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WEBINAR: How Solar Installers Can Benefit by Integrating their Business Management Software to SolarAPP+

On-demand webinar: How Solar Installers Can Benefit by Integrating their Business Management Software to SolarAPP+ Presented by Blu Banyan CEO, Jan Rippingale

This webinar was recorded on July 13, 2023.

It is now established that SolarAPP+ can help solar installers get more projects done faster by expediting compliance checks and building permit approvals for eligible rooftop solar systems. However, the big question from solar installers is how can they seamlessly utilize the capabilities of SolarAPP+ by integrating it with their business management software to minimize errors and maximize throughput?

In this presentation, we will present how solar installers can leverage the US Department of Energy Orange Button Data Standard to simplify the exchange of solar project data with their business management software, as well as the key benefits of this integration.

Learning Objectives:

  • Provide guidance about SolarAPP+, a tool that is designed to alleviate some of the issues with solar system permitting
  • Highlight the key benefits of SolarAPP+, including quicker project timelines and standardized requirements

Speaker:

Jan Rippingale
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Blu Banyan

Ready to simplify your solar permitting headaches? 

Discover if the perfect solution for you is SolarSuccess integrated with SolarApp+! Let’s have a friendly, no-obligation consultation to find out how it can meet your needs!

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Solar Installers’ Secret Sauce: 5 Must-Track Metrics for Project Profitability

Solar Installers' Secret Sauce: 5 Must-Track Metrics for Project Profitability. How to avoid low-margin projects using projected profitability tools in cash management excellence

As the demand for solar installations continues to grow, it becomes crucial for solar installers to ensure project profitability. Tracking key measures can provide invaluable insights into the financial health of solar projects and help optimize their performance. This article discusses 5 essential measures every solar installer should track to help ensure project profitability.  

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1. Installation Efficiency   

Installation efficiency is a critical factor directly impacting the profitability of solar projects. It’s essential to track the time it takes to complete installations and the associated labor costs. Efficient project management, streamlined processes, and optimized workflows can significantly reduce installation time, lowering labor costs and increasing profitability.  

Solar installers should track installation efficiency by monitoring key metrics such as installation time per kilowatt (kW), average installation time per project, and labor cost per installation. By analyzing these metrics, installers can identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and areas for improvement. Investing in training and adopting best practices can also help increase installation efficiency, leading to higher project profitability.  

2. Material Costs  

The cost of materials is another crucial measure that solar installers should closely monitor. Tracking the prices of solar panels, inverters, mounting systems, and other equipment is essential to ensure accurate project cost estimation and profitability analysis. Maintaining updated records of material costs from various suppliers is crucial to make informed purchasing decisions. 

Furthermore, tracking material waste during installation is equally important. Reducing material waste helps control costs and demonstrates a commitment to sustainability. Solar installers can enhance project profitability by optimizing material usage and negotiating favorable pricing with suppliers.  

3. Customer Satisfaction  

Monitoring customer satisfaction is vital for solar installers to ensure positive word-of-mouth referrals. Satisfied customers are more likely to recommend you to others, leading to increased project opportunities and improved profitability. What’s more, tracking customer satisfaction helps you identify areas for improvement in customer service and installation processes.

You can track customer satisfaction by collecting feedback through surveys, online reviews, and direct communication, thus allowing you to identify areas where you excel and areas where you may need to improve.  

4. Quality Control 

Maintaining high-quality standards is essential for solar installers to ensure project profitability. Installers can identify and rectify issues or defects affecting system performance and long-term profitability by tracking quality control measures. This measure helps build customer trust and enhances the installer’s reputation in the industry. 

To effectively track quality control, solar installers should implement robust inspection and testing procedures at various stages of the installation process, including checking materials quality, verifying proper installation techniques, and conducting post-installation inspections. By promptly addressing quality concerns, installers can prevent potential system failures, reduce warranty claims, and maintain customer satisfaction. 

5. Project Timelines 

Tracking project timelines is essential for solar installers to ensure efficient project management and profitability. Delays in project completion can lead to increased labor costs, penalties, and customer dissatisfaction. By monitoring project timelines, installers can identify bottlenecks and take corrective actions to ensure projects finish on schedule. 

Installers should establish clear milestones and deadlines for each project, using project management software—such as SolarSuccess—and other tools to monitor progress and identify potential delays. By staying on top of project timelines, installers can optimize scheduling, allocate resources effectively, and maintain profitability.  

Conclusion 

Solar installers must track essential measures to ensure project profitability. Installers can make informed decisions and optimize their financial outcomes by monitoring installation costs, quality control, customer satisfaction, and project timelines. These measures enable installers to identify cost-saving opportunities, improve system performance, maintain high-quality standards, enhance customer satisfaction, and ensure timely project completion. Solar installers can contribute to the industry’s growth by prioritizing profitability and fostering a sustainable future. 

Are you ready to take your solar business to the next level? With the new Cash Management Excellence profitability tools, SolarSuccess can help you quickly identify which projects are making money and which may not. Let’s collaborate today and drive the global transition toward clean energy. Schedule a call with us now, and let’s make your solar business successful!

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Unlocking Financial Insights: Exploring Daily and Weekly Cash Forecasting for Solar Installers

Unlocking Financial Insights: Exploring Daily and Weekly Cash Forecasting for Solar Installers. Gain a clear picture of when you can expect costs and revenue to materialize.

As solar installers navigate the dynamic landscape of renewable energy project management, understanding and managing cash flow becomes increasingly critical. The adoption of solar energy continues to fluctuate, and solar businesses face unique financial challenges that require accurate and timely cash forecasting to stay ahead of the shifts and changes. Incorporating daily and weekly cash forecasting into your operations can drive sustainable profitability and growth, shaping a brighter future for your solar business.

The Cash Flow Conundrum

Cash management excellence lies at the heart of any successful business, and the solar sector is no exception. From upfront material costs and project development expenses to labor and marketing expenditures, solar companies must constantly balance inflows and outflows to maintain a healthy cash cycle. Cash forecasting allows you to be proactive and see what’s coming, but the unpredictable nature of project timelines, regulatory changes, and market conditions makes cash forecasting a complex endeavor.

