How Palmetto’s Performance Verification Testing Benefits Everyone

When a homeowner gets solar panels, they trust that they’ll perform as promised.

Palmetto’s performance verification testing, or PVT, sets the standard for how systems are tested and verified. Palmetto has built out a proprietary and industry-leading in-house PVT process that verifies performance quickly and accurately.

With Palmetto’s PVT, Customers Get What They Pay For

Whenever someone goes solar with a LightReach Energy Plan, their solar system receives performance verification testing. Palmetto uses its automated monitoring to test all its systems by its location, equipment, installer, and climate, during the first 60 days they’re in operation. A system passes if it performs to 95% of its weather-adjusted production estimates over three consecutive days and has no single day below 85%. LightReach-financed systems have an initial pass rate above 98%.

In the rare case that a system doesn’t pass Performance Verification Testing, it is sent to a manual review, where an Asset Management Specialist diagnoses the root cause of the issue, whether it’s a system design error, installation mistake, equipment malfunction, or another issue.

Palmetto recently proactively recontracted a LightReach lease after finding during PVT that the original system design didn’t match real world conditions. After a thorough redesign process, we reduced their monthly payments to match the revised production estimate. It’s a complex and rare process to fix a design issue, but our priority is to ensure the customer’s production expectations match their system design.

The same monitoring capabilities that power Palmetto’s PVT are the engine that drives our ongoing monitoring and proactive maintenance services. In 2024, more than 10,000 proactive monitoring cases were created automatically. Most of them were resolved remotely, with about 30% of them solved by a technician in the field. Palmetto manages more than 50,000 solar assets.

PVT Lets You Choose LightReach With Confidence

Timely and accurate performance verification testing improves confidence for everyone involved. Homeowners can rest assured that they’re getting what they paid for. Financial partners know that the systems they’re backing are producing as they’re performing.

More than 98% of LightReach solar systems are meeting or exceeding their expected performance during the verification period — and if they’re not, we work to resolve any issues.  On aggregate, the LightReach fleet is producing at nearly 100% of lifetime expectations.

Palmetto’s state-of-the-art performance verification testing means you’ll get the production you’re paying for.