DER interconnection application review software that checks every solar and battery pack for completeness, screens it on the capacity left after the queue, and shows where it fits without an upgrade
Complete or deficient in minutes, not days.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Every rooftop solar, home battery and commercial solar-plus-storage project needs the distribution utility's approval before it connects. The application is a pack — the form, the single-line diagram, inverter, module and battery spec sheets, the site plan, the account details. A coordinator opens each PDF, ticks a 14-item checklist and phones the installer. Most packs fail it: inverters not on the approved list or on old firmware, a single-line that is not stamped, or an applicant who is not the customer of record because the landlord holds the account. Each round trip with the installer is another full read, against a clock that gives ten business days to say whether the request is complete.
The feeder question comes last. Only when the pack is complete does a planning engineer screen it — and then often finds the feeder is already full, because many hosting-capacity maps leave queued projects out. A developer who checked the map still lands on a feeder the projects ahead have used up. The answer is a supplemental review and an upgrade the applicant pays for, months later, when a feeder a few hundred metres away may have had room all along.
Estimated split for one commercial solar-plus-storage application, in business days, by hand and with the solution — the coordinator's and the engineer's own review time stays in both.
Seven specialist agents check every pack and place it on the hosting-capacity map; the coordinator sends the notice, the engineer picks the route.
Lumina Utilities runs interconnection for the Eastvale district: 3 substations, 9 feeders, 186 open applications. On Tuesday 13 October 2026 at 08:06, Kestrel Solar & Storage submits a 2,000 kW solar and 1,000 kW / 2,000 kWh battery project for Harlow Cold Storage, 41 Quarry Road, on feeder ML-14. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Nadia's home is the Eastvale network drawn as a map: nine feeders coloured by the capacity left after every queued application, each open application a numbered pin in queue order. The new pack waits in the tray — DER-26-04417, 2,000 kW solar + battery on ML-14. The rail shows ML-14 already: hosting capacity 4.6 MW, existing generation 2.1 MW, seven in the queue, 1.4 MW left.
“1.4 MW left after the queue of 7” — the number a hosting-capacity map alone does not show
Nadia clicks Check and place. The pin drops onto ML-14 at queue place 8, and the run plays in the rail. The application pack reader reads 10 documents, 25 pages — the form, single-line sheets E-1 and E-2, three spec sheets, site plan, lease, insurance certificate and fee receipt — and records the page for every value it extracts.
Pack reader: marks anything unreadable for a person instead of guessing
The capacity screener nets the queue: 4.6 MW hosting − 2.1 MW existing − 1.1 MW queued in 7 ahead = 1.4 MW left; the project asks 2.0 MW, so it is 0.6 MW short and 3 of 6 screens fail. The connection finder searches 4 feeders within 1 km and draws a dashed route on the map to AV-07, 600 m north on Quarry Road, with 3.0 MW free.
“AV-07, 600 m north: 3.0 MW free · no upgrade” · Connection finder, 08:12
The pack opens with the form beside the 14-item checklist. Meter LM-7730215, the address and the 2,500 A service match the account. But the form names Harlow Cold Storage LLC, and account 3-118-40562 is held by Harlow Logistics Holdings Ltd, with no letter of authorisation. Every item carries its evidence and page — Form p.1, Sheet E-1, Spec p.1.
Completeness checker: never marks an item complete without the evidence on the page
The single-line diagram is stamped by J. Okafor, PE, licence 0041877, signed 9 Oct 2026 — that item passes. But sheet E-1 draws 17 × Sorrel SPX-125-US at 125 kW each, 2,125 kW AC, while the form says 2,000 kW from 16 inverters. The margin note says what fixes it: correct the single-line, or state an export limit of 2,000 kW.
“17 inverters × 125 kW = 2,125 kW AC. The form says 2,000 kW (16).”
The spec sheet is for the Sorrel SPX-125-US with firmware 2.8, certified to UL 1741 SA and IEEE 1547-2003. Lumina's approved equipment list, revision 30 Sep 2026, carries only the SPX-125-US-B with firmware 3.2 or later, listed to UL 1741 SB, IEEE 1547-2018 and IEEE 1547.1-2020. A suffix or a firmware difference is a mismatch; the matcher names the closest listed model.
Equipment list matcher: never accepts an unlisted model or firmware
Screens and routes puts three routes side by side. Route C keeps the full 2,000 kW on ML-14: generation on the line section reaches 3.2 MW against a 15 % limit of 3.15 MW, and voltage rise at the connection is 2.6 % against 2.0 %. It fails 3 of 6 screens and needs a voltage regulator, 0.9 km of reconductoring and a supplemental review — an estimated $410,000 and 9–12 months.