The good news is that there are strategies and tools available to make forecasting easier. Let’s dive in and explore how to unlock financial insights, gain better control over cash flow, and drive success in the solar industry.

Daily Cash Forecasting: Monitor Activity & Enhance Operational Efficiency

Staying on top of your daily cash inflow and outflow is an important aspect of making informed spending decisions. With daily cash forecasting, you can plan ahead, acting proactively instead of reacting to daily cash fluctuations.

Daily forecasts can provide valuable insight into your company’s financial position, and you’ll quickly find that having a dashboard with daily cash insights at your fingertips is a game-changer you won’t want to function without. With a comprehensive picture of your current and projected daily inflow and outflow, your company can allocate resources more effectively and make efforts to maintain cash reserves, so you can plan ahead for unexpected situations.

Daily cash forecasting provides a mechanism to monitor and analyze short-term cash flow trends. You can spot potential bottlenecks, such as delayed payments or unexpected expenditures, and take swift action to rectify the situation. Having this information readily available equips solar companies with the knowledge you need to communicate and collaborate more effectively with suppliers, contractors, and financing partners – fostering stronger relationships and reducing the risk of cash flow disruptions.

If you’re currently searching for the best solar CRM and solar inventory management solution for your solar business, don’t neglect to include daily cash forecasting in your list of must-haves. The most reliable cash projections should leverage your actual project data, so you can monitor incoming revenue and outgoing expenses on a daily basis and quickly identify any potential gaps or surpluses. It’s also important for your forecasts to use data that gets refreshed and updated daily – to make sure your solar solution is equipped to handle the variable and changing nature of solar projects.

Weekly Cash Forecasting: Allocate Resources Strategically & Enable Sustainable Growth

If you operate like the majority of solar companies, you’re likely scheduling and managing your projects on a week-by-week basis. Daily cash forecasting is useful for shorter-term decision making, but having your daily forecasts aggregated into a rolling weekly view lets you plan ahead by week, the same way you already work. You can gain visibility into your financial path and make informed decisions when planning projects and other investments for the upcoming weeks.

While daily cash forecasting is useful for understanding your immediate needs, weekly cash forecasting provides a broader perspective for allocating resources and planning project actions strategically. With a weekly view, you gain a clear picture of when you can expect costs and revenue to materialize, and you can use this information to inform your decisions for strategic capital investments and other areas of focus for operating or growing your solar business. Weekly forecasting plays a pivotal role in sustainable growth by helping to uncover potential opportunities or risks.

Another invaluable benefit of weekly cash forecasting is cash flow gap analysis. Identifying periods of potential cash shortages or excesses empowers your company with the knowledge you need to proactively adjust your operations, negotiate more favorable payment terms, or secure additional financing to make sure you keep operating with healthy cash reserves. When you continuously monitor and analyze your weekly cash forecasts, you can optimize your working capital, reduce reliance on short-term loans, and improve profitability in the long run.

Forecast a Brighter Future: How to Incorporate Cash Forecasting Into Your Operations

In a rapidly evolving solar industry, unlocking financial insights through daily and weekly cash forecasting is vital for success and sustainability. By partnering with a proven commercial solar software provider, you can adapt advanced financial tools as part of a comprehensive solar solution. Equipping yourself with quick, convenient access to reliable daily and weekly cash forecasts empowers you to make informed strategic decisions when you’re considering expanding your service offerings or simply planning for upcoming projects.

Blu Banyan’s SolarSuccess solution includes an interactive Cash Projections dashboard tool that offers daily and weekly cash projections at your fingertips. SolarSuccess is the only solution in the industry that uses your actual milestone duration averages to inform the forecasts for your current projects, offering the most accurate daily and weekly cash forecasts available. As the solar industry continues to evolve, the ability to harness financial data into actionable insights will be a critical differentiator for companies seeking to thrive in this dynamic landscape.

Our dedicated team at Blu Banyan is eager to partner with you, so schedule a call today to talk about our daily and weekly forecasting tools and other strategic offerings. Let’s join forces to drive the global transition toward clean energy and unlock new avenues for profitability in your solar business.

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Implementing Solar ERP Software: Streamlining Operations and Maximizing Efficiency

Implementing Solar ERP Software: Streamlining Operations & Maximizing Efficiency. ERP systems help unify people, core business processes, and technology across an organization.

As environmental concerns increase and energy prices soar worldwide, solar energy is rapidly becoming a popular choice for organizations seeking sustainable and cost-effective power solutions. As the solar industry continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important for solar companies to optimize their operations and manage their resources effectively. This is where implementing a solar-specific Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software solution can play a crucial role.

What is an ERP?

ERP is an application that automates business processes and provides insights and internal controls to run all day-to day business. It draws on a central database (single source of truth) that collects inputs from various departments, including accounting, project management, inventory management, field services management, sales/CRM, all sitting on a single platform. 

An ERP system empowers business to analyze various scenarios, discover process improvements and generate major efficiency gains. That translates to cost savings and better productivity as people spend less time digging for needed data.

Put simply, an ERP system helps unify people, core business processes and technology across an organization.

Why Use a Solar-Specific ERP? 

When considering ERP software options, it’s essential to understand the difference between a solar-specific ERP solution and an industry-agnostic one. While industry-agnostic ERP systems can be customized to suit various sectors, solar-specific ERP software is designed specifically to meet the unique needs of solar energy companies. It incorporates industry-specific modules, such as solar project management, equipment tracking, and energy production monitoring, providing specialized features and functionalities that can streamline solar-specific workflows. 

Now that we know the difference between a solar-specific and an industry-agnostic ERP solution, how can you start with the implementation of this ERP solution in your business? Let’s look at the key considerations and steps involved in implementing solar ERP software, which are important to ensure a seamless transition and long-term success.

Defining Goals and Objectives

Before implementing any software solution, it’s vital to define clear goals and objectives. What specific outcomes do you want to achieve with your solar ERP software implementation? For example, you might aim to improve project management efficiency, optimize resource allocation, enhance cash management excellence and cost control, or strengthen compliance with regulatory standards. Clearly outlining your goals will help guide your selection process and set realistic expectations. 

