SolarCleaningBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

Setting a Minimum Job Charge for Solar Panel Cleaning

A per-panel price is fair on an average roof. On a tiny system, it can turn a job into a loss. Eight panels on a garage roof take almost as long to set up for as twenty-eight on the house: load the truck, drive there, find the spigot, run the hose, set the ladder, clean, rinse, pack up and drive to the next stop. A minimum job charge is how you make sure every stop pays for itself.

The Problem With Small Systems

Before tackling the minimum, it helps to know you are quoting the right roof. Quoting From Customer Photos: What to Ask For Before You Price a Solar Cleaning covers how to confirm the size and height of a job without driving out. Once you know it is a small system, the minimum decides whether the job is worth taking at your normal rate.

Most of the cost of a solar cleaning stop is fixed. The drive, the setup and the pack-up are about the same whether there are six panels or thirty. Only the brushing and rinsing grow with the panel count. Without a floor, small jobs quietly eat into the day.

Working Out Your Minimum

There is no single right number, because it depends on your area, your drive times and your costs. A practical way to set it:

1. Time the fixed part of a stop. From pulling up to the curb to driving away, minus the actual cleaning time. Do it on a handful of jobs and take a typical number.
2. Add a typical drive. Not your longest, not your shortest. The usual gap between stops on your routes.
3. Put a cost on that time. Truck, fuel, labor, water system wear and insurance, by the hour.
4. Add a small cleaning allowance for the handful of panels a small system has.
5. Round to a clean number that is easy to say on the phone, like $120 or $150.

Then sanity-check it. If your minimum is close to what a mid-size roof costs at your per-panel rate, it may be too high and will scare off small customers. If it barely covers the drive, it is too low.

How the Minimum Shows on the Estimate

There are two common ways to show it, and either is fine as long as you are consistent:

• As a replacement. If the panel total is under the minimum, the estimate shows one line for the minimum job charge instead of the per-panel line.
• As a top-up. The per-panel line stays, and a second line brings the total up to the minimum.

The replacement approach is simpler for customers to read. The top-up approach shows the panel count, which some owners like for the record. In SolarCleaningBossPro, the minimum is a line on your service list, so whoever is quoting adds it the same way every time instead of doing the math by hand.

Does the Minimum Include Add-Ons?

Decide this once and write it down. Most owners apply the minimum to the cleaning only, then add story, steep-pitch, bird proofing, critter guard and inspection lines on top. That keeps the minimum about the trip and the setup, and keeps the extras priced for the work they involve.

If you do it the other way, where the minimum covers everything, small customers who add bird proofing may end up paying the same as those who do not, which is hard to explain. The full set of add-ons is covered in Story and Steep-Pitch Add-Ons: Pricing the Harder Solar Cleaning Roofs.

Explaining It to Customers

Most customers accept a minimum when you explain it plainly. Something like:

“We price by the panel, but every visit has a minimum of $120 because the drive and setup are the same no matter how small the system is. With your eight panels, the minimum applies.”

A few other ways to make it easier to accept:

• Offer to bundle. If they also have a ground mount or a neighbor wants a cleaning the same day, the minimum covers more work.
• Mention the plan. A small system on a twice-a-year plan still pays the minimum each visit, but it is predictable and booked without them thinking about it.
• Put it on your website. If your sign-up form or price page mentions the minimum, nobody is surprised when the estimate arrives.

Keep It, Review It

Once you set a minimum, use it on every small job. Exceptions for friends and neighbors add up fast, and a minimum that is waived half the time is not a minimum. Review it once a season, especially if fuel costs or your service area change.

A minimum is one of the small rules that keeps a solar cleaning company profitable without anyone noticing. To see how minimums, per-panel pricing and add-ons fit together on one estimate, visit the solar cleaning estimate software page.