Insights and guides to help you grow your clean tech business.
What an MCS-certified solar installer has to produce by commissioning sign-off - MIS 3002 evidence, IEC 62446 tests, the EIC, DNO notification, MID registration within 10 working days, and a handover pack that unlocks the customer's SEG application.
Matt Franklin
2 July 2026
G99 rejections delay solar installations by weeks. These are the most common causes of failed applications - and what to fix before you submit.
Matt Franklin
29 June 2026
Real income numbers for MCS-certified heat pump installer businesses in 2026. Day rates, annual turnover, BUS grant impact, and what a 5-person team can realistically earn.
Matt Franklin
29 June 2026
Vague payment terms are why installers wait 60 days for money they earned in a day. Here's how to set terms that hold up, what you can charge for late payment, and how to make getting paid the default.
Felix Rusby
15 June 2026
A practical breakdown of where UK solar installer margin is won and lost - from survey to DNO energisation. Covers the real cost of quoting, MCS and DNO admin, on-site overruns, and how growing installers protect 20% margins as volume scales.
Jamie Duncan
15 June 2026
Taking a deposit at the kitchen table is normal. Doing it without handling the customer's cancellation rights is how installers end up unable to enforce payment. Here's what to get right.
Felix Rusby
8 June 2026
Connect your AI assistant straight to your Payaca account and ask it to do real work: pull stuck jobs, bulk-update projects, draft follow-ups, build reports. Here's why we built it and the practical things install teams can do with it.
Matt Franklin
4 June 2026
HubSpot wins solar, heat pump and EV installers on the way up - and loses them as soon as the install team starts using it. Five patterns we keep seeing in migration calls.
Matt Franklin
28 May 2026
Mid-sized UK installers spend two engineers a year maintaining a bespoke CRM that handles maybe 60% of the workflow. The other 40% is on spreadsheets. Here's what's actually being paid for, and why the build never catches up to MCS, DNO and BUS V5.
Matt Franklin
27 May 2026
Decision-stage migration guide for UK clean-energy installers leaving HubSpot. What imports cleanly, what doesn't, what HubSpot stays good at, and how to sequence a 4-week cutover without losing project history.
Matt Franklin
25 May 2026
Pipedrive works well for the sales pipeline but stops at the deal-closed line. For UK solar, heat pump and battery installers, that's where the real work begins. A side-by-side workflow walkthrough: lead, quote, DNO, MCS, BUS, install, handover.
Jamie Duncan
22 May 2026
BUS V5 added a 拢2,500 grant for air-to-air heat pumps on 28 April 2026 - the first time UK policy has recognised the technology Sweden built a market around. The operations playbook for air-to-air installs is genuinely different from air-to-water. Here's what UK installers should borrow.
Jamie Duncan
15 May 2026
The 拢15bn is real. The 5-million-homes target is real. What's missing is the engineers. For UK heat pump installers, the next four years are an installer-capacity market - and the operations playbook that wins it is different from the one that won 2024.
Jamie Duncan
14 May 2026
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme moved to V5 on 28 April 2026. The voucher mechanism is unchanged - what's new is the mandatory upfront discount on the customer's quote and invoice. Here's how that changes installer cash flow, T&Cs, and template configuration.
Jamie Duncan
11 May 2026
MIS 3005 split into two documents on 1 April 2022 - one for design, one for installation. Most growing UK heat pump installers still treat them as one workflow, and that's where the data leaks. A practical guide to the design-to-install handoff for scaling installers.
Jamie Duncan
11 May 2026
EV charger install businesses live or die on throughput. A practical operational playbook for teams running 40+ installs a month - scheduling density, quote speed, mobile field completion, and keeping margin tight as volume grows.
Jamie Duncan
28 April 2026
Commissioning is where heat pump jobs get signed off - and where margin and customer satisfaction most often leak. A practical playbook for growing UK installers on MIS 3005, the MCS Installation Database, BUS V5 voucher applications and redemption, and clean handover.
