Solar Design &
Engineering Services

At PremiumCAD, we have been working with various Solar Installers and contractors for over a decade, providing them end-to-end solution for Solar PV design services requirements. We have in-depth knowledge of state/AHJ requirements and have been maintaining a high first-time approval rate. The various touchpoints/contributions of PremiumCAD includes:

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• Creation of proposal drawings including financial analysis,

• Creation of Residential Solar Permit Plan set for PTI (Permission to Install)/Interconnection approval,

• Engineering reviews by Professional Engineers

• As-Built drawings to procure PTO (Permission to Operate)

Teams at PremiumCAD have extensive experience and knowledge in designing Residential Solar Permit Plans. We work with our customers to provide end-to-end solution for their residential PV plan requirements starting right from Proposal creation to Permit Set creation, Engineering Review and As-Built creation.

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Proposal Drawings

Proposal Drawing are one of the initiations point and are very critical. We have large teams who have extensive knowledge of various industry standards and guidelines used by various States/AHJs and are capable of turning around the proposals at a very fast pace. We are platform agnostic and are open and swift to adapt any existing workflows which may be interacting with your sales teams.

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For large proposal requirements, we even setup dedicated workforce who work in sync with your sales team and provide almost real-time support while you are out selling. Typical turnaround times for proposals are 12 Hrs.

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Our teams are experienced with creating Proposal Drawings with most optimum solar production proposals with just having an address and any specific client requirements.

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Permit Plan Set

Residential Solar Permit Plan Sets or Construction drawings are another critical component of the process. We understand and ensure that the permit sets created are precise, accurate, complete and clean/aesthetically pleasing for the installation team to understand and install solar panels in the field as per plan.

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Our teams are well aware of National Electric Codes (NEC) and other applicable codes for various AHJs and Home Owner Association (HOA) requirements. We are pretty swift in adapting codes changes and any custom requirements from customer, installer and/or EPCs.

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Designers at PremiumCAD are well conversant and acquainted with requirements and design specifications for different type of installations and Interconnections:

• Flush Mounts installation

• Tilt Roof Mount

• Non-Penetrating Roof Mount

• Ballast

• Ground Mount Installations

• Microinverters

• On-Grid / Off-Grid

• Hybrid

• Battery Backups

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While we are open to adapt to customer templates and design specification to ensure that you and your team do not see a change in their ongoing process, we have our own comprehensive templates as well. These templates are customized to use blocks and data tables to ensure consistency and accuracy in data and design.

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Our typical Residential Solar Permit Plan Set includes the following; however, these are customizable and adaptable to any specific need:

• Title Page

  • Sheet index

  • Governing Codes section

  • Vicinity map, parcel map, aerial view

  • Description of the project

• PV Layout

  • Locations of all major components and equipment

  • Attachment point spacing

  • Point loads

  • Conduit runs

  • Solar PV array location and dimensions

• Mounting Method

  • Elevation of attachment method

  • Racking and mounting hardware

  • Structural sections

• Wiring Diagram

  • 3-line wire diagram

  • Wire and conduit sizing

  • String / Branch circuit sizing for DC and AC systems

  • Grounding details

  • Interconnection method (breaker, line-side splice, subpanels, etc.)

  • All electrical calculations

  • System specifications

• Signage

  • All required placards

  • Specifications of placard physical sizes

• Specification Sheets

  • Solar Modules

  • Inverters

  • Racking

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Typical inputs required for completion of a permit plan are home owner details, equipment details including module, inverter, racking system and attachment details, an approved layout or any guidelines on required system size, structural details, photos along with site measurements of roof (in case site measurements are not available, these are designed based on google/nearmap images, as may be available) and details and photos of existing electrical equipment and locations.

Availability of the above information ensures accurate and efficient system design in the first-go and early AHJ acceptances.

 

As-Built Drawings

While the permit set design is done to best of available information including measurements and obstruction locations, sometime however, variations are observed in field and the installation team has to deviate/accommodate the actual field situation. This at times result in change of layout, interconnection used or other parameters.

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As_Builts are generally required for the record of Home owners to keep a copy of the final installation plan and at times required by AHJs before proving Permit to Operate (PTO).

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We would only require the change information, may be marked on the initial plan or a sketch of changes to make the As-Builts and deliver them on priority.

 

Revisions/Changes

We at PremiumCAD do acknowledge the fact that there are instances when the created Plan set require changes and address such change/revision requests on priority and ensure that the required changes with complete impact analysis are implemented in the first go itself and thus maintaining the overall turn-around time. The changes may occur due to change in racking system, mounting plans or layout, electrical equipment or any specific requirement from AHJ and our teams are able to handle all very swiftly.

We have successfully designed several commercial projects (1mW to 5mW) with different types for racking systems on roof, carports and ground mounts. We are equipped to prepare the PV array layouts, mounting details, BOS Elevations shading analysis, Electrical 3 line and single line diagrams etc.

 

Freestanding Structures

Extensive experience in designing the PV System on a free standing structure like Carports, Single Axis tracking, Dual axis tracking system and Ground mount racking.

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Roof Top

We have worked on several roof top commercial designs ranging from few kW to MW. We have designed this with various racking and module manufacturers. We have created right from rough sketches to the construction documents. We provide full installation details of the solar system along with the required drawings needed by the authorities.

 

Ground Mount

Designed Ground mounts for flat and sloping grounds using various racking systems. We can provide detailed arrangement drawings for ground mount systems including the overviews from all directions.

PremiumCAD, through its network, provide Electrical & Structural Professional Engineering (PE) stamps for all 50 states. Some states require PE stamps for solar projects and some contractors add PE stamps as an extra level of quality. Construction plans with PE stamps give customers added assurance that their solar and storage projects have been safely designed and engineered to the codes and standards of your state and jurisdiction.

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PremiumCAD is a national leader in Solar Design Industry. We have delivered hundreds of structural Certifications and designs for Residential and Commercial solar installers that enables solar installers to get building permits.

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We can facilitate Structural & Electrical Review & Stamps thru our licensed PE partners in ALL 50 STATES.

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Whether you need structural certifications for one or a hundred jobs, PremiumCAD can assist you to prepare Certification Letters in a single business day. Our professional staff, combined with our proven proprietary systems, enables us to deliver affordable, high-volume, rapid, top-quality engineering services.

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Send us your site audit form. We’ll perform professional engineering services, which generally take the form of a Structural Certification Letter, but can include custom engineering designs as well.

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We offer our services in:

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• Evaluating structural loads

• Solar panel placement

• Structural reinforcement

• Engineer's stamped drawings or letters for building departments

• Structural certifications for building departments

• Electrical P.E. Stamps (wet or digital)

• Structural P.E. Stamps (wet or digital)