Designing and installation quoting for solar energy systems

• US 9,934,334 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2014
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pineapple Energy LLC
• Original Assignee: Solar Spectrum Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Pryor, Adam
• Primary Examiner(s): Mudrick, Timothy A
• Application Number:
  US14/471,181
• Publication Number:
  US 20150066442A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,314 Days
• Field of Search: 703 1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2119/06 Power analysis or power optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/13 Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/14 Marketing, i.e. market research and analysis, surveying, promotions, advertising, buyer profiling, customer management or rewards

Abstract

Methods, non-transitory processor-readable storage media, devices, and systems for improving the designing of solar energy systems. An embodiment method may include receiving, by a processor of a solar energy system design computing system, at least one of lead data or inquiry data related to a property, querying predefined data related to the property using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data, evaluating the queried predefined data to qualify the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data, and performing at least one action related to the solar energy systems based on the evaluation of the queried predefined data using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data. The method may include rendering a solar energy system design and/or transmitting to third-party devices marketing information related to at least one of a solar energy system price, a design, and installation.

Claims

1. A method for improving the designing of solar energy systems by a computing system, comprising:

calculating and pre-caching, by a processor of a solar energy system design computing system, a plurality of solar energy system designs for a group of properties;

receiving, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, at least one of lead data or inquiry data related to a property of the group of properties;

querying, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, predefined data related to the property using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data;

evaluating, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the queried predefined data and one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs to qualify the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data; and

performing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, at least one action related to the solar energy systems based on the evaluation of the queried predefined data and the one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, additional data from at least one additional data source relevant to the property, wherein the at least one additional data source includes third-party web servers, GIS, social networking services, data warehouses, and utility computing devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein performing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, at least one action related to the solar energy systems based on the evaluation of the queried predefined data and the one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs includes at least one of:

rendering, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, a solar energy system design selected from the plurality of solar energy systems designs, and

transmitting, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, to third-party devices marketing information related to at least one of a solar energy system price, a design, and installation.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, e-signable solar energy system installation contract information to a customer associated with the property based on performing the at least one action.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising auto-determining, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, a best-fit solar energy system for the property based on the evaluating of the queried predefined data, and

wherein performing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, at least one action related to the solar energy systems based on the evaluation of the queried predefined data and the one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data comprises presenting, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the auto-determined best-fit solar energy system to a customer by rendering the auto-determined best-fit solar energy system on a screen.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising presenting, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, information describing the predefined data used to design the best-fit solar energy system.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, a plurality of options or characteristics for designs of a solar energy system relevant to the property;

receiving, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, user selection inputs related to the presented plurality of options or characteristics; and

designing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the solar energy system for the property using the received user selection inputs, and

wherein performing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, at least one action related to the solar energy systems based on the evaluating of the queried predefined data and the one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data comprises presenting, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the designed solar energy system by rendering the designed solar energy system on a screen.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined data includes real-world data related to the property obtained from a plurality of data sources, wherein the real-world data includes at least one of parcel data, aerial imagery, LiDAR data, pitch, azimuth, longitude/latitude, buildable area data, electricity usage data, utility rates, tariff rates, structural data corresponding to the property, and characteristics of an area related to the property.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating and pre-caching, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the plurality of solar energy system designs for the group of properties comprises:

identifying, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, an optimal size set of solar energy system design constraint sets for the group of properties;

arranging, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, solar panels for each solar energy system design constraint set in the identified optimal size set to generate the plurality of solar energy system designs; and

storing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the generated plurality of solar energy system designs.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

iteratively placing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, modules on a roof indicated in the predefined data to generate a solar energy system design, wherein placing comprises placing the modules in regions of the roof with a next-best solar generation potential based on at least one of shading and orientation;

determining, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, whether the generated solar energy system design is buildable based on electrical engineering rules; and

storing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the generated solar energy system design.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of lead data or inquiry data is received via a website or an app associated with the solar energy system design computing system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the app associated with the solar energy system design computing system is executed on a tablet mobile device within a store.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein performing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, at least one action related to the solar energy systems based on the evaluation of the queried predefined data and the one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data comprises using, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, the predefined data with remote solar design (RSD) processes that utilize aerial photos and other raw data to generate roof models and estimate shading.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein performing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, at least one action related to the solar energy systems based on the evaluation of the queried predefined data and the one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data comprises automatically prioritizing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, leads based on the evaluation of the predefined data, wherein the leads are qualified based on information within the predefined data including at least one of house square footage, income level, house style, area regulations, purchasing trends, savings information, solar potential output, potential financial impacts of installing solar, shading, and tax incentives.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, marketing materials based on the prioritized leads, wherein the marketing materials include solar energy system price quote information based on the evaluation of the predefined data that includes savings information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the marketing materials are transmitted to a device associated with a third-party that includes at least one of a mobile device, a server, a point-of-sale device, and a scheduling device, and

wherein the third-party is at least one of a contractor, a solar energy system installing company, a handy-man, a utility company, a roofer, a builder, a power plant owner/manager, an architect, a non-profit organization, and a product delivery service.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the third-party is at least one of the utility company or the power plant owner/manager, and the marketing materials include at least one of solar incentives or offers to customers calculated to optimize infrastructure deployment, upgrades, and maintenance related to at least one of a power plant, a substation, or transmission equipment.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein performing, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, actions based on the evaluation of the queried predefined data and the one or more of the plurality of solar energy system designs using the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data comprises one of:

generating, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, promotional content that include solar energy system price quote information related to the property;

or

generating, by the processor of the solar energy system design computing system, data which can be used to generate the promotional content.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the solar energy system design computing system comprises at least one of a server and a mobile device.

20. A method for installation of solar energy systems, comprising:

receiving, at a computing device from a solar energy system design computing system, data corresponding to a solar energy system design for a building structure, wherein the received data is generated by the solar energy system design computing system based on at least one of lead data and inquiry data related to the building structure used to query predefined data related to the property that is in turn evaluated by the solar energy system design computing system along with pre-cached solar energy system designs for a group of properties to qualify the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data;

determining whether the received data includes an agreement for an installation of a solar energy system based on the solar energy system design;

rendering instructions for acquiring components of the solar energy system based on the solar energy system design in response to determining the received data includes the agreement;

rendering instructions for installing the components at the building structure;

acquiring the components of the solar energy system based on the rendered instructions by the computing device; and

installing the acquired components on the building structure based on the rendered instructions for installing the acquired components.

21. A solar energy system, comprising:

at least a solar panel mounted on a building structure, wherein the solar energy system is installed by a third-party entity in response to a computing device associated with the third-party entity performing a method that comprises;

receiving, at the computing device from a solar energy system design computing system, data corresponding to a solar energy system design for the building structure, wherein the received data is generated by the solar energy system design computing system based on at least one of lead data and inquiry data related to the building structure used to query predefined data related to the property that is in turn evaluated by the solar energy system design computing system along with pre-cached solar energy system designs for a group of properties to qualify the received at least one of lead data or inquiry data;

determining whether the received data includes an agreement for an installation of a solar energy system based on the solar energy system design;

rendering instructions for acquiring components of the solar energy system based on the solar energy system design in response to determining the received data includes the agreement; and

rendering instructions for installing the components at the building structure.