Jade Global is an Oracle Platinum Partner and a Systems Integrator, headquartered in San Jose, CA with global operations. Jade global implemented the planning solution at Sungevity along with multiple other solutions for Sungevity business and supports Sungevity Oracle applications on an ongoing basis.

1. Planning for Solar Installation
Company
Whitepaper
Manoj Rathi
Consulting Manager
Jade Global, Inc.
Karen Anderson
Supply Chain Manager
Sungevity, Inc.

2. 01
Introduction
Sungevity is a residential solar company founded in 2007 and has
offices in Berkeley and Oakland, California. Sungevity uses an internet
based approach to build and design residential solar arrays by using
online Maps and install the same. Sungevity offers 10 year Solar-
Lease, allowing people to go solar with no money down making it as
easy and affordable as possible for its customers.
Jade Global is an Oracle Platinum Partner and a Systems Integrator,
headquartered in San Jose, CA with global operations. Jade global
implemented the planning solution at Sungevity along with multiple
other solutions for Sungevity business and supports Sungevity Oracle
applications on an ongoing basis.
Material planning in a solar company has its own unique
requirements. Demand is usually expressed in terms of KW/MW
whereas supply is expressed in terms of number of panels, inverters
etc. For a solar installation project, lead times could be significantly
high – usually 2-3 months.
There are number of other factors that play a significant role in
determining the timing and progress of a project, such as design
completion, utility and government approvals, and if it’s a leased
project, finance availability. A predominantly leasing business of
solar installation is very capital intensive and calls for smart material
planning and inventory management. To top that, supplier lead times
are typically higher. There are significant volume discounts too that
may influence procurement decisions.
While the project moves from “Sold” to “Design Completed” status,
demand typically changes from KW to individual panels and inverters,
and finally to actual designed BOM for the installation. Typical time
from quote to sold is 30-60 days and from sold to design complete
is 30-60 days. Once design is completed, material is shipped to the
project site within a week or two. At each stage, keeping a track
of actual and estimated demand is crucial for timely completion of
projects, which in turn impacts the cash flow position.
Sungevity currently operates in 2 geographies:
1. Southwest – primarily covers operations under one 3PL
organization with all other locations – nettable and non nettable
- defined as sub-inventories.
2. East coast – a different 3PL for warehousing and logistics and
other locations defined as sub-inventories.

3. 02
A home grown CRM system maintains the project from quote to
installation to grid-connection and beyond. The data is integrated to
Oracle Projects and Order Management on a daily basis.
Each project is tracked in Oracle Projects module under a project
status. A lookup maintains estimated time to install based on project
status. Demand due dates for entered orders are determined based
on project status and the time to install and updated on a daily basis.
Each organization has its own planning and at this point there is no
planned material transfer between these organizations. Sungevity
is currently using separate MRP for each geography. It can be
upgraded to ASCP when Sungevity expands its offering in many more
geographies and consolidate warehouses.
Panel and Inverter Planning
Panel cost is the biggest contributor to the cost of the installed solar
project. It is therefore essential to manage panel demand and supply
wisely. Strategically the company needs to maintain multiple active
sources for panels. Additional factors influencing buying decisions for
panels include:
• Volume discounts provided for suppliers
• Storage cost with 3PL
• Transportation cost – truckload vs. less than truck load.
Panel demand could be classified in 3 distinct buckets:
• Panel quantity in booked orders - firm
• Panel quantity in entered orders – high probability with some
chance of changes after design.

