July is the biggest update we have ever shipped. The headline is Solar Proof Apex: give it a power bill (or just a postcode) and it finds, sizes and ranks the best solar + battery options for that customer - against their real tariff, the whole retail plan market, and the extra value streams a battery can earn. It then hands the winner straight to a Solar Proof project to design and quote. Alongside Apex there's a new Additional Savings proposal page, a rebuilt discount tool with approval controls, serious design-tool performance work, and better customer management for teams. Here's everything, grouped by area, with what each change means for you.
New: Solar Proof Apex - from power bill to best system, in minutes
- Magic Power Bill - drop in any electricity bill PDF and Apex reads the rates, usage, supply charges, demand charges, TOU windows, NMI and customer details for you - flat, TOU, unbundled and demand tariffs included. No re-keying a bill ever again.
- Interval data, or none at all - upload the customer's interval file (NEM12 and common retailer CSVs supported) for a precise result, or skip it and Apex models from a library of real, classified Australian load profiles. Accurate sizing whether or not the customer has their data handy.
- Automatic sizing and ranking - Apex simulates a ladder of solar + battery combinations at half-hourly resolution and ranks them by total benefit, NPV, IRR or payback - your choice of objective - using your own cost defaults for pricing. The best-value system, proven with numbers, not gut feel.
- Whole-of-market plan comparison - it scores the system on the customer's current plan AND finds the best retail plan for the new setup from live market data, showing the top three. Show the customer their true best case, and the plan that gets them there.
- Battery value streams - VPP/FCAS income, wholesale (Amber-style) price arbitrage and, for commercial sites, demand-charge reduction are modelled and shown separately from the core saving. Defensible, itemised battery economics.
- Commercial & industrial ready - C&I bills with demand charges, network tariffs resolved by distributor, IRR as an objective, and larger sizing ladders. One tool for resi and commercial studies.
- A report the customer can hold - a branded comparison report (your logo, your details) with per-option cashflows, lifetime charts and inclusions - plus a shareable web link with view tracking, so you know when they've looked. A professional leave-behind from a 10-minute study.
- One click to a real project - "Use this system" creates a Solar Proof project carrying the customer, NMI, tariff, selected products, additional savings and a price target - and the design screen shows a live "placed X of Y panels" goal card while you draw. The study becomes the quote with nothing re-entered.
- Reopen, re-run, archive - every analysis is a saveable Apex project in your project search (with an SP / Apex / All filter). Re-running an existing analysis is always free. Studies live alongside your projects, not in a silo.
Apex pricing - free for Pro accounts until December
- Launch promo - every Pro-tier account created before 1 September runs Apex free until 30 November 2026. Months of unlimited use to fold it into your sales process.
- Included every month - after the promo, Pro tiers include 3 new analyses per user per month; mini and pay-as-you-go accounts include 1 (PAYG runs beyond that use credits). Everyone can use Apex every month at no extra cost.
- Apex Unlimited - heavy users can add unlimited analyses per user: $99/month + GST for residential, $250/month + GST including commercial, self-serve with card, cancel anytime. Predictable pricing when Apex becomes your front door.
Additional Savings on your proposals
- A dedicated proposal page - VPP/FCAS credits, retail plan-switch savings and other post-install benefits now present on their own polished page, kept separate from the core system saving so your payback stays defensible. Show the full value story without muddying the headline numbers.
- ROI with and without - the page compares payback, first-year return and yearly saving with and without the extras, with yearly and cumulative charts that include your power-price escalation. Customers see exactly what the extras are worth.
- Carried from Apex automatically - convert an Apex study and its plan-switch and VPP/FCAS figures pre-fill the page. No copying numbers between tools.
- Merge codes for your templates - new codes like ROI, payback and first-year savings including additional savings are available in the proposal editor. Wire the numbers into your own layouts.
- Plays nicely with GloBird - if a project has both GloBird ZEROHERO and additional savings, they combine onto one page; GloBird-only projects keep the classic Extra Savings Opportunity page. One clean extra-savings story per proposal, never two competing pages.
Discounts, done properly
- New discount tool - build multi-line discounts (fixed amounts or percentages, whole-system or per-item), or type a target price and let it back-solve the discount, GST handled throughout. Hit the number the customer needs, cleanly and auditable.
- Approval roles and caps - give each rep a discount authority; anything over their cap becomes a request that's emailed to approvers with a one-click approve/reject. Reps keep selling, margins stay protected.
- Everywhere you price - the same tool works in the new-project wizard and the dashboard pricing panel, and discount lines present properly on the customer proposal. One consistent discount flow across the app.
Design tool - seriously faster
- Silky drag-drawing - drawing hundreds of panels in one drag is now smooth from first panel to last; finalising, group-select (G+click), box-select (Ctrl+drag) and deleting large selections are near-instant too. Big commercial layouts feel effortless again.
- Faster project open - projects open sooner, charts paint after the screen is interactive, and solar data is only re-fetched when the design actually changed. Less waiting between jobs.
Teams & customer management
- Customer transfer requests that get answered - reassignment requests now go to every company admin (or the team's manager when you use teams), appear in a dashboard inbox until actioned, and the requester is emailed the outcome - with an optional note from the approver. No more requests dying in a departed owner's inbox.
- Team notifications - signed-contract emails can CC a per-team notification list. The right people hear about the win immediately.
Accuracy & reliability
- Battery economics modelled properly - Apex costs battery wear as replacement timing in the long-term cashflow rather than an annual penalty, using each battery's real warranty and cycle specs. Lifetime numbers that stand up to scrutiny.
- STCs for multi-battery systems - certificate maths now sums correctly across mixed battery sets. Right rebate, every configuration.
- Stringing guardrails - reducing inverter quantity warns you and clears the affected stringing instead of leaving a broken layout. No silent stringing corruption.
Apex results are modelled estimates based on the tariff, market and usage data available at the time of the study; confirm final system pricing and savings in your Solar Proof quote before presenting.
