Onboarding a New Solar Sales Rep: A First-Week Plan With Cali-Graf
A new solar sales rep needs three things in the first week: to run a calculation without help, to know which numbers to check before a customer sees them, and to explain the numbers with confidence — especially the ones customers push back on. Cali-Graf — the free design and proposal app built by Cali Energy, a Los Angeles solar and roofing contractor — covers the first with a five-minute in-app tour on a made-up demo home and a help center of 95 articles in 12 sections, written with the exact words on the screen. The second and third are the manager's job, and the plan below is built around them. One limit to plan for: there are no team accounts — each rep signs in with their own Google account and sees only their own calculations.
Day 1: the tour and the help center
Cali-Graf tutorial, at the bottom of the left column, creates a demo calculation and walks through six parts — find the home, draw the roof, obstacles, panels, usage and price, results and proposal — in about five minutes. Cards marked Your turn wait until the rep presses the real button, with an orange arrow pointing at it; at the end the demo calculation is removed. Have the rep take it twice: once following the cards, once explaining each step back to you.
Then point them to the help center: Get started for the basics, Fix a problem for when something won't work, and the glossary for terms like baseline region or true-up. A step-by-step version of one full calculation is in the demo home walkthrough.
Day 1: their own account
- Sign in with their own Google account. The first sign-in creates the Cali-Graf account; there's no password. Sharing one account between reps isn't allowed.
- Fill in the Business card — name, company, license, phone, email. It goes on the cover, every page's footer and the signature line of every proposal they make.
- Set the defaults under Settings → New calculations start with: your company's usual price per watt, the rate growth you want reps to use and the usual payment — so every new calculation starts from house numbers.
Days 2–3: practice homes and the checks that matter
Practice on real roofs that aren't customers — the rep's own home, colleagues' homes with permission — in LADWP and SCE territory both. On each, make them say out loud what they're checking:
| Step | What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Address | The pin is on the right roof; the line under the address matches a real bill (utility, zone or baseline region) | A design on the neighbor's roof looks fine until the installer arrives |
| Image | The date and quality in the top bar | Anything newer than the image isn't in it |
| Roof | One face per plane, neighbors traced, pitch Measured or a reason for Set by hand, small vents drawn, no red panels | The roof sets production, setbacks and panel count |
| Usage | Six bills for LADWP, twelve for SCE; for SCE, the plan and CARE read from the bill; future loads | The bill today — and the savings — depend on it |
| Equipment | Exact inverter, compatible set | The PDF won't build otherwise |
The reasoning behind each row is in designing a solar layout on satellite imagery and the pre-send checklist.
Day 4: the answers customers push on
Role-play the five questions that come up at almost every table, and make sure the rep's answer matches what the proposal shows:
- "Why isn't my bill zero?" Fixed charges, taxes and, on LADWP, charges the solar credit can't pay.
- "Will a battery lower my bill?" On SCE, it can; on LADWP, its value is backup — see selling batteries on LADWP vs SCE.
- "Where's the 30% tax credit?" It ended for systems installed after 2025, and the proposal doesn't count it.
- "What did you assume about rates?" The rate increase printed under the savings sheet — and why it's reasonable; see picking a rate escalation you can defend.
- "Why is this system bigger than my usage?" Usually it shouldn't be, unless a new load is coming.
Day 5: a real proposal, checked together
Have the rep build a real proposal and walk you through it sheet by sheet before it goes out — the solar proposal, sheet by sheet is a good script. Go over what stays with the seller in California: the contract and its disclosures, the right to cancel (three business days, five for buyers 65 or older), the cap on the down payment and the rep's own home improvement salesperson registration.
Send the new rep the sign-in link and the sample proposal before day one.
What a manager can't see — and the workaround
Each rep's calculations are visible only in their own account; Cali Energy, which runs Cali-Graf, doesn't see them either. There's no team view and calculations can't be moved between accounts. In practice:
- Review by PDF. Ask reps to send you the proposal PDF before it goes to the customer.
- Presenting for a colleague. To put another rep's name or phone on one proposal, change the business-card fields in that calculation only; the rep's own card stays as it is.
- Phones work, desks are faster. Cali-Graf runs on a phone, and the calculator and PDF work there, but complex roofs are quicker to trace on a computer or tablet.
Frequently asked
How long does it take to learn Cali-Graf?
Can my sales team share one Cali-Graf account?
Can a manager see the reps' proposals?
Is there a training mode without a real customer?
What should a new rep check before sending a proposal?
Related reading
Sources & methodology
Product facts on this page come from Cali-Graf's own help center and the pages linked below; figures in examples come from the stated inputs. Features, limits and supported utilities change; each was verified October 16, 2026.
- Cali-Graf Help — Take the in-app tour
- Cali-Graf Help — Make your first calculation
- Cali-Graf Help — Sign in with Google
- Cali-Graf Help — Add your business card
- Cali-Graf Help — Set defaults for new calculations
- Cali-Graf Help — Who can see your calculations
- Cali-Graf Help — Phone and tablet
- Cali-Graf Help — Your brand on the proposal
- Cali-Graf — Terms of Service
- Contractors State License Board — Home improvement contracts
- California Civil Code §1689.6 (right to cancel, five days for buyers 65 or older)
- California Business and Professions Code §7159.5 (down payment limit)
Start the new rep on Monday
Each rep signs in with their own Google account, takes the in-app tour on the demo home and has a first proposal by the end of the week — free, with daily fair-use limits. California sales licensing and contract rules here are for orientation only; confirm them with your own counsel.
Prepared by Cali Energy, October 16, 2026. This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, financial, engineering, or utility advice. Rates, incentives, codes, permit requirements, equipment specifications, prices, and program terms may change; figures and timelines are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm current requirements with the applicable utility, AHJ, program administrator, manufacturer, or a licensed professional. See our Content Disclaimer. Cali Energy · 19201 Parthenia St, Unit E, Northridge, CA 91324 · CSLB #1032379 (B, C-10, C-39)