“screening only — the engineer's study decides”
Route B connects to AV-07, 600 m north along Quarry Road: 2.0 of 3.0 MW, a line extension estimated at $96,000 and 3–4 months, full export with no curtailment, and all 6 screens pass. Route A stays on ML-14 with export held to 1,400 kW, using the battery for the midday surplus. Marcus chooses B; the notice now recommends it and offers route A as well.
“Moving the connection 600 m avoids the $410,000 upgrade that route C needs, and keeps the full 2,000 kW export.”
The deficiency notice writer has drafted the letter in plain words: the account holder, the AC rating and the inverter model, each with what to send and its page, then “Where your project fits” with the two routes. Nadia reads it and sends it to Tom Hale at Kestrel Solar & Storage at 08:31 — 25 minutes after arrival, on day 0 of 10. The clock pauses and queue place 8 is kept.
“The notice writer drafts; only you can send. Sending pauses the clock and keeps queue place 8.”
Elena owns the clocks. The Clocks screen counts business days on each one, paused while an application is with the applicant, with holidays from Lumina's calendar: 46 of 46 answered inside the 10-day completeness clock, a median of 6 minutes from arrival to verdict, and 0 past any clock. The longest took 1.2 days — a hand-drawn single-line that Nadia read herself.
Screening clock — 15 business days from complete, closest to the limit first
The same 2 MW pack, seen by the five people who handle it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Seven specialist agents check every pack and place it on the hosting-capacity map; the coordinator sends the notice, the engineer picks the route.
Reads the form, single-line diagram, spec sheets and site plan, and extracts applicant, account, meter, service, AC and DC ratings, inverter and battery models with firmware, the inverter count from the single-line, the engineer's stamp and the disconnect location — with the page for every value.
Decides pass, deficient or not applicable for each of the 14 checklist items from the extracted values, cites the page, and says exactly what is missing and what would fix it.
Matches every inverter, module and battery, by model and firmware, to the approved equipment list, and names the closest listed model when one does not match.
Reads the account named on the form and compares the account holder, premises address, meter number and service size, reporting every difference.
Finds the feeder from the meter, takes hosting capacity from the planning model, subtracts existing generation and every application ahead in the queue, and runs six screens: capacity left, 15 % of line-section peak, voltage rise, fault current, reverse power and the service transformer.
When a project does not fit, searches feeders within the search radius, nets each one's queue and runs the six screens, sizes a line extension along existing streets and an export limit when the battery can hold the surplus, and returns at most two routes that fit with the cost of the upgrade route.
Drafts the notice in short plain sentences: one numbered item per deficiency with what to send and its page, then where the project fits, with the routes from the connection finder, labelled as screening results.
The coordinator sends; the engineer picks the route. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask in plain words about an application, a feeder, a check or a clock. Every answer points to its source — the planning model, the rules, the pack.
Why does Harlow Cold Storage not fit ML-14?
Because the seven applications ahead of it use most of what is left. ML-14 can host 4.6 MW at the Quarry Road node; 2.1 MW is already connected and 1.1 MW is queued ahead, so 1.4 MW is left and the project asks 2.0 MW. At 2.0 MW the voltage rise would be 2.6 % against the 2.0 % limit, and the line section would carry 3.2 MW against 3.15 MW.
Where else could a 2 MW project near Quarry Road connect?
Feeder AV-07, 600 m north along Quarry Road. It has 3.0 MW free after its queue of 14; the full 2,000 kW passes all six screens, with a 1.1 % voltage rise. A line extension is estimated at $96,000 and 3–4 months — against about $410,000 and 9–12 months to upgrade ML-14. Or stay on ML-14 with export held to 1,400 kW.
Which installers send the most incomplete packs?
Account-holder mismatches lead: 11 of the 40 gaps this week, mostly tenants applying for a landlord's account. Brightline Home Energy is complete first time least often — 9 % of 32 packs. A letter-of-authorisation template on the applicant portal would remove most of these.
Are we inside the clocks this week?
