Documentation

Customer storefront walkthrough

A step by step tour of what a shopper sees when they use the configurator on your store. Useful for merchants who want to understand the customer journey and for reviewers evaluating the storefront experience. The exact steps depend on which modules you have enabled and how you configured them.

Where it appears

The configurator runs wherever you added the Solar Configurator theme app block, usually on a dedicated page such as "Design Your Solar System". The page shows a progress bar across the top and the wizard below it. On wider screens a live bill of materials sidebar appears on the right.

The configurator landing on its first step, with the progress bar at the top and the configurator heading.

Step: Choose Components

If you set one or more modules to "Customer chooses", the wizard opens with a component selection screen. The customer sees:

A "Full System" parent option when more than one module is selectable.
Selectable modules (for example Solar Panels and Racking) with checkboxes.
Always included modules (for example Inverters) marked with an "Included" badge.

If all your modules are "Always included", this step does not appear and the customer starts directly with the first module.

The Choose Components step titled What would you like to include. A Full System parent option is checked, with child options for Solar Panels, Racking, and BOS each checked beneath it. Below a heading Included in every system, an Inverters card shows an Included badge and cannot be unchecked. — The Choose Components step showing the Full System parent, selectable child modules with checkboxes, and an always included module with an Included badge.

Step: Solar Panels

A filterable product grid shows your panels with live images, prices, and availability pulled from Shopify.
Cascading filters (wattage, manufacturer, color, plus any custom filters you defined) narrow the list.
The customer selects a panel, then sets the number of arrays and rows, and the panels per row with orientation (portrait or landscape).

The Solar Panels step. A Filters column on the left has Wattage, Manufacturer, and Color dropdowns. A grid of panel product cards shows live images, names, manufacturers, and prices per watt, with one card selected and outlined. The live Your Quote sidebar on the right shows a system overview and a Modules line with a running estimated total. — The Solar Panels step with filter dropdowns above a grid of panel product cards, one selected, and the live quote sidebar updating on the right.

Step: Racking

The customer picks a mount type (pitched roof, flat roof, or ground mount) using image cards. If you have added a custom racking sub-module (for example Carport), it appears here as an additional mount type card.
Follow up questions appear based on the choice:
- Pitched roof: roof type, metal profile, roof attachment.
- Flat roof: ballasted, tilt legs, or metal roof subtype.
- Ground mount: architecture family, pile or pole details, wind and snow load, tilt angle.
- A custom mount: the standard racking questions (minus any you chose to hide) plus the sub-module's own questions.
Manufacturer, rail profile, rail color, and clamp color selections cascade so only compatible options appear.
For ground mounts, pier spacing is calculated automatically from engineering tables and shown to the customer.

The Racking step showing mount type and roof type image cards, the panel layout, and the cascading manufacturer, attachment, rail, and color selections, with the quote sidebar itemizing racking parts.

When Solar Panels or Racking are not included

Not every store sells panels and racking. The configurator adapts when one of these modules is turned off, or is set to "Customer chooses" and the customer opts out. In place of the normal step, it shows a lightweight fallback so the bill of materials still has the information it needs.

Default Panel step (when Solar Panels is not included)

The racking and inverter calculations still need basic panel specifications. When you do not sell panels, you enter default panel values once in the admin. Then on the storefront:

If you make those defaults visible to customers, the wizard shows a Default Panel step with editable fields (such as module dimensions, power rating, and electrical characteristics), pre-filled with your defaults. The customer can adjust them.
If you keep the defaults hidden, no step appears and your values are used silently in the background.

The storefront Default Panel step titled Panel Specifications. Editable fields are pre-filled with the merchant's default values: Module Width, Module Length, Frame Depth, Power Rating (STC), Open Circuit Voltage (Voc), and Short Circuit Current (Isc), each with its unit label. Explanatory text notes the values are pre-filled with recommended defaults. — The Default Panel step showing the editable panel specification fields pre-filled with the merchant's default values.

System Size step (when Racking is not included)

When you do not sell racking, there is no roof layout to derive the panel count from, so the wizard shows a System Size step instead. The customer sets the number of panels with a stepper, within the minimum, maximum, and increment you configured. You can add an instructional note, and optionally show the calculated system size in kW as the customer changes the count.

