Documentation

Reviewer and tester guide

For Shopify reviewers and QA testers. This walks you through installing the app, setting up a minimal but realistic test catalog, and verifying every major feature from the merchant admin and the customer storefront. A full pass takes roughly 30 to 45 minutes.

What the app does

Solvera - Solar Configurator adds a guided solar system designer to a Shopify storefront. A shopper selects panels, racking, inverters, and balance of system components through a multi step wizard. As they make selections, a live bill of materials (BOM) updates in a sidebar with quantities and pricing. At the end the shopper can email the quote, share it as a link, or add the entire system to the Shopify cart.

The merchant controls everything from an embedded admin app: which modules are active, which products are sold, how quantities are calculated, how the quote looks, and how it is delivered.

Installation

  1. Install the app on a development store from the App Store listing or the provided install link.
  2. After the OAuth grant, the app opens embedded in the Shopify Admin.
  3. The app requests these access scopes:
    • read_products, unauthenticated_read_product_listings: read your product catalog and show live product images, prices, and availability in the configurator.
    • read_files, write_files: upload a merchant logo for branding and storefront content images.
    • read_themes, write_themes: serve the storefront configurator assets through the theme.

The app lands on the Module Selection page on first run.

Set up a test catalog

You do not need a large catalog to evaluate the app. There are two ways to get products in: a one-click sample catalog (recommended for review) or adding your own products manually. All products live in your Shopify store first, then are added to Solvera product tables.

Load the sample catalog (recommended)

The fastest way to get a working configuration is the built in sample catalog on the Module Selection page. It loads a coherent set of real solar products so the configurator produces live images, prices, and a complete bill of materials without any manual data entry.

  1. Open Configuration, then Module Selection. At the top you will see a Sample catalog card.
  2. Click Download products CSV, then in Shopify Admin go to Products > Import and upload that file. This creates the sample products in your store with their images and prices.
  3. Back on the Module Selection page, click Add sample products. This loads the matching rows into the Panels, Racking, Inverters, and BOS tables.
  4. The four modules (Panels, Racking, Inverters, BOS) are enabled by default, so there is nothing to toggle. You can leave them as they are.

The sample catalog only populates the pitched roof racking path. The flat roof and ground mount options will appear in the wizard but have no products, since none were imported for them. This is expected; just select pitched roof when you test.

The Module Selection page in the Solvera admin. A Sample catalog card at the top has a heading, a short description, three numbered steps (download the products CSV and import it in Shopify, click Add sample products, then enable the modules and publish), and two buttons: Download products CSV and Add sample products. Below the card, the module list shows Solar Panels, Racking (expanded into Pitched Roof, Flat Roof, Ground Mount, and a Carport custom sub-module), Inverters, and BOS, each with an Always included / Customer chooses toggle. The left configuration sidebar shows its four sections: Product Catalog, Calculations, Customer Experience, and Settings, with Preview and Publish buttons below.
The Module Selection page. The Sample catalog card sits at the top, the module list with its Always included / Customer chooses toggles is below, and the four-section configuration sidebar runs down the left.

A note on the admin layout

The left configuration sidebar (visible above) is organized into four sections: Product Catalog (Module Selection, Panels, Racking, Inverters, BOS, and any custom modules), Calculations (Storefront Questions, Calculated Values, Custom Variables), Customer Experience (System Overview, Quote Display, Quote Pricing, Quote Delivery, Branding), and Settings (General Settings, Company Profile, API Access). Preview and Publish buttons sit at the bottom of the sidebar.

What the sample catalog covers The sample set is capped at 20 products per module so it works on the Starter plan. It populates the pitched roof racking path and includes both a microinverter and a string inverter, so you can run a complete configuration on either inverter path. The flat roof and ground mount racking options are intentionally empty in the sample set; they use the same engine as pitched roof.

Publish

The storefront reads a published snapshot of your configuration, so publish before viewing it. Click Publish in the app sidebar, then Publish New Version. Publishing links the sample rows to the imported Shopify products, so the storefront shows real images, prices, and a working Add to Cart.

The Publish Configurator page showing a Current Status card with the live version, an Unpublished Changes Detected banner, a version description input, and a Publish New Version button, with a Version History table listing previous versions and their Rollback buttons below.
The Publish page showing the Publish New Version button and the version history table.

Add the storefront block

  1. In Shopify Admin go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
  2. The home page works well for testing. Click Add block or Add section and choose Solar Configurator from the app blocks.
  3. Optionally set the heading text.
  4. Save the theme.
The Shopify theme editor with the Solar Configurator app block added to a page. The left panel shows the block under Apps with a settings panel containing a Heading text field set to Configure Your Solar System and a Show configurator toggle that is on, plus Manage app and Remove block links. The configurator renders in the editor preview on the right.
The Shopify theme editor with the Solar Configurator app block added and its heading and show configurator settings visible.

