Solar installation & service project manager job description
A solar project manager owns each job from the post-sale review to the utility's permission to operate. They catch design and survey problems before install day, keep permit and utility applications moving, and give the homeowner each next step with a date.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, electrical contractors · BLS, May 2025
You'll move each signed solar contract to permission to operate (PTO). You review the site survey, get the permit set approved, file the utility interconnection application, sequence racking, module and inverter work with the Production Manager, and book inspections. Homeowners hear from you at every milestone, so nobody wonders when their system turns on.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Review each sale at handoff: site survey, roof condition, shading, main panel capacity and the homeowner's financing terms.
Get the design and permit set approved by the building department, and by the homeowners association where one applies.
File and track utility interconnection applications, and answer utility requests for revised drawings or equipment data.
Line up roof repairs, main panel upgrades or trenching before install day when the survey calls for them.
Sequence installs with the Production Manager: attachments and racking, modules, inverters or microinverters, batteries and rapid shutdown equipment.
Book electrical and building inspections, get corrections fixed fast, and send sign-offs to the utility for meter work and PTO.
Turn on system monitoring, walk the homeowner through it, and submit milestone paperwork to the financing partner.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Work the pipeline board: jobs waiting on survey, design, permit, interconnection, install, inspection or PTO.
Text or call homeowners whose jobs moved, or stalled, with the next step and a date.
Answer installer questions about attachment layout, conduit runs or a main panel that doesn't match the survey.
Check utility and permit portals for approvals, corrections and new requests.
Review failed inspections with the Lead Installer and book the fix and the re-inspection.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Days from signed contract to install: [your target].
Days from install to permission to operate: [your target].
Permit sets approved without revisions: [your target].
Jobs passing final electrical inspection without corrections: [your target].
Homeowner rating at system turn-on: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[2+] years coordinating solar, electrical or roofing projects from contract through inspection.
Knows how residential solar permits and utility interconnection work in [your state or utility territory].
Can read a plan set, single-line diagram and site survey, and catch mismatches before install day.
Works daily in [your CRM and project management software] and in utility and permit portals.
Gives homeowners plain-language updates by phone, text and email.
6. Preferred Experience
NABCEP PV Associate or PV Installation Professional certification.
Experience with battery storage and backup power installs.
Knows the NEC rules for solar, rapid shutdown and interconnection as your state adopts them.
Has handled financing partner milestones for solar loans or leases.
7. Physical Requirements
Climb ladders and walk pitched roofs with fall protection when a job needs a second look.
Lift and carry survey tools and samples up to [30] pounds.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Mostly office-based, with site visits across [your service area] each week.
Office hours: [8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday], when utilities and permit offices are open.
Busy stretches before utility program deadlines or incentive changes, with extra hours as needed.
Rooftops and attics in heat and sun during field visits.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new project manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Every project manager tracks dates and paperwork. In solar, the utility reviews each job too, and in some states its rules set deadlines you can hold it to.
Small systems get a review clock
South Dakota's small generator rules are one example. A public utility must use its tier 1 review for an inverter-based system of 10 kilowatts or less that uses lab-tested equipment. Within 3 business days, it must confirm in writing that it got the application. Within 10 business days, it must say whether the application is complete and list what's missing. Put those dates on your pipeline board and call when one passes. Source: South Dakota rules 20:10:36:31 and :33, tier 1 review.
A design change can cost the queue spot
Once a utility has the application, a change bigger than a minor equipment swap can send the job back to the start. South Dakota's rule lets the utility require a new application and take away the original place in line. Lock the panel, inverter and battery models before you file. If a change comes up, ask the utility in writing whether it counts as minor. Source: South Dakota rule 20:10:36:11, modifications.
Notice and insurance come before operation
In South Dakota, the applicant must give the utility notice before the system starts running: 10 business days for a tier 1 application. Insurance certificates go to the utility before the system first operates. For tier 1, proof of adequate homeowners or liability coverage is enough. Ask the homeowner for the certificate at signing, not after the final inspection. Source: South Dakota rules 20:10:36:05, :26 and :28, notice and insurance.