Choosing the Right Software

The specific goals you want to achieve will then guide your selection of the appropriate solar ERP software. Conduct thorough research, evaluate different vendors, and consider factors such as functionality, scalability, ease of use, integration capabilities, and vendor reputation. The software you choose should align with your defined goals and objectives while also accommodating future growth and evolving industry requirements.

Involving Key Stakeholders

To ensure a successful implementation, involve key stakeholders from across your organization. This starts with engaging representatives from various departments, including project management, finance, operations, and IT. Seek their input, understand their specific needs, and address any concerns they may have. Involving stakeholders early on promotes collaboration, and also helps ensure that the ERP software will be able to meet the diverse requirements of your organization.

Obtaining Company-Wide Support

Securing company-wide support comes hand-in-hand with involving key stakeholders. From top-level management to front-line employees, communicate the benefits of the solar ERP software and how it aligns with the organization’s overall strategy. By emphasizing the positive impact the software will have on productivity, efficiency, and profitability, your company is more likely to accept this change.

Developing a Comprehensive Implementation Plan

A well-defined implementation plan is the backbone of a successful ERP software deployment. This plan should include a detailed roadmap that outlines key milestones, timelines, resource allocation, and dependencies. To mitigate risks and ensure a gradual and controlled transition, you can break the implementation process into manageable phases. Assigning responsibilities and establishing clear communication channels can facilitate collaboration and allow progress to be tracked effectively.

Providing Adequate Training

Any major change can be tough to manage, but providing training can ensure a smooth transition. Comprehensive training sessions should cover all relevant modules and functionalities to empower your employees to utilize the new solar ERP software effectively. Offer both initial training for the implementation phase and ongoing training to support continuous learning and skill development. Providing your team with resources such as user manuals, video tutorials, and online support can also reinforce training efforts and encourage self-guided learning.

Test and Validating the System

To ensure the system works well, you must thoroughly test and validate the solar ERP software before going live. Conduct extensive testing across different scenarios and workflows to identify and rectify any potential issues or bugs. The key stakeholders, who will be the end-users, should also be involved in the testing process to gather feedback and ensure the software meets their specific needs. The system should also be validated against your defined goals and objectives, ensuring that it delivers the expected outcomes.

Monitoring and Measuring Performance

Once the solar ERP software is up and running, continuously monitor and measure its performance. Key performance indicators (KPIs) can be established to assess the software’s impact on project timelines, resource utilization, cost control, and overall operational efficiency. Remember to regularly review and analyze the data to identify areas for improvement and take proactive measures to address any issues or bottlenecks.

Ensuring Ongoing Maintenance and Support

Lastly, now that the software is up and running, it is also crucial to keep up with maintenance and support for long-term success. You can either set up an in-house support team or engage with the software vendor for ongoing technical assistance, software updates, and bug fixes. Regularly review and optimize the software configuration to accommodate evolving business requirements and industry trends. 

Blu Banyan is Here to Help

By following these steps and considerations, implementing solar ERP software successfully has never been easier. With the right software solution in place, your organization can streamline operations, maximize efficiency, and capitalize on the growing opportunities in the solar energy industry. 

Looking to embrace the power of solar ERP software? Here at Blu Banyan, we can help implement your solar ERP software to increase the productivity and efficiency of your business.

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Can I Make Payroll Consistently?

Can I Make Payroll Consistently? How Cash Projections Can Help You Stay Cash Flow Positive

As a residential solar contractor, the increasingly high-interest rate environment can bring uncertainty into meeting margins and, in some cases, making payroll consistently. One of your primary concerns is maintaining a positive cash flow to meet financial obligations.

Here, we explore how effective cash projections can help you manage your finances, optimize project timelines, and keep a steady hand on payroll… all while maintaining a healthy cash flow.

Understanding the Importance of Cash Projections

When managing your business’s finances, taking a strategic approach is foundational. One key aspect is the ability to generate accurate cash flow projections by analyzing your company’s historical financial data and project-specific information driven by what’s recently happened in the field in similar projects. 

With this information in hand, you can proactively manage your cash flow to avoid potential shortfalls and ensure you have the funds you need to meet your payroll obligations and other financial commitments. This is imperative in the current environment and helps you achieve greater short- and long-term stability, thus increasing the opportunities for success in your business operations.

Forecasting Cash Shortfalls

Being proactive allows you to anticipate and identify periods of potential cash shortfalls in advance. Effective forecasting of future cash inflows and outflows allows you to pinpoint when you might face shortages and take proactive steps to mitigate them. Determine whether you need to adjust payment terms with suppliers, negotiate additional financing, or implement reasonable cost-cutting measures.  Visibility and control are extremely important in navigating any environment. 

Managing Expenses

Cash projections enable you to evaluate your current and future expenses more effectively. By analyzing projected cash flows, you can identify and optimize opportunities to reduce expenses to maintain positive cash. For example, you could negotiate better deals with vendors, eliminate unnecessary expenses, or reallocate resources to prioritize activities generating more revenue.

Monitoring and Accelerating Receivables

Tracking expected customer payments can also identify potential delays or collection issues. Find ways to speed up receivables, such as offering incentives for early payments or implementing stricter credit control policies.

Controlling Inventory Levels

Because excess inventory causes strain on cash flow, accurate projections can aid in managing your inventory levels. Projecting future cash flows lets you assess the cash tied up in inventory and determine if adjustments are necessary. Consider modifying the timing of your equipment purchases and developing strategies to maintain optimal inventory levels and minimize holding costs.

Anticipating Financing Needs

Cash projections provide insights into your future financing requirements. Carefully analyze projected cash flows to assess whether you’ll require additional funding to sustain operations and fuel growth. It’s less stressful to proactively explore financing options well in advance of when you’ll need the cash.

Streamlining Your Operations with SolarSuccess

Real-time Financial Insight: SolarSuccess is a full cloud-based business management solution that offers real-time visibility into your project finances, allowing you to stay updated on your cash position. With Cash Management Excellence tools built in, you can make informed financial decisions and take necessary actions to ensure year-round positive cash flow.

Using Cash Forecaster to Stay Cash Flow Positive 

The SolarSuccess Cash Forecaster can help you identify cash shortages, so you can develop proactive strategies to maintain positive cash flow and consistently make payroll… even when factors outside your control make this challenging. 

