Solar Design Services in Washington

Proposal design for the sales stage, permit plan sets for Washington authorities, 3D pre-design and shade studies, detailed engineering for rooftop and ground mount, civil and structural engineering with STAAD Pro verification, and yield and technical reports. Most Washington installers start with one service and expand once turnaround and quality are proven.

Yes, and it is the substance of the work rather than a claim. Washington adopts statewide codes with state amendments and a distinctive energy code, but the defining feature of the market is utility structure rather than code. A large share of the state is served by public utility districts and municipal utilities rather than investor-owned companies, and each sets its own interconnection and compensation terms.

Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, Snohomish County PUD, Tacoma Power, Avista. Each expects its own diagram format and documentation, and export rules differ between them, which changes both the sizing case and what the drawings must show.

Washington has modest installed capacity relative to its size and wealth, partly because western Washington irradiance is low and electricity is inexpensive where hydro dominates. That makes the market quality-led rather than volume-led. Its defining structural feature is utility fragmentation: public utility districts and municipal utilities serve a large share of customers and each sets its own interconnection terms, so confirming the utility is the essential first step on every project.

Yes. Commercial and industrial work brings structural calculations, equipment coordination and interconnection complexity. Our largest documented project is an 11 MW DC rooftop installation on tin shed structures, which required structural verification across dozens of shed roofs alongside the electrical design.

A second engineer reviews every set against a jurisdiction specific checklist before it leaves us. The reviewer is not the person who drew it, because the fastest way to miss a setback error is to check your own work. Structural output is verified in STAAD Pro rather than assumed from a racking table.

You do. Work is covered by NDA and all intellectual property in the deliverables transfers to you. We do not reuse your drawings, your customer data or your templates for anyone else.

Yes. No retainer, no minimum volume, no onboarding fee. Most clients send one project, check the output, then scale.

Wind: moderate in the Puget Sound lowlands, higher on the Pacific coast and through the Columbia Gorge. Snow: light in the lowlands but high in the Cascades and meaningful across eastern Washington. Seismic: significant, reflecting both Cascadia subduction zone and Seattle Fault exposure. Also governing: persistent wet conditions west of the Cascades affect flashing and corrosion detail, while eastern Washington is dry with a much wider temperature range. These decide the racking selection and attachment schedule, so we verify them per site rather than applying a regional default.

Washington State Building Code with state amendments, plus the Washington State Energy Code. State amendments to the electrical code administered through Labor and Industries. Statewide net metering law applying up to a defined system size. Seismic provisions reflecting Cascadia subduction zone and Seattle Fault exposure. We work from these rather than a national template, because each can produce a review comment on an otherwise sound design.

Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (City of Seattle): seismic provisions applied seriously given Seattle Fault and Cascadia exposure, and a large stock of older timber housing. King County Department of Local Services (Unincorporated King County): separate from Seattle and from the suburban cities, so metro work spans several authorities. City of Spokane Development Services (Spokane): eastern Washington conditions with genuine snow loading and colder design temperatures than the coast. City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services (Tacoma): municipal utility coordination alongside building review, so permit and interconnection sit locally. Cascade and eastern county departments (Chelan, Kittitas and neighbouring counties): high snow loads at elevation and a different climate regime from the Puget Sound lowlands.

Because a large share of customers are served by public utility districts and municipal utilities rather than investor-owned companies, and each administers its own interconnection process and terms. Seattle City Light, Tacoma Power and Snohomish County PUD all differ from Puget Sound Energy. Confirming the serving utility is the first step on every project.

Yes. Western Washington carries both Cascadia subduction zone and Seattle Fault exposure, and the structural code reflects that. It affects attachment and detailing in ways a nominal low-seismic assumption does not cover, and Seattle reviews it accordingly.