Answer
Before a handoff, identify the current project revision, link source records, name unresolved decisions and ask the receiving team to confirm what it can use.
Use this solar project data handoff checklist when sales passes an opportunity to design, or when design passes a package to operations. It is a proposed process template for installers and EPCs. Adapt the owners and release conditions to your team; it is not an engineering approval checklist.
For the underlying data ownership and change-management approach, read why re-entering solar project data creates avoidable risk.
Identify the package before reviewing its contents
Record the project identifier, site address, sending role, receiving role, issue date and purpose of the handoff. Link the current revision instead of attaching an unexplained screenshot. State whether the recipient is being asked to assess feasibility, prepare a proposal, check a design or prepare procurement.
NASA’s configuration management guidance describes unique identifiers, controlled changes and verification. These principles inform this suggested process; NASA does not prescribe this solar checklist or endorse SurgePV.
Check the evidence that travels with each field
| Check | Evidence to include | Action if missing |
|---|---|---|
| Site identity | Project ID and authoritative address record | Confirm the intended property before using site data |
| Electricity information | Source document, billing period and units | Mark any assumption and assign an owner |
| Layout | Drawing reference, revision and review status | Ask which version the receiver should use |
| Equipment selection | Model references and selection status | Distinguish proposed equipment from a released selection |
| Commercial scenario | Model version and dated assumptions | Keep provisional figures visibly provisional |
| Customer changes | Written request and disposition | Identify outputs that need another review |
The presence of a document does not prove its accuracy. Ask the responsible role to resolve inconsistencies; do not silently choose the value that makes the package look complete.
Name the decisions that remain open
Keep a short exception record alongside the handoff. For each open item, record the question, its owner, the evidence needed and the affected output. State what work can proceed and what depends on the answer.
For example, an illustrative handoff might say: “Customer requested a different roof plane. Designer to assess the request before a revised layout is used in a proposal.” That conveys more than an unlabeled new screenshot and avoids treating the request as an approved design change.
Route structural, electrical, authority and utility questions through the responsible qualified roles. This checklist establishes a communication record; it does not settle those questions.
Ask the receiving team to acknowledge the handoff
The receiving team should confirm that it can locate the source files, identify the current revision and understand the requested next action. Where something is missing, return a specific question with an owner rather than a general “incomplete” status.
Use a short acceptance note:
- Package and revision received.
- Purpose of the next task understood.
- Open items and their owners recorded.
- Work that can proceed identified.
- Next review or response agreed.
This is a suggested acknowledgment format, not a universal release standard.
Recheck the package when an input changes
Record the changed field and its source. Identify which layout, proposal, financial scenario or procurement record may depend on it. Ask the relevant owners whether those outputs need revision, then tell recipients which previous document has been superseded.
Keep the earlier issue accessible in the project history. Do not leave two apparently current packages in separate chat threads without an explanation of their status.
Use the checklist in a software evaluation
During a SurgePV demo, bring a representative handoff and ask how the team would find its inputs, prepare its customer-facing output and handle a later change. Check the actual workflow shown before deciding which records belong in the platform and which remain in your other systems.
The resources page includes downloadable planning worksheets. Adapt a worksheet to the fields and handoffs your team actually uses.
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.
