Solmate (Online)

Inspiration

This project was inspired by my dad's own frustrating experience of getting solar panels installed on our roof back home in Australia. While government incentives like rebates exist to incentivize sustainable energy adoption, the actual process felt unnecessarily complicated, slow, and disconnected.

Over a 7-8 week period, he found himself juggling back-and-forth quote emails with sales reps, follow-up calls from installer companies, scattered inspection schedules, and outdated government portals. It was time and energy consuming. To validate this, I interviewed several homeowners who had gone through the installation process in the past three years, and a pattern emerged: the solar journey is fragmented and overwhelming for everyday users:

• Homeowners feel lost in the grand scheme of things; Not sure what’s coming next.
• They struggle to understand what rebates they’re eligible for, how to apply, or when to apply.
• The process of comparing quotes is passive, slow and inefficient, as they must submit the same information to different companies with emails/calls/webpages.
• They fear that poor installation may lead to hazards and even cause their existing system to malfunction.
• Communication is disjointed between multiple stakeholders (homeowners, sales reps, installers, inspectors, government bodies)

This led me to ask: What if the journey of upgrading to solar power felt as smooth as ordering something online?

What it does

SolMate is a smart, end-to-end platform that simplifies the residential solar panel installation journey. It features:

• personalized quote using roof imagery analysis
• step-by-step guidance on government rebate applications with a built-in assistant
• a full timeline to guide users through their journey
• live post-install insights like energy production, savings, and CO2 offset

How we built it

We designed SolMate using a user-centered approach, starting with interviews and mapping pain points from real solar adopters, primarily those based in Australia.

Challenges we ran into

• Integrating multiple stakeholders (homeowner, installers, & government) into a cohesive experience.
• Translating complex rebate eligibility rules into a friendly, automated user flow.
• TIME.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Created a fully interactive prototype with 3 key user flows within 48 hours.
• Developed a clear UX structure that bridges both installation guidance and aftercare insights.
• Brought personality and warmth into a space typically filled with jargon and friction.

What's next for Solmate

Design Goals

• Conduct usability sessions with first-time solar adopters, elderly homeowners, and non-native English speakers to ensure the app is truly intuitive and accessible across demographics.
• Add a project gallery display for installation companies, so users may browse for examples.
• Add a unique branding with delightful, purposeful animations.
• Explore progressive disclosure, in-context tooltips, and contextual FAQs that appear just when needed, so users feel confident at every step.

Business Objectives

• Gamifying the aftersales experience by celebrating key milestones and setting goals.
• Interface design for other stakeholders, like installation companies.
• Expand to global market through region selection.

Built With

• figjam
• figma