S 76 Editime Proposal Fonmnu la nisen a E 79 Logical UMC TONS auie e A E E dks 80 Adding amp Remoy ine Printable PAGES scons secsuwansindcndrpaacny E E Gas 81 IRC OC IIMA ONG PAG S AR arate teres castrate tears ent te ened suaue a dated ox aeabaiotmen E 83 Removin e Proposal Pane Seena AE ET E TA 84 The Generne Heddi csecvssiaactccccssunteatiandenasuousnaainndsatdse a e a 84 Pace SCID Prope ie irna a aaae telendmnataaaneaaretanaeaes 85 NOWIN EW Pan E Ea E E A E A E 85 Chapter 13 Designing Custom Document Pages ssseccceccsssccccccosscecccccsssecceccosoe 86 Frequently Asked Questions is ccsssutcascsssucucavasscccsnccedussesudcassussdeuacsanncaepesteusencnannesens 87 Q1 My customer s property is partially a residential space and partially a commercial space she has a home office How do I account for this in the OnGrid Tool ee 87 Q2 Pd like to use a time period other than the Tool s default twenty five year timeline Is PINES POS DIE acon a fais anion at ene re aia a hen ais nadie pe hone 87 Q3 I m practically offsetting my customer s entire bill but the tier graphic in the header says the customer is i
110. ual Tool copy that can be opened OnGrid Tool BACKUP_2009 12 27_03 15PM __ User data only which can only be loaded into an open Tool copy In your Tool folder delete the latest Tool copy you want to replace with the older version Then copy the FULL BACKUP file from the backup folder and paste it into the Tool s folder Finally rename it to its original name by getting rid of the FULL BACKUP lt date gt lt time gt indication When opening the Tool in the future click No in the Tool s update available prompt until you ve confirmed that the issue is resolved and please notify OnGrid if you come across an issue that prevents you from using the latest Tool version Non Tool File Updating By default you re prompted when non Tool file updates are available Customer Database Proposal Workbook Document Workbook As with the Tool your data will be preserved in the update process If you d prefer to not be notified when non Tool file updates are available select No for update notification in the File Updating section of the Tool Settings sheet If you select No you ll be able to manually update files by clicking File Updates Available in the File Updating section if they re available 104 File Updating 105 106 No File Updates Available 107 108 109 Yes Notify if File Updates are Available Versus 104 File Updating 105 106 107 File
111. ull U ser Acme Solar 123 123 1234 Jack Sun and Jill Sky Solar User Inc 4008 1141 1111 408 222 22720 405 393 39559330 usg DUyercom Left Right Auto Align Align 2 Logo 0 spaces Ship Full U ser Acme Solar 123 123 1234 Jack Sun and Jill Sky Solar User Inc 4008 111 1111H 408 222 22790 405 333 39359330 cust bu yercam Malling Address Sf Address When designing your header you might want information in the right header to be left aligned Excel doesn t have a left aligned right header capability built in so it will need to be incrementally tweaked to make it look right If you d like a left aligned right header click on the Auto Align tab in the Header Form s multipage Make sure you have at least two labels in the current header style s right header Under the Auto Align tab select left aligned for the right header Doing this will get the right header s separate lines almost aligned Finish the job by adding spaces to the individual lines in the Align 2 tab on the multipage You ll need to click the Print Preview button often in this process to see the results of your tweaks Adding a Logo You have the option of adding your logo to the header from within the Header Form or inserting it directly into the pages from within the Proposal Workbook OnGrid recommends the former as this will ensure consistent logo placement from one proposal p
112. ustom Data Sections if Oo Resets a specific section on the Inputs sheet 12 gt Reset Customer Info There might be times when rather than resetting the entire Tool or even an entire Inputs sheet section you want to just reset a single line item For many data entry cells a bullet will appear to the left of the cell if its default has been overridden Click on the bullet to reset the line Long Term Electric Rate Inflation 124 Long Term Electric Rate Inflation Data Entry Restrictions the Color Legend Enter Customer Data 1 2 Enter Data or Use Default 3 Calculated Result Don t Edit You ll notice that cells on the Inputs sheet are colored either yellow tan or green OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 37 The Inputs Sheet Color Scheme gt Yellow Cells Yellow cells contain data that s very specific to your customer such as the customer s site address For each new customer you ll want to override the yellow cell defaults or at least seriously consider doing so gt Tan Cells If a cell is colored tan it means one of three things 1 The cell s default is based on industry norms and OnGrid Solar s experience in the industry 2 The cell is blank and should be typed over at some point but doing this at the outset isn t necessary if you re only looking for a general estimate of system size and price 3 The cell has a default specific to your customer it s linked by formula to other cells
113. view sheet Doing this will only affect the numbers in the Overview sheet timeline It has no bearing on the actual customer proposal 14 View Analysis with Pre Tax Adjustment 15 View Analysis w o Adjustment 16 17 After Tax Only Payback Analysis 18 19 Operating Savings OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 53 To learn more about the pre tax versus after tax distinction refer to the OnGrid financial article http www ongrid net papers PaybackOnSolarSERG pdf OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 54 Chapter 10 Proposals After entering and reviewing your customer s data you can print out a proposal that s tailored specifically to that customer By default the Tool is loaded with several proposal templates Proposal templates contain the following 1 A template has a list of printable proposal pages in the order with which they ll be printed 2 A template has a name that will help you identify it 3 A template has a particular header and footer that contains information such as your name company name copyright notice proposal page numbers logo etc You can use OnGrid proposal templates as they are modify OnGrid templates or create your own custom templates In this chapter we ll discuss e How to add or remove pages to from a proposal template and change the page order How to create your own proposal templates How to print proposals How to modify the header amp footer of your proposal templa
