Solar Panel Installers Terms Explained: A Plain-English Glossary
If you are reading solar quotes for an Austin-area home and the words keep sliding past you, this solar panel installers glossary is for you. It covers the terms you will meet in a quote, in a contract, and in a conversation with a salesperson, in plain English. Use it to read a proposal line by line, to ask sharper questions, and to spot the places where a vague word hides a real cost. No term here takes more than thirty seconds to understand.
- Kilowatt (kW): the size of your system
- Kilowatt-hour (kWh): the energy it makes, what your bill counts
- Inverter: turns panel power into house power
- Microinverter: a small inverter on each panel
- String inverter: one central inverter for all panels
- Home battery: stores solar power for later or for outages
- Site survey: the measure-twice visit before installation
- Interconnection: the utility's permission to connect
- Permission to operate (PTO): the final green light to switch on
- Export credit (buyback): what you get for power sent to the grid
- Value of Solar: Austin Energy's version of that credit
- Net metering: the full-credit version, not available everywhere
- Price per watt: the apples-to-apples price measure
- Solar lease: paying for solar you do not own
- Solar loan: borrowing to own the system
- Lease credit (48E): the federal tax credit that survives, claimed by the leasing company
- Production estimate: the installer's promise about output
- Standby generator: fuel-powered backup, no sun required
Equipment Terms in a Solar Panel Installers Glossary
These are the hardware words in a quote. A solar panel installers glossary earns its keep here first, because equipment lines are where proposals look identical but are not.
Kilowatt (kW)
A kilowatt is a measure of power, and in solar it describes the size of your system: how much electricity it can produce at full output. A typical residential system is measured in kilowatts, and the number on your quote sets everything downstream, from production to price. Two quotes with different kW sizes are not comparable until you adjust for that. Ask why the installer chose that size for your roof and your usage, not someone else's.
Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
A kilowatt-hour is a measure of energy over time, and it is the unit your utility bills you in. One kilowatt of power running for one hour makes one kilowatt-hour. Your system's yearly kWh production, not its kW size, determines your savings. A quote that talks about kW but never estimates kWh is leaving out the number that matters.
Inverter
An inverter is the device that converts the direct current (DC) your panels make into the alternating current (AC) your house and the grid use. Every solar system needs one, and it is the component most likely to need replacement during the system's life. Your quote should name the inverter type and its warranty length. If it does not, ask.
Microinverter
A microinverter is a small inverter mounted under each individual panel, so every panel converts its own power. The practical benefit is that shade or a fault on one panel does not drag down the others, and you can see each panel's output separately. Microinverters usually cost more up front than a single central inverter. On a roof with trees or multiple angles, which describes plenty of Austin-area lots, they often earn the difference.
String inverter
A string inverter is one central inverter that handles the output of a whole group, or string, of panels together. It is the simpler and usually cheaper design, and it works well on an open, unshaded roof facing one direction. The tradeoff is that the weakest panel in the string can limit the rest. If your quote specifies a string inverter, ask how the installer handled any shading on your roof.
Home battery
A home battery is a unit that stores electricity so you can use solar power after sunset or keep essential circuits running during an outage. Batteries change the math of a quote: they add cost, but they matter more in territories where the export credit is weak, because stored power you use yourself is worth your full retail rate. A quote with a battery should say which circuits it backs up and for roughly how long. "Whole home backup" from one battery is a claim worth questioning.
Process and Paperwork Terms for Solar Panel Installers
Site survey
A site survey is the visit where a technician measures your roof, checks your electrical panel, and confirms the design before anything is ordered. It is the step that turns a sales sketch into a buildable plan. Expect the final design, and sometimes the price, to shift after the survey. An installer who skips it and designs only from satellite photos is guessing about your roof.
Interconnection
Interconnection is the formal process of getting your utility's permission to connect your solar system to the grid. Every utility in the Austin area, whether Austin Energy, Pedernales Electric Co-op, Oncor, Georgetown Utility Systems, Bluebonnet, or San Marcos, has its own paperwork and timeline. Your installer should file this for you; confirm that in writing. Interconnection timelines, not installation speed, are often what delays switch-on.
