Quoting a roof before the ladder comes out · Zonneplan
Quoting a solar roof before anyone climbs a ladder.
A concept for Zonneplan's solar advisors and planners. AI proposes a panel layout from aerial data with shading shown up front, the advisor adjusts it and sends a quote the same day, and one roof visit confirms everything before installation.
Self-initiated concept. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Zonneplan.
- Role
- Self-initiated concept, from field research to tested prototype
- Company
- Zonneplan (concept)
- Timeline
- Aug to Oct 2025 · between jobs
- Team
- Solo, with 2 solar installers and 5 sales advisors who joined research and tests
- Platforms
- Internal web tool for advisors, Tablet survey on the roof, Customer quote page
1Layout proposed from the aerial photo and roof height data
2Shading shows up before anyone visits the roof
3Advisors can move, add or remove panels before quoting
35 → 6 min
From address to first quote, in tests
17 of 20
AI layouts within one panel of the installed roof
1
Roof visit per customer, after they say yes
5 of 5
Advisors who preferred it to drawing by hand
The problem
The installers and advisors I met still visit most roofs before they can quote, draw layouts on printed aerial photos, and explain shading from memory. Customers wait days for a number, and planners juggle crews in spreadsheets.
What I did
In the three months between my two jobs, I joined roof visits with independent installers, interviewed advisors, and designed a concept in Zonneplan's visual identity: an AI layout with visible shading, a tablet survey that checks the estimate on the roof, crew planning that knows about electricians and rain, and the customer's quote.
What changed
In tests with five advisors, a first quote took 6 minutes instead of 35. On 20 roofs with known installations, 17 AI layouts were within one panel of what was actually installed.
01 · Context
Why I picked Zonneplan.
Zonneplan sells solar panels, home batteries, charging points and an energy contract, and it's one of the fastest-growing energy companies in the Netherlands. After five years in energy software, I wanted to work on the part of the energy transition that happens on people's roofs.
This is a self-initiated concept, made in the gap between Schneider Electric and PackBack. I don't work for Zonneplan. The research is with independent installers and advisors, and the design follows Zonneplan's public visual identity.
- 01LeadWeb form or phone
- 02Roof visitAdvisor on site, 1 to 2 hours
- 03Layout by handPrinted aerial photo
- 04Quote typedDays later
- 05Crew plannedSpreadsheet and calls
Steps the concept replaces or shortens
02 · Problem
Slow quotes lose customers.
Every advisor told the same story: customers ask three companies for a quote and sign with the first one that sends a clear, believable number. A roof visit before every quote makes that hard.
The question I worked on
How might an advisor send a trustworthy quote the same day, and only climb the roof once, when the customer has said yes?
03 · Research
On roofs and in planning offices.
I joined four roof visits with two independent installers, interviewed five sales advisors, and compared 20 roofs in Haarlem and Leiden where I knew the final installation with what a simple rule set would have proposed from aerial photos.
Most layouts follow the same rules
Fire-safety margins, chimney and dormer clearances and orientation. On terraced houses, the rules alone got close almost every time.
“I draw the same thing on every terraced house.”
Shading is the first question
Customers worried about trees and chimneys. Advisors explained shading verbally, and customers forgot it by the time the quote arrived.
“Will the tree in the back garden ruin it? That's always the first question.”
Reschedules come from missing information
An unchecked fuse box, a missing electrician or rain caused most of the lost installation days the installers described.
“We arrive, the meter cupboard needs work, and the whole day is gone.”
04 · Process
Twelve weeks from roof to prototype.
Fully automatic online quote
Fast, but advisors said customers want a person to explain shading and price, and the numbers need checking.
Faster roof visits
A better visit checklist helps, but still needs a visit before every quote.
AI layout, advisor checks, roof confirms
The advisor adjusts the AI layout and sends the quote. The roof is visited once, to confirm before installation.
05 · Design decisions
Layout, quote, survey, schedule.
Shading is shown before the customer asks
The layout draws shade from chimneys, dormers and nearby trees, with the hours they affect. Advisors in the tests used that picture to answer the tree question on the first call.
The roof visit confirms the estimate
The tablet survey lists exactly what to measure: pitch, rafter spacing, fuse box and inverter location. If a measurement differs from the estimate, the layout updates and the advisor is told before the customer is.
Planning that knows about electricians and rain
The crew board flags jobs that need an electrician on day two and days with a high chance of rain. Dragging a job onto a conflict shows the problem before it's saved.
06 · Results
What the tests showed.
“I'd send this while they're still on the phone, with the shading picture. That closes it.”
“The board telling me I forgot the electrician would save us a day a week.”
07 · Reflection
What I learned.
Designing for a company I don't work at forced me to get closer to the real work: roofs, fuse boxes and planning boards. It was also a good warm-up for PackBack, where the product is half software and half physical work.
Tools on this project
Figma, FigJam, ProtoPie, Public aerial imagery, Notion
Names of the people quoted have been changed to protect their privacy.
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