114. y TH DaPtery fone 28 dmr Zun and Jili Shy Erang asie CS OIT Madagtdiser MI Badler tne 19 Erans ee CA aiT PROIECT DESCRIPTION snd MAJOR COMPONGANSh Sice bW DC STC anse se AA ARNOT Sortem ith tereokey irtis ai eataa ats thp lse kW AC CEC Et4AY Henegia Cwm SS ee stem Pricing Hetelle Mejor Sprtew Coapenents eva Devo Pase sendes tone Tar Phan eters Reb t 74 900 St Shere Carper ction HD 2OUl weds Hebde STO rosae Tee Ermes Bug Qown Propan Rebate ot n mes ssy na be pmid no the marchasor Cortrnct Price Net to Customer j can ee oe aparmi wer ing COO sat certer eating aed Initial Depock 0O cr FLOOR f BODO heita pee erdeving a materinbe 2494 f OREO teteeter m Bpriupdeinaitidt a f ESO Bosses 1000 gt aes E C Meet te Tous Time for Comptetion The weet ba be retard be Gato lar pa see dte Bes Ogrvrend ut rewervert othe tee teem ha dete we wervecimstel om Ber rection Commencement Schedule resam at umtubot be iieri u 2 Sebmar wt marcariet maarte o pa Cees m didan sedr anas oane irina berm mes Eam ban indim a iesto ad end whens aree itme Ad nionsi Wort ALLOW ANCES The teen eutsew erage ie prire a bndestet ore adaletin the ranr ertgrise a diamanna Me sten pane hatte ehatethurtvees stn omenat othoi hen setaman d omaat etree A mn 00 a D Tha qeeratinnorite y nestor Where tnem che don far quar ds dehe y ssk Ohen nter Dherr vee Retar ir User
115. y to refer to a named cell is by typing the sign and then clicking directly on the named cell This is easier if you have a second window for the Proposal Workbook as shown in this graphic see the following tip OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 74 Tip You might want to use a second window for the Proposal Workbook when creating custom proposals With a second window you can simultaneously see your custom proposal page on a proposal sheet and the list of OnGrid names on the Names sheet This makes adding names to your proposals much easier since you won t have to constantly go back and forth between the sheets To create a second window in Excel 2007 PC click on View and then New Window in the blue ribbon To create a second window in Excel 2003 PC and Excel 2004 Mac click on Window and then New Window in the menu After clicking Window you might need to click the menu list s down arrow to get the New Window option Once the new window is created resize and position the windows for optimal viewing OnGrid Timelines In your proposals you may want to demonstrate the status of your customer s solar investment over the twenty five years of the analysis For this look at the OnGrid Timelines sheet 1 e Timelines sheet in the Proposal Workbook As with the Names sheet you can make references to data in the Timelines sheet by typing the equal sign in a cell in your custom
116. you ll eventually need to go into higher levels of section detail to perform an accurate analysis you may find it more practical to work from level 1 during the initial discussion with a customer By filling in level 1 information throughout the Inputs sheet you ll get a rough sense of the appropriate system and price range for your customer If she s still interested in going forward after hearing your initial feedback you can begin entering more nuanced information in the higher levels CUSTOMER INFORMATION a 2 3 Section minimized a N Level 3 All section info hidden Everything visible Level 1 Only basic call screen info visible Level 2 Most info visible A good place to be most of the time Levels 2 and 3 show more variables Even if you intend to be in level 1 most of the time we recommend that you get familiar with the information available in level 2 and in level 3 Rather than working your way up from level to level 2 to level 3 you may find it more convenient to start right at level 3 each user will have different data entry preferences Information relevant to your customer that s only available in level 2 will eventually need to be entered to get an accurate financial analysis Most default settings in level 3 will be appropriate for all your customers and only needs to be changed in special circumstances The Header D OnGrid Tool LoanCash Flow Jack Sun and Jill Sky 8 77 kW CEC 5
117. you might prefer to adjust the page setup properties of your proposals directly from the Proposal Workbook To access these properties double click a cell in a page to show the print preview window make sure the page maker is on first At the top of the window click Page Setup or Setup From here you can adjust the properties that will affect how the pages on this sheet appear when printed from the Tool so long as these properties aren t overridden in the Tool s Header Form Viewing New Pages When a new proposal page is added to a Proposal Workbook it s available for printing within the Tool assuming that the Proposal Workbook is listed on the Tool s Settings sheet You can access the new page in the Template Form for a review of the Template Form see Editing Proposal Templates in chapter 10 The following steps walk you through the process of printing out a new proposal page from within the Tool 1 Close the Proposal Workbook save if necessary 2 Inthe Tool go to the Proposal Workbooks section on the Settings sheet and click Proposal Template Design amp Review 3 Inthe Template Form make sure the Proposal Workbook we just edited is selected in the upper left listbox Unlike the Tool file the Proposal Workbook is saved as a standard Excel file with the data contained in the workbook itself OnGrid Tool User Manual 2010 5 4 Find the Proposal Workbook sheet you added in t

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