Are You Ready to See What SolarSuccess Can Do for Your Business?

SolarSuccess by Blu Banyan can help your solar installation business reach new heights by optimizing project timelines and managing cash flow to ensure your employees get paid on time. With accurate cash projections and proactive cash management strategies, you can confidently navigate cash flow and take your business to the next level. 

Eliminate the payroll headaches caused by cash management challenges in your solar business, and take the first steps toward achieving cash management excellence.

Talk to us about how SolarSuccess can optimize your business.

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The Importance of Good Data and Document Control for Solar Success

The Importance of Good Data & Document Control for Solar Success. Find out how a good solar ERP solution can help your business with its data control needs!

In the solar energy industry, where successful installations and efficient operations are key to achieving solar success, having good data and document control is paramount. Effective data management and document control practices help harmonize information, ensure accuracy, and provide a single source of information for all staff within the organization. 

Document Management, Harmonizing Data, and Its Importance to Solar Installers

Solar installation projects involve a significant amount of paperwork, including permits, contracts, designs, and invoices. Solar installers also need to handle vast amounts of data related to leads, projects, customer information, project management, inventory management, and financial transactions. Properly managing all these documents and harmonizing this data is crucial for efficient operations and decision-making. Data harmonization refers to the process of bringing together your data of varying file formats, naming conventions, and columns, and transforming it into one cohesive data set. This process turns all of your disparate data into the same format you need for analysis. 

By harmonizing data and organizing documents, information is standardized, organized, and easily accessible. This way, solar installers can eliminate inconsistencies, reduce errors, and enhance overall operational efficiency.

The Costly Impact of Data Silos and Document Dungeons 

Data silos and document dungeons, where data and documents are scattered across multiple systems, can be detrimental to solar installers. This means that the data is not available to the entire organization, but only to some parts of it, such as departments, teams, or even individual employees.  These fragmented data environments lead to inefficiencies, delays, and increased costs. Data silos make obtaining a holistic view of your operations difficult, impeding effective decision-making and hindering growth. Implementing a robust solar ERP software solution like SolarSuccess helps break down these silos and eliminates the document dungeons, ensuring that data and documents are centralized and easily accessible to authorized personnel.

Your Decisions Are Only as Good as Your Data

It is essential to recognize that the quality of your decisions relies heavily on the quality of your data. Inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to poor decision-making, missed opportunities, and increased risks. By establishing robust data control processes and leveraging SolarSuccess, solar installers can have confidence in their data, enabling them to make informed decisions based on accurate and reliable information.

Analyzing and Cleaning Your Data Before Reporting or Integrating Applications

Before reporting or integrating applications, it is crucial to analyze and clean your data to ensure accuracy and consistency. This involves identifying and resolving data inconsistencies, addressing missing or incorrect information, and performing data validation checks. By taking these steps, you can ensure that your reports and integrated applications are based on reliable data, leading to better insights and enhanced operational efficiency. 

Good Reporting Leads to Accurate Forecasting

Accurate forecasting is vital for solar installers to plan and optimize their installations effectively. Good reporting enables solar installers to generate comprehensive reports that provide insights into project performance, resource utilization, revenue forecasting, and more. This accurate forecasting helps optimize resource allocation, manage project timelines, and make data-driven decisions for future growth.

SolarSuccess and Your Single Source of Truth

To achieve solar success, solar installers need a single source of truth—a centralized repository of accurate and up-to-date data. The only way to overcome conflicting data from incompatible applications, is to move to a platform that has a single data source underlying all business operations, from accounting and inventory, to project management and CRM. 

This is where ERP software can come in handy; it can digitize document management, centralize document storage, enable collaboration, and streamline approval processes, reducing manual paperwork and improving document accessibility and accuracy.  ERP software also plays a key role in harmonizing data. Using a data-driven approach, the software can generate real-time reports and provide data analytics on various aspects of the business, such as project costs, resource utilization, sales performance, and profitability. 

SolarSuccess, a leading solar ERP software solution built on Oracle NetSuite, is vital in providing this single source of truth. NetSuite’s powerful business management suite can be enhanced by Blu Banyan’s advanced project management and team collaboration applications. By integrating and consolidating data from various sources, SolarSuccess creates a unified view of the entire business operations. This enables solar installers to make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and streamline processes effectively.

In conclusion, good data and document control are integral to solar success. By implementing effective data control practices, solar installers can optimize their operations, make informed decisions, and position themselves for success in the competitive solar energy industry. SolarSuccess by Blu Banyan offers solar installers a comprehensive solution for harmonizing data, ensuring a single source of truth, and leveraging data for growth. 

To learn more about SolarSuccess, the first and only complete software solution designed for the solar industry, reach out today!

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3 Key Strategies for Improving Your Cash Flow Cycle Using Cash Management Excellence Tools

3 Key Strategies for Improving Your Cash Flow Cycle. Explore practical strategies for maintaining a healthy cash flow cycle and unlocking cash management excellence in your solar business.

Effective cash management is a critical factor for running a successful solar business. As a solar installer, you’re well aware that this industry demands substantial upfront investments in equipment, labor, and project development. Cash Management Excellence is an essential component for balancing these demands successfully, especially in the current economic environment.

The key to thriving, and in some cases surviving, in this challenging and competitive landscape lies in staying ahead of these costs and ensuring you have sufficient funds to cover your expenses until you get paid.

Not sure where to start? Let’s explore three practical strategies for maintaining a healthy cash flow cycle and unlocking cash management excellence in your solar business.

1. Monitor project profitability

As a solar company, consistently monitoring the profitability of your projects is critical for finding valuable opportunities for improvement and, when needed, making adjustments to maximize returns. To gain a comprehensive understanding of your business’s performance, it is essential to regularly analyze the actual profitability of each project. This evaluation allows you to identify which projects have successfully achieved your target profitability and which ones have fallen short. Close examination of the higher-performing areas of your business can provide you with the insights you need to level up any areas that may be underperforming.

