Answer
Before entering a new solar market, define the project type you intend to sell and verify the local delivery requirements that affect it. Record the relevant authority and utility sources, responsible reviewers, customer-document changes and unresolved questions. Pilot a limited scope before widening the offer. Familiarity with one market is not evidence for another.
“Expand into a new state” is too broad to be a delivery brief. Specify the first customer segment, project type and service scope. Selling a preliminary design service raises different questions from taking responsibility for an installation or a financed customer offer.
This is a preparation worksheet for solar business owners and operations teams. It supplies questions to investigate, not local licensing, tax, electrical, permitting or legal answers.
Define what you will offer first
Write down the customer type, site type, geography and scope you intend to accept. Record exclusions and the point at which the team must refer or decline work. Include who will sell, design, review, install and support the project where those activities are part of the offer.
A narrow initial scope makes it possible to investigate actual requirements. A list of market names does not establish operational readiness.
Build a local evidence register
| Question | Evidence to obtain | Owner to assign |
|---|---|---|
| Who may perform the offered work? | Current applicable authority requirements | Responsible business and qualified advisers |
| What project submissions are needed? | Relevant authority’s current instructions | Permitting or engineering lead |
| What utility process applies? | Utility documents for the intended project | Interconnection lead |
| What equipment documentation is needed? | Manufacturer documents and applicable acceptance requirements | Technical reviewer |
| What does the customer contract promise? | Reviewed local offer and terms | Commercial and legal reviewers |
| Who handles a delivery exception? | Named escalation and response route | Operations owner |
Save the source, date checked, scope and unresolved questions beside each answer. An inaccessible document is a reason to obtain evidence through another official route, not permission to copy a rule from a neighboring market.
Localize the customer decision
Review terminology, units, currency, financing descriptions and the next step with people who understand the intended market. A translated button is not a localized buying journey if the linked form or proposal still assumes another country’s process.
Check which language the team can actually support after the sale. Align that with the offer and support handoff, rather than promising an experience the delivery team cannot provide.
For US offers, the FTC’s advertising guidance states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive and that claims need supporting evidence. This is limited US advertising context. It does not establish local licensing, permitting or utility requirements, which need their own current official sources and qualified review.
Resolve ownership before accepting the first project
Ask how a salesperson escalates an unfamiliar site condition, document request or customer term. Name the person who decides whether work can proceed and which evidence they need.
Illustrative example: a sales team recognizes a familiar project size but has not confirmed the applicable utility route. It records the question and obtains the current requirements before presenting a schedule that depends on that route. This example establishes no requirement or timeline for a particular utility.
Pilot a limited workload
Choose a scope that the available reviewers and delivery team can supervise. Record which steps required an exception, which documents were returned and which customer explanations caused confusion.
A pilot is complete when the team can explain what happened and what remains unresolved. It is not proof that every project type or location in the wider market is supported.
Decide when to broaden the offer
Review the unresolved register and the pilot’s exceptions before adding another segment or location. Update the scope, customer materials and owner assignments together.
Use SurgePV’s software evaluation worksheet to record market-specific requirements when comparing tools. Ask whether the proposed software supports the precise workflow; do not assume that a country landing page proves local compliance coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Can we reuse another market’s checklist?
You can reuse its questions and structure, but verify each answer for the new scope. Record the applicable authority, utility, manufacturer and commercial evidence instead of carrying assumptions across locations.
What should stop a new-market offer?
An unresolved requirement or delivery responsibility that materially affects the promised work should be escalated before accepting that commitment. The responsible owners must decide whether to resolve the gap, narrow the scope or decline the work.
Should every market get a new landing page?
Create a page when it can explain a real supported offer, local evidence and a useful buying path. Do not create pages that only replace a location name or imply a delivery capability the business has not established.
Sources
Primary research and reference material used for this desk-research article.
Where this fits
This article is part of SurgePV's Solar Business & Operations hub, which works through the topic from first principles to the decisions a project team actually has to make.