Verify the customer storefront

Open the storefront page where you added the block (the live store URL, not the admin). Confirm the following:

  1. The wizard loads with a progress bar across the top.
  2. Panels step: the product grid shows your panels with live images and prices. Selecting a panel highlights it. You can set the number of panels and rows.
  3. Racking step: you choose a mount type with image cards, then answer the follow up questions. Manufacturer, rail, and color selections cascade. With the sample catalog, choose pitched roof; the flat roof and ground mount options have no products and will show nothing to select, which is expected.
  4. Inverters step: you select an inverter type and a specific inverter.
  5. BOS step: required categories show as included, optional categories show as checkboxes.
  6. Live BOM sidebar: as you advance through steps, the sidebar fills in with line items and quantities. It recalculates instantly on every change.
  7. Quote page: the final step shows a grouped BOM table and the quote actions: a Get Your Quote card (email), an Add Items to Cart card, and a Share This Quote button.
The storefront configurator mid flow on the Racking step. Mount type image cards (Pitched Roof, Flat Roof, Ground Mount) and roof type cards appear on the left, a panel layout and Advanced Settings with cascading manufacturer, attachment, rail, and color selections fill the middle, and the live Your Quote sidebar on the right lists racking line items with quantities and a running estimated total.
The storefront configurator mid flow on the Racking step, with mount type cards, cascading selections, and the live BOM sidebar populated.

Verify Add to Cart

On the quote page, click Add to Cart. The configured products (those with Shopify variant IDs) are added to the standard Shopify cart, and you are taken to the cart for normal checkout.

The native Shopify cart titled Your cart, populated with the line items added from the configurator quote page. Each row shows a product image, name, unit price, a quantity stepper, a remove button, and a line total. Items include a wire clip, Enphase cable clips, an Enphase IQ Battery, a microinverter, and IronRidge grounding and clamp hardware. A Continue shopping link is at the top right.
The Shopify cart populated with the line items added from the configurator quote page, ready for native Shopify checkout.

Verify Preview mode (no publish needed)

Preview lets the merchant test the configurator against unpublished changes.

  1. In the admin, change something small, for example add a product or change a label, but do not publish.
  2. Click Preview in the sidebar.
  3. The configurator loads inside the admin against the current unpublished state.
  4. Switch between Desktop, Tablet, and Phone using the device toolbar.
The Preview page inside the Solvera admin. A Configurator Preview toolbar at the top has Desktop, Tablet, and Phone device buttons with Desktop selected, a customizations count indicator, and Edit Mode, Refresh, and Publish buttons. The configurator renders inside an iframe below, showing the first wizard step.
The Preview page inside the admin with the Desktop, Tablet, and Phone device toolbar and the configurator rendered in the iframe.

Verify quote delivery (email)

  1. Go to Customer Experience > Quote Delivery.
  2. Confirm the email quote settings, subject template, and intro text.
  3. On the storefront quote page, use the Get Your Quote card, enter a name and email, and submit.
  4. A branded confirmation email with the full BOM is sent.

Note: outbound email requires an email provider key to be configured on the server. The admin shows a clear warning banner if email is enabled but the provider is not configured. If you are testing on an environment without the email key, the in app share link and add to cart paths still work fully.

The storefront quote page. A Get Your Quote card with Email, First Name, Last Name, and optional ZIP Code fields and an Email Me the Quote button sits on the left. An Add Items to Cart card with the estimated total, item count, and an Add to Cart button sits on the right, with a Share This Quote button above. A grouped Bill of Materials table below shows line items under Modules, Energy Storage, Inverters, and Racking with quantity, unit price, and total columns.
The storefront quote page with the Get Your Quote and Add Items to Cart cards, the Share This Quote button, and the grouped bill of materials.

Verify sales rep mode (Growth tier and above)

If the test shop is on Growth or Professional: Growth+

  1. Use the top nav New Quote to open the sales workspace.
  2. Build a quote the same way a customer would, with internal only products also visible.
  3. Edit BOM quantities and unit prices, delete rows, or add a custom line item.
  4. Save the quote, then open Quotes to see it in the list.
  5. Open Analytics for the funnel and per rep metrics.
The sales New Quote workspace on the Review step with a SALES MODE badge. An editable pricing block shows subtotal, shipping insurance, an editable shipping cost, and an editable estimated tax percentage with an estimated total. A Customer Information panel and a Sales Actions panel (Your Name, Save Quote, Email Quote to Customer) and an Internal Notes field appear above the Bill of Materials. The BOM table has editable quantity and unit price input fields and a remove button on each row.
The sales New Quote workspace on the quote step, showing the editable BOM table with quantity and unit price inputs, per row delete, the editable pricing block, and the sales actions panel.

Tier behavior to expect

The app has three tiers. New installs default to Starter. Some features are intentionally gated and show an upgrade prompt rather than failing:

Locked features display a clear upgrade card or inline lock that links to the Plans & Pricing page. This is expected behavior, not an error. See the pricing page for the full matrix.

Data privacy and safety notes

Quick checklist

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