In addition to analyzing actual profitability, proactive monitoring of profitability projections keeps you one step ahead. If projections indicate that a project is not on track to meet your profitability expectations, you have the advantage of early detection. Proactive monitoring enables you to take immediate action, whether that means revising project parameters, optimizing resources, or renegotiating terms. Making adjustments and addressing problems as soon as possible gives you the opportunity to steer off-track projects toward a more favorable outcome.

Cash Management Excellence, a new feature toolkit in Blu Banyan’s SolarSuccess solution, provides visibility across projects and within projects with easy visualization tools for analyzing estimated and actual project profitability. These tools provide the insights you need to gain a deep understanding of your project profitability and identify low-margin projects while you still have the time and negotiation power to turn them around.

Project Profitability Estimated Dashboard

2. Track cash flow

In an industry that relies heavily on upfront investments and long-term returns, maintaining healthy cash flow is a top priority and often a top challenge, especially in the current economic environment. Safeguarding the stability and growth of your business requires closely monitoring cash inflow and outflow to make sure you have sufficient funds to cover your expenses, investments, and liabilities. Having the visibility you need to identify potential cash flow gaps enables you to be proactive in anticipating cash shortfalls and making any needed adjustments.

Tracking cash flow is not merely a short-term, reactive endeavor; it also plays a pivotal role in long-term financial planning. By analyzing the patterns and trends within your cash flow, you can gain valuable insights into your financial health and take the steps necessary to establish appropriate reserves.

The Cash Management Excellence toolkit offers cash visualization tools that provide real-time visibility into your financial health. Visibility into this important aspect of your business empowers you to make informed financial decisions, take proactive measures to address shortfalls, and adjust your cash management strategy for financial stability. In doing so, you will be better equipped to adapt to any challenges and seize the opportunities that arise in the ever-evolving solar industry.

3. Project upcoming costs and revenue

Solar companies work and are paid upon completion of specific construction milestones, so they understand that carefully planning upfront investments is a prerequisite for successfully executing a solar project.

Knowing when you’ll have money coming in takes the guesswork out of figuring out how and when to invest in your projects. While you may not be able to exactly know when you’ll generate a milestone invoice or incur project expenses, data-driven revenue projections are invaluable when it comes to gaining a clear understanding of when revenue will materialize. Based on milestone payment schedules and average milestone durations for similar projects, SolarSuccess can predict, on average, when a certain milestone will hit and when its milestone invoices or costs will be generated.

With Cash Management Excellence, you gain access to weekly cash flow projections that are updated daily based on real-time project data. By accounting for actual project terms and conditions, SolarSuccess proactively addresses the variables inherent in solar projects to bring you the most accurate projections based on real and current milestone durations and averages.

Reliable cash flow projections are the key to making informed decisions. Not only do they give you the confidence to utilize your funds effectively, but they empower you to set realistic goals for future growth and profitability, enabling strategic planning for your business’s success.

Are you ready to master cash management?

By monitoring project profitability, tracking cash flow, and projecting upcoming costs and revenue, you can make informed financial decisions that support and advance the long-term success of your solar business. SolarSuccess combines all three of these strategies into a powerful Cash Management Excellence toolkit. When you have the insights you need to confidently navigate cash flow challenges and drive sustainable growth, you can optimize your cash flow cycle, achieve financial stability, and unlock the full potential of your business.

Don’t waste another day struggling with cash management challenges in your solar business. Contact Blu Banyan today – we can’t wait to help you take the first steps toward achieving cash management excellence.

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How SolarSuccess Can Help You Streamline Operations

How SolarSuccess Can Help You Streamline Operations. SolarSuccess ERP offers users a single platform to manage your entire solar business.

As the solar energy industry continues to thrive, solar installers face the challenge of managing complex business operations while delivering successful projects. This is where implementing Solar ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software can play a vital role. Solar ERP solutions like SolarSuccess offer complete business management for solar installers, enabling them to achieve operational excellence and maximize their success. 

In this article, we will explore how SolarSuccess solar ERP software can help manage cash flow and manage margins, while increasing ROI.  We will also offer top tips for managing solar installations effectively.

Complete Business Management for SolarSuccess

SolarSuccess, built on Oracle NetSuite, is an innovative solar ERP software solution designed specifically for the solar industry. It offers comprehensive business management capabilities, allowing solar installers and developers to improve their solar project management, resource allocation, customer relationship management, and financial operations. With SolarSuccess, solar installers can streamline their entire workflow, increasing employee productivity and project profitability. 

How to Achieve Solar Success

SolarSuccess empowers solar installers to achieve operational efficiencies by providing them with the tools, visibility, and insights into their operations. SolarSuccess helps businesses manage their resources more efficiently across project management, accounting, inventory management, and much more. 

The software also includes a fully interconnected CRM. By leveraging customer relationship management (CRM) features, solar installers can nurture relationships, provide personalized customer experiences, and increase customer satisfaction. 

Efficient project management is crucial for solar success, and SolarSuccess offers robust project planning and execution capabilities. From project scheduling and resource allocation to tracking project milestones and monitoring progress, the software enables installers to stay on top of their projects, ensuring timely and successful installations.

How to Manage Cash Flow Excellence 

Cash management excellence is a critical aspect of any business, and solar installers are no exception. SolarSuccess helps installers achieve cash flow excellence with powerful accounting and financial management features. The software enables businesses to get a clear image of their financials, allowing installers to track their income and expenses, analyze revenue projections, assess profitability at a project level, and manage cash flow effectively. With integrated financial analytics, installers can gain insights into revenue trends and make informed financial decisions.

End-to-End Business Solutions for Solar Installers

SolarSuccess offers end-to-end business solutions for solar installers, covering every stage of the project lifecycle. From initial lead capture to post-installation customer support, the software provides a seamless and integrated platform for managing all aspects of the business. This comprehensive approach ensures consistency, reduces manual errors, and enhances overall efficiency.

A Solar Software that Walks the Walk

SolarSuccess is not just a software solution; it’s a partner in success. As an award-winning business management software for all solar installers, SolarSuccess has been helping clients reduce installation costs and manage solar projects more profitably. The software is built and continuously updated based on industry best practices and customer feedback. It walks the walk by addressing the specific needs and challenges solar installers face, making it more effective and efficient than other industry-agnostic ERP solutions. A third of solar companies use SolarSuccess today!

