What does NTP mean in solar, and does it trigger payment?
NTP means notice to proceed. It authorizes the next project stage; payment is due only if your installer agreement makes that stage payable. PTO means permission to operate, usually from the utility.
Under third-party ownership, a provider owns the system while the homeowner uses it through a lease or buys its energy through a PPA. This guide covers payments to the installer, separate from the homeowner’s bill.
Source: LightReach: milestone requirements and rejected flags · Sunrun: solar lease and PPA ownership
What do you need to submit for a milestone payment?
For each payable stage, record:
- The amount or calculation in the installer agreement.
- The current evidence checklist and submission route.
- The submission receipt, reviewer response, and outstanding corrections.
- The approval status and applicable payment schedule.
- Holdbacks, offsets, or recovery terms that apply.
Keep submission, approval, and bank receipt as separate events. An uploaded package is not proof of approval or payment.
When should you expect payment?
Use your agreement’s payment schedule and the milestone’s approval status. LightReach’s funding guidance includes payment cycles, offsets and clawbacks, so the net payment may differ from the milestone amount.
Do not carry one program’s percentage split or payment schedule into another.
How do you fix a returned funding package?
Work from the reviewer’s exact rejection reasons.
- Ask the office for a missing document or the crew for a missing photo.
- Check that the replacement answers the request and belongs to this job.
- Address each flag in the portal and resubmit.
- Save the submission confirmation.
For example: “Send a straight-on photo of the battery label with the serial number in focus.” Send that while the crew is still on site.
LightReach requires action on rejected flags before resubmission. Uploading a file alone does not mean the package was resubmitted.
Source: LightReach: milestone requirements and rejected flags
What if the requirements changed?
Confirm which checklist applies to this product, milestone and job date. Save the version or effective date and the reviewer’s instructions.
LightReach’s detailed M1 checklist, for example, says the utility-bill requirement moves to NTP for new sales from March 1, 2026. An older summary may still list it at M1.
If a general overview, detailed requirement and project request disagree, ask the program contact which applies. Keep that answer with the job.
How do you follow up on an approved payment?
Use the project reference, milestone and approval date. For example:
Project [reference], milestone [name], was approved on [date]. Which payment cycle is it in, and are there any offsets to the [amount] payment?
If the package was returned, ask which item still blocks approval instead. If payment was sent, match the remittance to the bank receipt.
Which files can hold up a submission?
LightReach’s installation checklist includes design documents, permits, photos and monitoring information. A full photo folder alone is not a complete submission.
Check every required document as well as the photos. The Sunrun pilot below shows why: a packing-slip part number differed from the installed battery label. That needed checking, not another generic upload.
Source: LightReach: milestone requirements and rejected flags
What do M1, M2 and M3 mean?
M1, M2 and M3 are milestone labels defined by the program or installer agreement. They do not establish a standard payment percentage or due date.
LightReach describes Installation as M1 and Activation as M2. Read your own agreement for the meaning of each label, including M3 if it appears. Keep that definition beside the evidence checklist.
Source: LightReach: milestone requirements and rejected flags
Where do you find Sunrun’s installation and payment requirements?
Start with the project’s assigned FIC and the Sunrun partner guidance. FIC stands for Foreperson Installation Checklist. It collects installation photos and documentation for Sunrun’s Build Partner workflow.
Sunrun’s guidance covers project deliverables, early submissions, punch-list items and the final safety-and-quality acknowledgement. Completing it on site gives the crew a chance to address issues before leaving.
For payment, check the milestone and conditions in your installer agreement and project account. The public FIC page does not establish a universal Sunrun payment split or disbursement date.
What does LightReach require for M1?
For the Solar Energy Plan, use the full Installation (M1) checklist. It covers site and account details, administrative records, design documents and installation evidence.
Check that the installed equipment agrees with the plans and account. Open the separate photo and monitoring guides for the details that apply to the system.
LightReach describes conditional approval for some incomplete items at the reviewer’s discretion. Record any deferral to M2; do not treat a missing item as automatically waived.
What changes at LightReach M2?
M2 is the Solar Energy Plan’s Activation milestone. PTO is one part of that review. The current checklist also covers outstanding M1 conditions, monitoring access and performance, and applicable market, warranty and site-improvement records.
LightReach says earlier conditional-approval items must be resolved for M2 approval. Keep the utility authorization, financier decision and bank receipt as separate records.
Where are GoodLeap and EnFin funding requirements?
Identify the financing product first. Loan, lease and PPA workflows can have different conditions. Use the signed agreement and the open requirements in the project account.
GoodLeap’s official support page routes application, document-signing and project-funding questions. EnFin publishes partner access information and a separate TPO partner application. These are official entry points, rather than complete public milestone checklists.
Ask the program contact to confirm the current submission checklist, unresolved conditions and payment terms for this job.
Source: GoodLeap: project funding and application support · EnFin: partner information and portal · EnFin: TPO partner application
USE THIS ON YOUR NEXT JOB
Find the step holding up payment.
Start with the last confirmed event. A complete folder, a submitted package, and an approved milestone are different states.
| What you can confirm | What to check next | Record to keep |
|---|---|---|
| The crew finished | Is every item on this project’s current milestone checklist accounted for? | Requirement, source/version, matching file, unresolved item. |
| Files are uploaded | Was the milestone actually submitted through the required route? | Submission receipt or portal confirmation and timestamp. |
| The package was returned | What does each reviewer flag ask you to change? | Rejection reason, person fixing it and replacement file. |
| The milestone is approved | Which payment cycle and account-specific deductions apply? | Approval record, agreement, current funding schedule and remittance. |
| Payment was sent | Does the bank receipt reconcile to the remittance? | Receipt date, net amount and any unresolved difference. |
R11 workflow guidance. Use the assigned project requirements to decide which records apply.
Keep the requirements and receipts together.
A blank tracker for your own job: requirement source, evidence, correction owner, submission, approval and payment. Opens in Sheets or Excel.
Read next: Sunrun FIC requirements and on-site corrections ↗