4. 03
• Forecast in KW broken down in quantity needed for each panel
part using planning BOM
Panel shipments from suppliers are typically received twice a month.
The shipments are broken down by location in full truck loads.
Inverters usually are ordered along with panels from the same
supplier. Even though each project needs just one or two inverters,
they are costly and hence top the list of A class items. Demand are
supply are both pegged to panel quantity at a historical rate.
Mountings and Miscellaneous Parts Planning
There are 2 categories of such items:
Items with demand pegged to panel demand
Items with fixed quantity per project
The planning BOMs would store quantity of each mounting items
required for one panel item. For fixed quantity per project, the BOM
component is set up as lot based.
Planning BOM Sample:
Item: PLAN_ITEM Alternate: PANEL1
Item Basis Quantity From Date To Date
PANEL MOUNT1 Item 4 1-JAN-2012 30-MAR-2012
JUNCTION BOX Lot 1 1-JAN-2012
PANEL MOUNT2 Item 4 1-MAR-2012
Examples:
Say 4 panel mounts are required per panel “Panel A” so an alternate
BOM for the planning item “SUN_PLANNING_ITEM” would be created.
We created a program to calculate and load dependent demand for
these items in a forecast.
Planning Process
First 3 months demand is usually for sold projects. These projects
are entered in Oracle Order management for panel and inverter parts
only. Mountings and Miscellaneous category items are not entered
in sales orders till the design is completed. Once the final design
is uploaded to the order, the order is flagged as design completed
using a DFF. Typically such orders are reviewed and booked in the
same week and shipped within a week or two.
We defined a single forecast set in each geography (inventory org)
with 2 forecasts as follows:
Standard Forecast: STD_FCT is for the SUN_PLANNING_ITEM entered
as KW per period. It is based on marketing and sales forecast and
business plan and usually starts 3 months from now.
Example:
Basis Date End Date No. of
Buckets
Quantity
Period 01-Jul-2012 30-Sep-2012 3 1500
Period 1-Oct-2012 31-Dec-2012 3 1700
Period 1-Jan-2013 31-Mar-2013 3 1900
This forecast is intended to be broken down into individual parts
using a planning BOM for the SUN_PLANNING_ITEM. This BOM
would break KW based demand into individual parts including panels,
invertors and mountings.
This forecast is intended to be broken down into individual parts
using a planning BOM for the SUN_PLANNING_ITEM. This BOM
would break KW based demand into individual parts including panels,
invertors and mountings.
Example of Planning BOM to explode standard forecast:
Item: SUN_PLANNING_ITEM
Alternate Name: Null UOM: KW

5. 04
Dependent Demand: DEP_DMD is the calculated forecast for
mountings and miscellaneous items using entered orders for panels
and invertors breaking it up using the alternate BOM for planning
item with alternate name corresponding to the panel part number.
Example: Assuming following data, dependent demand is calculated
as below
1. Panel quantity entered in a sales order is 24
2. Estimated scheduled ship date of 15-Mar-2012
Item Basis Quantity From Date To Date Demand Qty Demand Date
PANEL MOUNT1 Item 4 1-JAN-2012 30-Mar-2012 24*4 = 96 15-Mar-2012
JUNCTION BOX Lot 1 1-JAN-2012 1 per order 15-Mar-2012
PANEL MOUNT1 Item 4 1-APR-2012 Not active yet None
Estimated Ship Date Calculation:
The estimated ship date for projects is a factor of project status and
defined in a lookup as follows:
Project updates happen in CRM and updated in Oracle Projects and
Order Management on a daily basis.
The program to update estimated ship date (demand due date) looks
at the current project status and calculates the estimated shipping
date using above lookup.
Example: For a project 12345 which is in CAP1 status, the estimated
shipping date would be,
24-Apr-2012 + 50 days = 13-Jun-2012
Code = Project Status Code
Meaning = Number of days from now.
Description = Project status
Item Planned Split Component Qty From Date To Date Forecast KW for
JUN-12
MDS Qty
PANEL1 30% 1.5 1-JAN-2012 30-Mar-2012 1500 0
PANEL2 30% 1.5 1-JAN-2012 1500 2250
PANEL3 40% 2.0 1-JAN-2012 1500 3000
PANEL MOUNT1 30% 6 1-JAN-2012 1500 9000
PANEL MOUNT2 30% 6 1-JAN-2012 1500 9000
PANEL MOUNT3 40% 8 1-JAN-2012 1500 12000
INVERTOR1 30% .1 1-JAN-2012 1500 150
INVERTOR2 30% .1 1-JAN-2012 1500 150
INVERTOR3 40% .12 1-JAN-2012 1500 180
JUNCTION BOX 100% .3 1-JAN-2012 1500 450
PANEL4 30% 1.5 1-APR-2012 1500 2250
INVERTOR4 30% .1 1-APR-2012 1500 300