Top Tips to Manage Your Solar Installs

While implementing SolarSuccess can significantly improve your solar installation management, here are some additional tips to further enhance your operations:

Standardize Processes: Develop standardized procedures and workflows for different stages of the installation process to ensure consistency and minimize errors.

Invest in Training: Provide comprehensive training to your employees on both the software and industry-specific best practices. Well-trained staff can leverage the software’s capabilities to their fullest extent.

Monitor Performance: Regularly review project performance metrics and KPIs to identify areas for improvement, optimize resource allocation, and streamline processes.

Foster Collaboration: Encourage collaboration among different teams involved in solar installations, including sales, project management, and customer support. Effective communication and collaboration are essential for seamless project execution.

Implement SolarSuccess with Blu Banyan

Implementing solar ERP software like SolarSuccess can revolutionize the way solar installers manage their businesses. From complete business management capabilities to cash flow excellence and end-to-end solutions, SolarSuccess offers the tools and insights needed to achieve solar success and thrive in the growing solar energy industry.

Looking to implement SolarSuccess? Reach out to us at Blu Banyan, we offer a complete suite of tools and insights to increase your efficiency and cut back costs for your solar installation business. 

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The Top Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Help PM’s Keep Solar Projects on Track

Top Key Performance Indicators to Help Project Managers Keep Solar Projects on Track

Project managers in the solar industry have their work cut out for them. Keeping track of project milestones, ensuring that projects are on schedule and on budget, and dealing with unexpected setbacks can be daunting. But by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), project managers can minimize problems and ensure that solar projects stay on track. In this blog post, we will discuss the Top 5 Solar KPIs that you should be tracking in order to keep your projects on track!

Read to the end for 5 more bonus metrics to ensure your team is monitoring what matters most!

The Importance of KPIs for Solar Project & Asset Managers

Solar projects are complex, with many moving parts and stakeholders. This can make it difficult to keep track of everything that is going on. KPIs can help solar project managers by providing a clear overview of what is happening on a project and where there may be potential problems.

As a project manager, it is important to be aware of the different KPIs that you should be tracking in order to keep your projects on track. By tracking these KPIs, you will be able to identify issues early on and take corrective action to prevent problems from occurring.

Which Project Processes Benefit from KPI Tracking?

Solar project managers should track KPIs related to project cost, schedule, and performance, operational impacts and solar system performance.

Project Cost KPIs

Project cost is one of the most important KPIs for solar project managers. By tracking project costs, project managers can ensure that projects are on budget and identify areas where cost savings can be achieved.

There are a few different ways to track project costs. One way is to track the total project cost relative to the budget. This can be done by tracking the percentage of the budget that has been spent as the project progresses. Another way to track project costs is to track the cost of each individual component of the project. This can help solar project managers to identify areas where costs are higher than expected and take corrective action.

Project Schedule KPIs

Another important KPI for solar project managers is project schedule. By tracking the project schedule, project managers can ensure that projects are on track and identify potential delays.

There are a few different ways to track project schedules. One way is to track the project milestones and compare them to the planned schedule. This can help solar project managers to identify delays and take corrective action. Another way to track project schedules is to track the number of days that each task takes to complete. This can help solar project managers to identify areas where tasks are taking longer than expected and make changes to future project plans or make processes more efficient.

Project Portfolio Performance KPIs

More often than not, PM’s will be managing multiple projects. Whilst this can be complex, it offers the opportunity to do cross project comparisons to really see how each project is performing compared to baseline projections and the original project plan. By tracking the overall project performance, project managers can see across their portfolio of solar projects, identify where there may be issues and investigate further.

Operational Solar KPIs

As well as project-based KPIs, there are also operational KPIs that solar project managers should be aware of. These KPIs can help solar project managers to track the performance of the operations team and identify areas where improvements can be made in terms of managing materials, supply chain and logistics constraints, and installation/servicing tasks.

Solar System Performance KPIs

Customer satisfaction in the solar industry is intrinsically linked to the performance of the assets that are being managed, as well as the transparency of reporting that is given to the customer.

Some of the operational KPIs that solar project managers should track include:

Solar PV system performance

This KPI tracks the performance of the solar PV system. Solar project managers can use this KPI to identify issues with the system and plan to make changes to improve its performance.

Energy production – This KPI tracks the amount of energy that is being produced by the solar PV system. Solar project managers can use this KPI to ensure that the system is operating as expected and identify any issues that may be affecting its performance.

Solar system uptime

This KPI tracks the amount of time that the solar PV system is operational. Solar project managers can use this KPI to ensure that the system is available when it is needed and identify any issues that may be reducing its availability for customers.

Solar system reliability

This KPI tracks the number of faults that occur with the solar PV system. Solar project managers can use this KPI to identify issues with the system and plan to make changes to servicing plans to improve its reliability.

Solar PV system maintenance costs

This KPI tracks the costs associated with maintaining the solar PV system. Solar project managers can use this KPI to identify areas where cost savings can be made in terms of servicing and maintenance to improve overall ROI of the asset.

Top 5 KPIs to Help Drive Profitability in the Solar Industry

1. ROI – Return on investment

ROI is always an important KPI for any type of business, but it is especially important in the solar industry where there is a lot of upfront investment required. Solar project managers can use this KPI to track the performance of their projects and ensure that they are meeting targets for ROI.

It’s a good idea to go back and review the ROI at regular intervals throughout an asset’s existence so you can figure out any declines in expected ROI as well as the cause to ensure that future asset management plans are not impacted the same way.

2. NPV – Net present value

Over time, the Net Present Value of certain assets can decline due to usage, age, or technology obsolescence. Solar project managers can use this KPI to track the performance of their projects and ensure that they are meeting targets for NPV.

This is another metric where it’s a good idea to review at regular intervals so you can make course corrections as necessary to keep the NPV from declining too much.

3. IRR – Internal rate of return

The Internal Rate of Return is a more granular way to look at the concept of ROI. This KPI can help solar project managers to ensure that their projects are meeting targets for profitability. Consider IRR to be a form of interest on your investment. It tells you how much money you make each year on the money you invest. It’s critical to keep track of the IRR while a project is underway in order to guarantee successful outcomes

4. PR – Performance ratio

This is a crucial indicator for solar power generation plants. The performance ratio compares the actual electricity generated to predicted figures. Site layout and weather, among other factors, will reduce the actual performance of an asset so it is important to keep a close eye on performance trends to ensure profit targets are achieved. A poor PR indicates that technical difficulties are preventing an asset from operating at maximum efficiency, which can trigger the need for proactive servicing outside of the standard maintenance schedule.