Survey gaps surface on install day
A main panel fuller than the survey photo, rafters the designer had to guess at, or a meter on the wrong wall can each stop an install. Before design starts, check that every survey has clear photos of the panel label, attic framing and meter. Send it back if anything is missing.
How much solar installation & service project managers make
The closest BLS group for solar installation & service project managers is construction managers. Construction managers who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $114,450 a year ($55.02 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $114,990 median for construction managers in all industries. About 21,840 of the 380,360 construction managers in that survey work for electrical contractors.
Often salaried. Some companies add a bonus for fewer days from signed contract to permission to operate.
Electrical contractors
$114,450$114,450 median Middle half $91,490–$144,780 10th–90th $73,110–$186,150
All industries
$114,990$114,990 median Middle half $88,550–$151,640 10th–90th $69,690–$189,440
$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k$225k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Electrical contractors
$73,110
$91,490
$114,450
$144,780
$186,150
All industries
$69,690
$88,550
$114,990
$151,640
$189,440
BLS doesn’t publish pay for solar installers on their own. These figures cover electrical and wiring contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has moved solar, electrical or roofing jobs from contract through inspection
Spots a plan set that doesn't match the survey photos
Works a long pipeline without letting an application go quiet
Writes short, plain updates a homeowner can follow
Stays polite and firm with utility and permit staff
Teach these on the job
Your utilities' portals, forms and contacts
Each building department's permit checklist
Your CRM and project boards
Your financing partners' milestone steps
Battery and backup power design basics
Most of the day happens in a CRM or project board, the utility and permit portals, and the design tool that makes the plan sets. Name your software and the utilities you file with most in the ad.
Solar installation & service project manager interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Handling panel surprises
On install day, the crew finds the main panel can't take the backfeed breaker the design assumed. What do you do?
A strong answer: Stops the tie-in, reviews options like a supply-side connection or panel upgrade with design, revises the permit, prices any change and reschedules with the homeowner.
Behavioral · Updating many homeowners
Tell me about the system you used to keep many homeowners updated while their jobs waited on permits and the utility.
A strong answer: Scheduled updates by stage with templates and personal follow-up when something moved.
This template leaves a blank beside every KPI. Fill each from recent jobs, grouped by utility and town, because each one moves at its own pace.
Days from signed contract to install
Calendar days from the signature date to the first install day, from your CRM. Split the result by permit office and utility to see where jobs wait.
Days from install to permission to operate
Days from the last install day to the utility's permission notice. Track how much of that is the inspection wait and how much is the utility's review.
Permit sets approved without revisions
Of the permit sets submitted in a month, count those approved on the first try. Keep the reviewers' comments so the designer can fix repeat issues.
Jobs passing final electrical inspection without corrections
Count finals that pass without a correction notice against all finals in the month, from your inspection log. Note whether the plans or the crew caused each correction.
Homeowner rating at system turn-on
Send a short survey when monitoring goes live and the homeowner gets the walk-through. Compare scores by project manager and read the comments about updates.
Career path
Permit or interconnection coordinatorFiles applications and tracks approvals.
Project managerOwns each job's path from sale to permission to operate.
Production managerRuns the crews that build what project managers line up.
What roof and ladder work does a solar project manager do?
Now and then they climb onto a roof in a harness to see a problem the photos missed. They also check a main panel in a garage, look at attic framing with a flashlight, and carry survey tools and samples. Say how often site visits happen, and offer reasonable accommodation.
How much does a solar installation & service project manager make?
Construction managers who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $114,450 a year ($55.02 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $91,490 and $144,780 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Who tells the homeowner when the survey changes the price?
The project manager explains what the survey found and what the options are, such as a panel upgrade or a smaller system. The price change goes through the rep or sales manager who wrote the contract, in a signed change. Keep the homeowner hearing one story from both.
What should a solar project manager do when a utility asks for revised drawings?
Send the request to the designer the same day with a due date. Check whether the change also touches the permit set or the equipment list. Answer every point in one reply, so the utility doesn't restart its review twice.
Should solar project managers split the job by stage or own it end to end?
Some companies hand permits, interconnection and PTO to different specialists. Others give one project manager the whole job. End to end gives the homeowner one contact who knows the history. Splitting can work at high volume, as long as the homeowner still has one name to call.