6. 05
Planning Steps
1. Run the program to update schedule ship dates for entered
orders.
2. Run the program to calculate dependent demand based on
entered orders.
3. Run MDS load program to load MDS from forecast set with
standard forecast and dependent demand by selecting to
explode all forecasts and include all orders.
4. Run MRP without including sales orders (they are already
included in MDS).
5. Review, make changes if required, and release purchase
requisitions and purchase orders.
Challenges
Although the process looks simple, and serves the objective of
replacing spreadsheet based planning, it had its own challenges.
• Planning is heavily data dependent and accuracy and timeliness
of input data is critical to get the right plan recommendations.
We faced multiple challenges in getting accurate and timely
CRM data in Oracle. Especially installer information was not
synchronized between the 2 systems leading to too many
exceptions in CRM to Oracle integration.
• In some cases mountings and other parts were added to
entered orders leading to duplication of demand. The program
to populate dependent demand had to be changed to exclude
such items using item categories. Ensuring accuracy for item
categories took some time.
• Currently, inter-org transfers and transit times are not factored
in the solution.
Benefits of the solution
Planning can now be performed using a systemic solution with surety
of results and recommendations instead of working with too many
connected spreadsheets. Planning can be done faster and more
frequently (from a monthly planning cycle to weekly planning cycle).
Strategic planning changes such as phasing in/out of a key supplier
can be factored in very easily using BOM effective dates.
The solution is very simple and easy to work with and maintain. It has
been designed using MRP but is scalable to ASCP without much effort
or rework in the design.
While designing and testing this solution, we surfaced out a number
of data inconsistencies between different systems and deployed
solutions to take care of the same. This made the overall IT systems
more coherent.
Forecast Set
Enter forecast in
Oracle
Upload panel and
inverter order
Standard
Forecast
Sold
Project
Upload MDS
Dependent
Demand
Calculate and
update scheduled
ship date
Calculate
dependent
demand and due
date
Panel and
inverter
order
Run MRP/ASCP
Release PRs and
POs
Safety stocks,
EOQ,
Approved
vendors
Design
completed
Booked/
Final
Order
Planning
BOMs

7. 06
The benefits for this solution include:
Weekly planning cycle has the potential to reduce overall inventory by
• 2 weeks’ worth of supply.
• This results in reduced 3PL carrying cost.
• Lower chance of obsolescence
• Better user productivity
Next Steps
As the business expands to additional regions and states and it
becomes less economical to maintain a warehouse in each region,
the obvious next step would be to use ASCP to determine which
warehouse to use for fulfilling demands. Also there would be a need
to plan material transfers between warehouses. Currently ATP is not
an issue but as number of projects increase, using ATP to determine
ship dates would be a good option. Once Sungevity decides to use
project BOMs and installed base information in Oracle, project level
planning can be performed. Finally, real time integration with 3PLs,
suppliers and installers would make the planning more timely and
accurate.
Another major focus for Sungevity would be to implement some
advanced demand management tool like Demantra.
About Jade Global
Jade Global is an enterprise systems integration firm headquartered
in San Jose, California with offices in Boston, MA, and Pune and
Noida, India. Committed to our customer’s long term business growth
and success, we create value through a portfolio of IT services
delivered by highly skilled and experienced consultants. Clients rely on
our trustworthy advice to derive value from software investments and
gain business efficiencies by leveraging our expertise and knowledge
of best practices.
Jade Global is a SAS Type II certified Oracle Platinum Partner.
With extensive experience across the Oracle product suite and
technologies, we are committed to bringing the right skills for their
customer’s projects to deliver the best value.
More information about Jade Global can be found on our website
www.jadeglobal.com.
About Sungevity
Sungevity’s online iQuote process and solar lease program make
it easy and affordable for homeowners to benefit from solar power.
Leveraging web-based solar analytics and satellite imagery, Sungevity
can deliver a firm quote within 24 hours without a home visit and
provide homeowner with immediate savings on their electricity bills.
This affordability and ease of use, combined with Sungevity’s
solar social network strategy, is all part of Sungevity’s mission
to accelerate solar into the mainstream. Aligned with Sungevity’
mission and values, the company is recognized as a B Corp, a new
type of corporation that harnesses the power of private enterprise
to create public benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
Sungevity was recognized by B Corp as one of the “Best for the
World” companies for using the power of business to solve social and
environmental problems.
For more information, visit www.sungevity.com.

8. C
E
R T I F I E D
C
E
RTIFIED
C
E
RTIFIED
C
E
RTIFIED
SAS 70
Type II
West Coast USA
1731 Technology Drive
Suite 350
San Jose, CA, 95110
Phone: (408) 899 7200
Fax: (408) 850 9556
E-mail: marketing@jadeglobal.com
East Cost USA
1900 West Park Drive
Suite #280
Westborough, MA 01581
Phone: (508) 983 1457
Fax: (508) 983 1401
E-mail: marketing@jadeglobal.com
Pune, India
Jade Global Software Pvt. Ltd.
E-Space IT Park, A-3, 2nd Floor
102 D/E, Wadgaon Sheri
Pune-Nagar Road, Pune 411-014
Phone: +91 (20) 6608 1500
VOIP: +1 (408) 907 2730
+1 (408) 834 8606
Fax: +91 (20) 6608 1595
Noida, India
Jade Global Software Pvt. Ltd.
4th Floor, C-56/21, Sector-62,
Noida, Uttar Pradesh,
India – 201301
Phone: +91-9711309168
Copyright © 2012. All Rights Reserved.
This document is provided for information purposes only and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This
document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or
implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchant ability or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically
disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this
document. This document may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any
purpose, without our prior written permission.
WPAPER SOLAR 06142012