5. PA – Plant availability

Plant Availability KPIs give you a score on your plants overall uptime. When a plant goes down due to planned or unplanned outages, this reduces the amount of time that it can generate electricity, which in turn impacts your power generation capacity. Having a targeted plant availability goal, and tracking PA as a KPI will help ensure that your targets are being achieved and service level agreements are being met.

In Conclusion

There are a number of KPIs that solar project managers can use to track the performance of their projects and ensure profitability. ROI, NPV, and IRR are important financial KPIs to track, while PR and PA give insights into the operational efficiency of an asset. By tracking these KPIs on a regular basis, solar project managers can make course corrections as necessary to keep their projects on track and profitable.

SolarSuccess by Blu Banyan comes with a wide range of KPIs ready to implement on your users dashboards with the click of a button. These KPI portlets help make the day to day managing and monitoring of your solar projects easy and ensure that any issues are detected and rectified as quickly as possible. 

If you are interested in learning more, reach out to one of our team members for an obligation free discussion.

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5 BONUS METRICS TO EMPOWER YOUR SOLAR BUSINESS:
Carbon offset: By tracking the amount of carbon emissions that are offset by the solar project, project managers can use this KPI to demonstrate the environmental benefits of the solar project and provide transparency to customers and stakeholders.
 
Employee turnover rate: This KPI tracks the rate at which employees are leaving the project or the organization. High employee turnover can affect the project’s performance, and by tracking this metric, project managers can identify the reasons for high turnover and take steps to improve retention.
 
Supply chain KPIs: Supply chain management is crucial for solar projects as they involve the procurement of a wide range of materials and equipment. Solar project managers can track KPIs related to supplier performance, lead times, and inventory levels. These metrics can help project managers to identify potential supply chain bottlenecks and take corrective action to ensure that materials and equipment are delivered on time and within budget.
 
Safety KPIs: Safety is a top priority for any construction project, and solar projects are no exception. Project managers can track KPIs related to safety incidents, near-misses, and safety training completion rates. By tracking safety metrics, project managers can ensure that safety protocols are being followed, identify areas where improvements can be made, and promote a culture of safety.
 

This article is about:

KPIs for the solar industry, key performance indicators, solar power plant, actual production, actual plant performance ratio, actual energy production, project performance data, weather adjusted energy budget, reference energy production, investment performance ratio, default energy budget, theoretical energy outputs, operating performance ratio, asset management processes, actual production relates, right key performance indicators, reference performance ratio, actual irradiance data, performance ratio, energy budget, solar plant, financial performance, expected production, solar panels, solar operators, solar farms, inverter performance, asset manager, budget predicted, physical assets, asset managers, data challenge, renewable energy, resource index, pv plant, energy loss, weather adjusted, real world conditions, pv modules, specific yield, better understanding, device level, thermal losses, huge amounts, weather conditions, various metrics, remaining losses, solar energy, conduction losses, energy, production, solar, industry, data, electricity, metric, losses caused, system, period, achieve, measure, inverter, plant, actual, grid, operation, health, enable, site, inverters, quality, performance, track, relationship, technology, capacity, investors, generated, performing, produced.

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Operational Excellence in Solar Projects

How SolarAPP+ Is Cutting Through Bureaucracy

EXECUTIVE TALK SERIES:

How SolarAPP+ Will Dramatically Reduce Permitting Application Time for Solar Installers

Jan Rippingale – Founder & CEO of Blu Banyan, talks about how the SolarAPP+ (Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus platform) is cutting through layers and layers of bureaucracy, which is essential as we power the energy information infrastructure.

Why this is important:

In this presentation, Jan Rippingale walks you through how to leverage the SolarAPP+ application and explains the significant amount of time (27 to 56 days of processing time reduced to a one-day process) and resources you would save by utilizing SolarSuccess which is being fully integrated with SolarAPP+.

Full Transcript

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Full transcript:

How SolarAPP+ Integration with SolarSuccess Will Dramatically Reduce Permitting Application Time for Solar Installers

 The next exciting piece of this progression is to show how our common tools fit together. And the biggest common tool that I think we’re all going to be utilizing in the next several years is the SolarAPP+ (Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus platform). And it really is cutting through layers and layers of bureaucracy, which is essential as we power the energy information infrastructure.

The SolarAPP+ permitting process has already demonstrated substantial improvements in how things are working. We are scaling tremendously. In 2021, we had a 30% year over year uptick in the installed solar capacity. And literally the mission of Blue Banyan is to make sure that uptick increases and grows faster and faster.

So, the need to do this in a systemic efficient manner is only increasing as we collectively work to meet the Paris Climate Accord agreements that we made as a country. We need to address this challenge and it is happening quick and it is happening right now.

Since its launch, SolarAPP+ has saved the AHJs over 3,000 hours of staff time, and that’s growing every day.

It is amazing the amount of time that gets freed up at the AHJs to be able to focus on improving safety where it’s needed. So, this is absolutely a, a gain for each AHJ.

To-date, SolarAPP+ has processed over 7,600 residential solar permits. And I did have a conversation with Jeff Cook (Renewable Energy Policy and Market Analyst, NREL), at InterSolar North America in February, 2023 and he said that it was closer to 15,000 at this point in time.
So, we are absolutely gaining speed and momentum and how many permits are getting processed using the SolarAPP+ application.

California as usual has taken everything up to the next level. So as of September, 2022, they passed the Solar Access Act, which means that in one year, which is by the end of September, 2023, all of the medium to large size AHJs in the state of California need to be using SolarAPP+ or its equivalent. And by September, 2024, all AHJs in the state of California need to be using SolarAPP+ or its equivalent.

California is requiring it for all of its jurisdictions because it’s improving the safety and reducing the costs. So higher quality delivery of services to homeowners and citizens while simultaneously reducing the expenses and helping us deploy more solar faster.