Permission to operate (PTO)
Permission to operate is the utility's final sign-off that lets you legally turn your system on. It usually comes after installation, inspection, and often a meter swap. Until PTO arrives, your panels sit on the roof making nothing you can use or sell. When comparing solar panel installers, ask each one how long their recent projects in your specific utility territory waited for PTO, because the answer varies by utility and the installer cannot fully control it.
Export credit (buyback)
An export credit, also called buyback, is what your utility pays or credits you for solar electricity you send to the grid instead of using. This is the single most important term in this glossary for an Austin-area homeowner, because the utility that sends your bill, not your town, sets the rate and the rules. Some utilities credit generously, some barely at all. Never let a quote assume a credit rate without naming your utility and the current tariff. Rates change, so any figure you see should carry a date, and your numbers will differ.
Value of Solar
Value of Solar is Austin Energy's specific tariff for crediting solar production, and it works differently from classic net metering. Austin Energy credits your solar output at the Value of Solar rate while billing your consumption at retail rates, as two separate calculations. The rate is set by Austin Energy and can change, so check the current figure before trusting any projection. If a quote for an Austin Energy home talks about "net metering" instead, the salesperson has not done local homework.
Net metering
Net metering means your utility credits exported solar power at the same retail rate you pay for power you buy, so the meter effectively runs both ways at equal value. It is the arrangement most national solar websites assume, and it does not exist everywhere in the Austin area. Whether you get net metering, a different buyback rate, or nothing depends on your utility. Treat any savings estimate built on net metering as unverified until you confirm your utility's actual export credit.
Pricing and Contract Terms
Price per watt
Price per watt is the total system cost divided by the system size in watts, and it is the standard way to compare quotes of different sizes. It strips out the size difference so you can see whether one installer is charging more for the same work. It is not the whole story: equipment quality, inverter type, and warranty all live outside that one number. Use it as a starting comparison, not a verdict.
Solar lease
A solar lease is an arrangement where a company owns the panels on your roof and you pay a monthly fee to use the power they make. You avoid the upfront cost, but you do not own the system, and the lease can complicate selling your home. Read the escalator clause, which is the yearly increase in your payment, before anything else. A lease can fit some households; it is not automatically worse than buying, but it is a different deal entirely.
Solar loan
A solar loan is financing that lets you own the system while paying it off over time. Ownership means the production and any credits belong to you, but watch for dealer fees folded into the loan, which can inflate the cash price substantially. Ask every installer for both a cash price and a financed price so you can see the fee. If the two prices match exactly, ask again.
Lease credit (48E)
The lease credit is the surviving federal tax credit path, claimed by the company that owns a leased system rather than by you. The separate purchase credit that homeowners used to claim directly on purchased systems, the federal 25D credit, has ended. This changes the buy-versus-lease math, because a leasing company can still capture a federal credit and may pass some of that value through in your payment. Whether they actually do is a question for the contract, not the pitch. Your numbers will differ, so run them with current rules and dates.
Production estimate
A production estimate is the installer's projection of how many kilowatt-hours your system will make per year. It drives every savings number in the proposal, so the assumptions behind it matter: roof direction, shading, and your utility's export credit. Ask whether the estimate came from an actual site survey or a satellite tool. Some contracts include a production guarantee with a payout if the system underperforms; most do not, so check.
Standby generator
A standby generator is a fuel-powered unit, usually running on natural gas or propane, that starts automatically during an outage and powers your home without any sun. It solves a different problem than solar: backup power rather than cheaper power. For some houses, a generator or a home battery is the better answer to outage worry, and solar is a poor fit for the bill. A proposal that mentions both should explain which problem each one solves for you.
Using These Terms
What this solar panel installers glossary gives you is the vocabulary to read a quote line by line instead of trusting the summary page. You can now ask which inverter is specified, which utility tariff the savings assume, and whether the production estimate survived a site survey. The jargon was the barrier; the questions were always simple.
For help with solar with Austin Energy, Austin Solar FAQ is the place to start.
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