Additional equipment and job-specific costs can be added when creating a quote through the cost buildup feature that can be found on the solver's sidebar.

Your organization's account administrators can configure default costs for the cost buildup as outlined in How do I set up defaults for cost buildup?

Install Cost Options

You will see the default cost populated in the install cost input field; the value is calculated base on your account settings for equipment pricing, base cost, labor, and margin.  The default value can also be revised for every job by clicking into the install cost field and entering a new number (on a $/W or $ basis).  

For example, to override the default install cost of $3.20/W with a value of $3.90/W, simply click inside the install cost input field, enter a value of "3.90", and then click or tab out of the field to save the value.

Without updating your organization's job cost buildup defaults, the default install cost for a job is set to $3.20/W. Here's how it looks like on the platform:

If the solar equipment used in designing the system has different defaults or there are project costs included such as labor and margin, then these will additionally be reflected in the install cost.

Cost Buildup Walkthrough

To view the cost buildup modal for a job, you can click on the 'Cost Buildup' option on the right side of the quote solver section. Here's how it looks like:

Within the Cost Buildup side drawer, you can review all pricing components, update individual and job-specific costs/margins, and add additional line items.  

Open

To input job-specific cost items using the cost buildup modal, enter costs for each line item. Once you update the pricing of a line item or add an adder, Cost Buildup is applied and used for generating any future quote during your session.

Example 

Enter the following cost items:

• Inverter cost = $0.18/W

• Module cost = $0.69/W

• Base cost = $1.90/W

• Labor = $750

• Margin = 0%

Open

All costs updated here will sum to a single Install Cost value used for generating the quote and overriding the previously defaulted install cost. As you can see below, it is also updated automatically on the Quote Solver section. 

Adding Adders to a Quote

Clicking the New Adder button with the cost buildup modal will allow you to select an existing cost item, as setup by your organization's account administrator.

Example

After clicking New Adder  Two fields will appear with a drop down menu. These are felds with pre-defined values that are set up by your organization's account administrator. The first field on the left allows you to choose from available Cost Categories. The second field on its right side allows you to choose Adder Names that fall under the first category chosen (Cost Categories).

On the example below, we choose Equipment for Cost category, and Ground Mount for the Adder Name. These has set values on your organization's Project Settings.

On the right side of the Adder Name field is the Quantity and the Amount. The default Amount and Unit ($ or $/W) are both set on the Organization's Project Settings.

The Amount and Quantity have values that can be changed as could be seen below:

All changes in adders also automatically show changes in Install Cost as displayed both on Cost Buildup and the Quote Solver section. 

These values are now applied and a quote can then be generated through the Create Quote button.

Calculating the Grand Total

The totals for each line item on the right-hand column of the modal will be summed up to equal the grand total in the bottom right corner of the modal, with project-level margin applied to all values.  

In other words: Grand Total = (Solar Equipment + Additional Line Items + Base Cost + Labor) x (100% + Project Level Margin). Refer to the Cost Buildup FAQ article for further details. 

Resetting Cost Buildup and Costs

To reset all line item costs and exit 'Cost Buildup', you can click the Reset Costs button at the top of the side drawer.  This reset all project line items to their default costs and remove any adders.  This does not update any existing quotes; but always you to reset the inputs for any new quotes.  It also allows you to return to quoting without Cost Buildup.

Related articles

Want to know more about cost buildup and it's default values? Check out the following related articles:

• Cost Buildup Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I set up defaults for cost buildup?