Frequently Asked Questions

Solar Intelligence is an AI-powered solar proposal and system sizing platform built for South African solar installers. It lets you design NRS 097-2-1 compliant PV systems — selecting the right panels, inverters, and batteries for a client's load — and generate a branded PDF proposal in seconds.

It's built and operated by Nova Metrics (Pty) Ltd, based in Rivonia, Johannesburg.

Click Register Free. Enter your company name and email, no credit card required. You'll receive a login link by email. Click it, set your password, and you're in. The whole process takes under two minutes.

Your 14-day free trial includes full access to all Solar Intelligence features:

• Unlimited system designs (solar array, battery, inverter sizing)
• NRS 097-2-1 compliance checks on every design
• Up to 5 AI-generated client proposals (residential and commercial)
• Access to the shared hardware database (panels, inverters, batteries)
• Load Builder with appliance catalog and quick templates
• 25-year financial model with NERSA tariff escalation rates

No credit card is required to start. After 14 days, a subscription is required to continue generating proposals.

Yes. Once logged in, go to My Hardware to upload your own panel, inverter, and battery pricelist. The system will use your prices for all calculations and proposals. Until you upload your own list, the shared Nova Metrics hardware database is used as a fallback.

After 14 days, your system design tools remain accessible, but generating new AI proposals requires an active subscription. Your data and all previously generated proposals are never deleted. You can subscribe at any time from the Billing page inside the platform.

Yes. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. There are no cancellation fees. Your access continues until the end of your current billing period.

Your data is stored and processed on Supabase, a globally recognised database infrastructure provider. Nova Metrics has a fully executed Data Processing Addendum (DPA) with Supabase that legally governs how your data is handled.

Under this DPA, Supabase is contractually prohibited from selling your data, using it for advertising, or processing it outside the scope of running Solar Intelligence for you.

When you register, we collect:

• Company / business name
• Business email address
• Contact person name (optional)
• Contact number (optional)
• Accreditation details (optional, added later in your profile)

When you use the platform, we also store:

• System designs and proposal records you generate
• Hardware pricelists you upload
• Usage data (pages visited, features used) — used only to improve the platform

We do not collect client personal information directly. Any client details you enter when generating a proposal (client name, email, address) are stored under your account and subject to your own POPIA obligations as data controller for your clients.

Your data is retained for the duration of your account. If you close your account:

• You have 30 days to request a copy of your data in a standard format.
• After 30 days from account closure, all your data is permanently deleted from Nova Metrics and Supabase systems.

You can request early deletion at any time by emailing compliance@novametricsgroup.com. Deletion requests are processed within 10 business days.

Yes. Supabase applies industry-standard encryption to all data stored and transmitted on Nova Metrics' behalf:

• At rest: AES-256 encryption on all disks and backups. Encryption keys are generated per-project and protected by FIPS 140-2 compliant Hardware Security Modules (HSMs).
• In transit: TLS 1.2 with modern cipher suites on all connections, including credential transmission.
• Backups: Daily encrypted backups, stored on infrastructure independent of live project resources, with 99.99% availability target.

Passwords are never stored in plain text — only hashed, salted values are retained.

No. Under our DPA with Supabase and our own Privacy Policy, Nova Metrics is explicitly prohibited from:

• Selling your data or making it available to third parties for payment
• Sharing your data for cross-context behavioural advertising
• Using your data outside the direct business relationship (running Solar Intelligence for you)
• Combining your data with data from other customers without legal basis

The only sub-processors that ever touch your data are listed in the Supabase DPA Schedule 3: Infrastructure providers like Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare, and Google (all for hosting only).

As a South African data subject, you have the following rights under POPIA, which Nova Metrics is obligated to honour:

• Right to access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to correction — Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to deletion — Request deletion of your personal data
• Right to object — Object to certain types of processing
• Right to complain — Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa at www.justice.gov.za/inforeg

To exercise any of these rights, email compliance@novametricsgroup.com. We will respond within 10 business days.

When you enter client information (name, email, address) into Solar Intelligence to generate proposals, you are the data controller for that client's personal data. This means you are responsible for:

• Having a lawful basis to collect and process your client's personal information
• Informing your clients that their details are being processed to generate a solar proposal
• Obtaining consent where required under POPIA
• Handling any access or deletion requests your clients make to you

Nova Metrics acts as your data processor for client data — we store and process it only to generate the proposal you requested, and never for any other purpose.

Your data is stored on Supabase infrastructure hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Nova Metrics' Supabase project is hosted in the Cape Town (af-south-1) region — meaning your data stays within South Africa.

Supabase's global sub-processors (listed in Schedule 3 of the DPA) may process usage and support metadata in other regions, but your core account and proposal data remains in the af-south-1 region.

Every system design is checked against NRS 097-2-1, the South African grid connection standard for small-scale embedded generation (SSEG). The platform automatically enforces:

• DC/AC ratio between 1.0 and 1.5 (target 1.3:1)
• LiFePO4 battery depth of discharge ≤ 85%
• Inverter sizing at 1.3× peak load (safety margin)
• Performance Ratio of 80% and System Availability of 97% (SA spec)
• NERSA SSEG registration thresholds flagged per system size

The 25-year financial model uses NERSA-published tariff escalation rates (8.76% for 2026, 8.83% for 2027, then 5% per annum conservatively). It also accounts for panel degradation (0.55%/year), annual O&M and insurance (2% of capex), and battery replacement at year 10 (70% of battery cost).

NPV is calculated at a 12% discount rate. These are projections — actual savings will depend on your client's real consumption, tariff changes, and system performance. We recommend presenting them as indicative estimates.

The platform is primarily designed for desktop use — you'll get the best experience on a laptop or desktop browser. The registration and login pages are fully mobile-responsive. On-site mobile access to the sizing engine works but is best used in landscape orientation on a tablet or large phone screen.