The storefront System Size step. A Number of Panels stepper with minus and plus buttons shows a value of 10, with a 0 to 100 panels range note below. A green highlighted line reads Estimated system size 4.50 kW. — The System Size step showing the number of panels stepper, the allowed range, and the calculated system size in kW.

Step: Inverters

The customer chooses an inverter type: microinverters, optimizers (DC optimizers with a central string inverter), or string inverter.
For microinverters, the list is filtered for cold weather voltage compliance, and the customer can add an optional battery.
For string inverters, the customer answers battery yes or no and phase type, and the system suggests correctly sized inverters, including stacked "2-Unit Combo" options when appropriate. On the string inverter path the customer can also add a rapid shutdown solution.
Battery options are filtered for compatibility, and a monitoring device can be added.

The Inverters step. Inverter type cards (Microinverters, Optimizers, String Inverters) appear at the top with String Inverters selected. A battery backup yes or no toggle, string inverter phase type, and inverter manufacturer cards follow. A Select String Inverter grid ranks options by compatibility with effectiveness percentages, including a stacked 2-Unit Combo option. A Select Battery grid, desired storage capacity input, a warranty advisory note, and a Rapid Shutdown device selection appear below. The quote sidebar on the right itemizes modules, energy storage, inverters, and racking with a running total. — The Inverters step on the string inverter path, showing the inverter type cards, compatibility ranked inverter options with a 2-Unit Combo, battery selection, and the optional rapid shutdown solution.

Step: Balance of System (BOS)

Categories you marked as "always included" appear as included cards.
Categories you marked as "customer chooses" appear as checkboxes the customer can toggle.
Wiring, connectors, and grounding are resolved automatically based on the system the customer configured.

The BOS step. A BOS Components section lists toggleable category checkboxes (Connectors, Wire Management, Overcurrent Protection, Safety and Compliance), all checked. Below a heading Included in every system, cards for Wiring, Enclosures and Disconnects, and Grounding each show an Included badge with their resolved component descriptions. — The BOS step showing the optional category checkboxes and the always included category cards.

Step: Custom modules

If you added a custom top level module (for example Electrical Panel), it appears as its own step in the wizard, positioned according to the order you set. The customer answers its questions and selects from its product grids just like a built in module. Custom racking sub-modules (such as Carport) are different: they appear as a mount type option inside the Racking step rather than as a separate step.

Throughout the wizard, the sidebar builds the bill of materials in real time:

Categories appear as the customer reaches each step.
Quantities update instantly on every selection.
Items are grouped by category with subtotals.
You control what shows here from Quote Display.

The live Your Quote sidebar mid wizard. A system overview shows panel STC power and total number of panels. Grouped categories (Modules, Energy Storage, Inverters, Racking) each list their line items with quantities and prices and a category subtotal. A highlighted Estimated Total appears at the bottom. — The live quote sidebar mid wizard, with several categories populated, line items grouped by category, and a running estimated total.

The quote page

The final step is a full page quote:

A grouped bill of materials table with category subtotals.
Promotional badges on any flagged items.
A pricing breakdown (subtotal, surcharges, shipping, tax, estimated total) when pricing is configured.
Up to three actions (the email and share options appear based on your Quote Delivery settings):
- Get Your Quote (card): the customer enters email, first name, last name, and an optional ZIP code, then clicks Email Me the Quote to receive a branded confirmation.
- Add Items to Cart (card): shows the estimated total and item count, with an Add to Cart button that pushes the whole system to the Shopify cart for normal checkout.
- Share (button at the top of the page): copy a link or send the quote by email or WhatsApp.

The final quote page. At the top left a Get Your Quote card has Email, First Name, Last Name, and optional ZIP Code fields with an Email Me the Quote button. At the top right an Add Items to Cart card shows an estimated total, an item count, and an Add to Cart button. A Share button sits at the top right of the page. Below, a Bill of Materials table groups line items under Modules, Energy Storage, Inverters, Racking, and BOS headings, each row showing item, quantity, and unit price, with a subtotal at the bottom. — The quote page showing the grouped bill of materials table, the Get Your Quote and Add Items to Cart cards, and the Share button at the top.

Branding

If you are on the Professional plan and have applied branding, the customer sees your logo at the top of the configurator and your accent and secondary colors throughout. The confirmation email uses the same branding. Professional