Yes — all 46 applications were answered inside the 10-business-day clock, with a median of 6 minutes from arrival to verdict. The longest took 1.2 days: a hand-drawn single-line that Nadia read. On the 15-day screening clock, the closest application has 2 business days left.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
The screens, the search for a connection that fits, the checklist, the clocks and who signs are settings Lumina configures — every change recorded with who and why.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Line-section generation at most | 15 % of annual peak load | Any percentage, set to the governing interconnection rules |
| Voltage rise at the connection at most | 2 % | Any percentage · fault current contribution at most 10 % · reverse power at the substation checked |
| Capacity colours, left after the queue | green ≥ 2.0 · amber 0.5–2.0 · red < 0.5 MW | Colours the feeders and pins on the queue map |
| Planning model refresh | Nightly 02:00 | Hosting capacity re-read and the queue netted on every feeder |
| Look for a feeder that fits within | 1,000 m of the site | Any distance · overhead extension at $160 a metre, underground at $410 · export limit offered when the battery can hold the surplus · up to 2 routes shown to the applicant, each labelled “screening only — the engineer confirms” |
| Completeness checklist | 14 items | Each with when it applies — every application, stamp over 25 kW, or when storage |
| Clocks | Completeness 10 · cure 15 · screening 15 business days | Completeness from arrival, cure for the applicant, screening from complete |
| Who decides | Notice: Nadia Ferreira · route: Marcus Oyelaran · offers over 1 MW: Elena Brandt | Coordinator, distribution planning engineer, manager of DER interconnection |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “estimated” = the upgrade estimate for route C in the sample case, and our split of an application's business days · “typical” = published figures (DOE via PV Tech, 2025 — over 90 % of DER interconnection applications deemed incomplete; LBNL, Queued Up 2026 — 2,061 GW in US interconnection queues). Context: small generator interconnection procedures based on FERC's SGIP give ten business days to tell an applicant whether a request is complete, and use a fast-track screen of 15 % of line-section peak load; IEEE 1547-2018 and UL 1741 SB set the equipment requirements. Lumina Utilities is fictional; people, installers, sites, feeders and equipment models named on this page are characters and sample data in the working solution.
Software that takes a rooftop solar, battery or commercial solar-plus-storage interconnection application from arrival to a complete-or-deficient verdict. DER Interconnection Application Review uses seven agents to read the pack, check 14 items with the evidence on the page, match the equipment to the approved list, screen the project on the capacity left after the queue and draft the deficiency notice. The coordinator sends; the planning engineer chooses the route.
The application pack reader extracts every value from the form, single-line, spec sheets and site plan with its page. The completeness checker decides each of the 14 items — from the signed form and fee to the stamped single-line, the inverter settings profile and the lockable disconnect — and says exactly what is missing and what would fix it. In the sample case, 11 of 14 passed and 3 were deficient, 6 minutes after arrival.
Yes. The equipment list matcher checks every inverter, module and battery by model and firmware against your approved list. A suffix or firmware difference is a mismatch: in the sample case, a Sorrel SPX-125-US on firmware 2.8 was flagged because the list carries only the SPX-125-US-B on firmware 3.2 or later, listed to UL 1741 SB and IEEE 1547-2018.
Many hosting-capacity maps leave queued projects out, so a developer who checked the map can still land on a full feeder. The capacity screener subtracts existing generation and every application ahead in queue order, and the queue map colours each feeder and pin by the capacity left after them. When a project does not fit, the connection finder shows the nearest feeder or export limit that does.
It runs six screens on the capacity left after the queue: hosting capacity left, generation on the line section against 15 % of its annual peak load, voltage rise at the connection, fault current contribution, reverse power at the substation and the service transformer. The limits are your settings. These are screening results — power-flow studies and supplemental review stay with your planning engineer.
It is built to. Every pack is checked as it arrives and the Clocks screen counts business days on each clock, paused while an application is with the applicant, with your holiday calendar. In the sample week, 46 of 46 applications were answered inside the 10-day clock, with a median of 6 minutes from arrival to verdict.
Yes. The agents are read-only on the pack, customer accounts, the approved list and the planning model, never change a queue position and never send. The coordinator sends every notice and can override a check only with a written reason; the planning engineer chooses the route; offers over 1 MW need the manager.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your interconnection rules and checklist, application forms, approved equipment list and a sample of past packs — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own applications and feeders first.
Every NOC checked against every asset buffer, issued inside 2 working days.
1-min demoElectrical Drawing ApprovalClause-cited comments on day one, not after resubmission.
1-min demoNew Service Connection ProcessingFrom application to energised, every step tracked.
1-min demoWe'll run DER Interconnection Application Review on a sample of your own application packs, feeders and queue.