It’s a win-win-win. California’s requiring it, and we do expect, especially the sunbelt states are going to follow.

As of today, as this moment, I’m recording. These are the AHJs that are fully active, those that are in pilots and those that are testing. These are the maturing ones, and it is changing almost every single day. So, you need to go to this URL here (https://help.solar-app.org/article/108-where-is-solarapp-available) to see where the SolarAPP+ is available. The list is growing and going to continue to grow.

It is going to focus on the sunbelt states first because that’s the highest impact and we expect to see this to go the states that aren’t sunbelt states who haven’t really experienced the volumes of solar installations that the sunbelt states have. Are going to follow the same patterns because they are even less motivated to make up a new way of doing things. So, this is how we’re all getting on the same page.

Let me show you how all of these pieces fit together with the common tools.

We’ve got a solar installer, the AHJ, and then all of these common tools and databases over here. So, the solar installer, and in this case they’re on SolarSuccess, but whichever tool that they’re using is going to automatically submit an application to SolarAPP+ and they’re using an Orange Button compliant API, so that this same API can be used with any Orange Button compliance software, and it sends over all of the data so you don’t have to retype the pieces that are already in your system.

This saves half to two thirds of the time and without errors right off the bat. So, this one transaction is actually a 50% efficiency gain. Next, if you don’t already have the AHJ assigned with the AHJ ID, SolarAPP+ will identify and find that for you. They’re using the same AHJ identifiers, as SolarSuccess uses, and you’ll get that AHJ ID back.

If you don’t have clearly defined products yet from the Product Registry, it will go and find those products that you’re using. And return those product IDs back into SolarAPP+ so it’ll know which certifications you’ve got.

It will take the application; it’ll pull together this common reference data.

So, the specific data for the project comes from the installer, the common reference data comes from the registries, and then with that it will construct the SolarAPP+ application questions.

So, at some point in time these questions will come back to SolarSuccess and other products, but for now you, you click on a link and it’ll take you to this questionnaire and that you’ve fill out the rest of the pieces that you’ve got to say about – yes, I’m using the right wire gauge, or whatever detail of questions that you probably don’t have in your bill of materials.

So, it’ll answer any of the questions that are remaining, and we do expect these questions to change over time. Storage was added in Q4 of 2022. We’re expecting more and more sophisticated questions to come up as we roll out nationally. Once the questions are fully done and submitted, it goes to the AHJ. They will review the process and either approve or reject it.

And if they approve it, then you’ve got your permit ID that feeds back into the software and in SolarSuccess. Then that next step is it triggers scheduling the installation. This is a one-day process versus the average currently of 27 days, even in this sunbelt states that they’re most active in. When it’s not Sunbelt states, we’re looking at an average of 56 days to get your permit.

So, we’re taking 27 to 56 days of timeline, of homeowner frustration, of delayed gratification, and we’re turning it into this one-day process with less data entry, fewer errors, greater clarity.

It’s happier for the homeowner, it’s happier for the installer, it’s happier for the AHJ. Everybody wins. It’s time to move to the new world.

This is a quick demo of what it can look like in SolarSuccess. So, you’re on a given project, you’ve got a SolarAPP+ project id, and then you’ll see that we’ve got the SolarAPP+ specific information here on this job.

The job type is a particularly important piece of information for the different SolarAPP+ job types. You need to know if it’s PV or PV+storage, and building integrated PV is being added next.

So, PV and PV+storage are a key field that you need to have for the questions.

When you finished your product, you click create the SolarAPP+ application on your project when you’re ready for that stage, the status shifts and you just wait. You can click and get the SolarAPP+ status (if you’re super OCD and need a button to click) or you can just wait and it will pull every 30 minutes until it’s completed.

When the application comes in and, and it’s done, you have this link and this is where you go and get prompted to fill in your question.

You sign into the account and you’ll see the actions to fill out your questions, and you can actually edit and change things here if you’d like to. All of the power is still in the installer hands.

And as the status goes, each time you ping, you can check the status and see what happened. When this is marked as approved, this looks super detailed. You’ve got the full detail accessible to you. If you want to have that transparency, but you don’t need it. You can just wait and say that it’s approved and it’ll move to the next status saying it’s time to schedule the install.

So, pulling this all together, that’s an example of how this works with SolarSuccess and with different software, they may well have that flow look differently. But it can be as complex where you watch all the details or as simple as you would like. The end result of all of this is that we have higher productivity, the data accuracy is improved and standard formats, we’ve got the integration and this means that we have more throughput.

We can do more jobs with the same number of people as we could before. This gives us more bandwidth so the faster we complete the projects and the less time we need to spend on doing the project management for these projects, the more time we can spend in the field delivering the projects as we move forward.

So, you can take on more projects.

This is better for financing. You can get better quality financing and more people are interested in financing because the process is more standardized. If everybody knows that the permitting is happening according to the national standard and that national standard is clear, the risk goes down for the financiers, because all they need to do is say, yes, I trust that NREL has worked this out, and that we are installing to the right level of safety that we need to be installing with. And the financiers are happy. What they want is consistency. So, by automating this in a consistent way across the entire country, we’re actually freeing up capital to be better, more available, and available at better terms for the entire country.

This gives everyone a higher return on investment (ROI). It costs less so the homeowner gets a higher return on their investment in solar, the solar installers can have higher margins and spend less money on overhead, time and frustration, and reduce their risk. The financing also reduces their risk. And the AHJs spend less time going over this.

The inspection statistics show that it’s exactly the same. Doing a SolarAPP+ application, you have the exact same inspection failure rates as you do with the paper-based application. So, everybody experienced a higher ROI in the area that they’re most interested in.

It is only goodness that we roll this out to everybody, and we’ve got a large and growing contingency of people interested in bringing this reality to all of us.

Everyone in the entire industry is affected by using the common tool and benefits from the energy information infrastructure that we are pulling together. So, this is the key for us being able to scale at the rate that we need to scale at, to meet our commitments for the Paris Climate Accord, but also just to meet the commitments we have to our children that we are going to leave this world better than we found it.

This is how we do it. This is how we make these high-minded sounding dreams into reality.
So, I look forward to your participation.

Thank you.

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