Matt Franklin
28 April 2026
A practical breakdown of where heat pump installer margin is won and lost - from survey to commissioning. Covers the real cost of quoting, MCS admin, on-site overruns, and how growing installers protect 20%+ margins as volume scales.
Jamie Duncan
22 April 2026
A step-by-step guide to setting up automated deposit collection, payment schedules, and invoice triggers so nothing falls through the cracks.
Matt Franklin
6 April 2026
Salesforce, HubSpot, and ServiceTitan weren't built for clean tech. Here's what happens when installers switch to a purpose-built platform.
Matt Franklin
4 April 2026
The UK government's 拢15 billion Warm Homes Plan is the biggest home upgrade programme in British history. This is the operational guide for growing installation businesses - what it means for your pipeline, accreditations, and operations through 2030.
Jamie Duncan
16 March 2026
Ben Clarke, Account Executive at Payaca with 10+ years in field service management, explains why solar businesses keep abandoning Salesforce and generic CRMs - and what actually works instead.
Ben Clarke
10 March 2026
Heat pump installations in the UK grew 27% in 2025, and the government is targeting 450,000 a year by 2030. Here's what it takes to get certified, what you can earn, and whether now is the right time to make the move.
Jamie Duncan
9 March 2026
A new peer-driven recognition model is emerging for UK heat pump installers. Here's what the Guild of Master Heat Engineers is, why the industry needs it, and what it signals about where quality standards are headed.
Matt Franklin
4 March 2026
ECO businesses know how to sell, but selling funded measures to eligible households is a completely different discipline from selling to homeowners spending their own money. With the scheme ending in 2026, Jamie Duncan explains what needs to change and why the able-to-pay market is a bigger opportunity than ECO ever was.
Jamie Duncan
27 February 2026
Jamie Duncan, Head of Customer Operations at Payaca, shares what separates thriving renewable energy businesses from those that stall out. Structured onboarding, AI tools like Agent Dave, and a willingness to embrace change.
Jamie Duncan
26 February 2026
In a conversation with Digital Tool Bag, Payaca CEO Matt Franklin demos Agent Dave, the AI assistant built into Payaca that can set up automations, analyse pipelines, create templates, and configure accounts through simple chat.
Matt Franklin
20 February 2026
A practical guide to the software options for EV charger installation businesses. Covers the difference between charger management and installer management, compares tools from spreadsheets to purpose-built platforms, and explains what to look for as you scale.
Jamie Duncan
14 February 2026
A practical comparison of CRM and business software options for heat pump installation companies. Covers generic CRMs, HVAC field service tools, and purpose-built clean tech platforms.
Joe Gravestock
13 February 2026
Battery storage installers have unique operational needs that generic field service tools don't address. We compare the software options available, from spreadsheets and solar-specific tools to purpose-built clean tech platforms.
Jamie Duncan
12 February 2026
A comprehensive guide to the software solar installation businesses use, from CRMs and field service tools to design platforms and compliance systems. Covers what to look for at every stage of growth.
Ben Clarke
11 February 2026
Where is solar energy headed? From perovskite cells to agrivoltaics, we cover the technology, policy, and market trends shaping the future of solar power in the UK and globally.
Felix Rusby
6 February 2026
String inverters vs microinverters: which should you recommend? An installer-focused comparison covering cost, performance, shading, monitoring, and when to use each.
Felix Rusby
5 February 2026
A complete guide to generating leads for your heat pump installation business. Covers digital marketing, referrals, partnerships, and strategies specific to the heat pump market.
Matt Franklin
22 January 2026
Proven solar marketing strategies for installation businesses. Learn how to generate quality leads through SEO, social media, referrals, and content marketing.
Matt Franklin
15 January 2026
Enterprise wins, profitability, and why we're betting big on AI that actually does things.
Matt Franklin
19 December 2025
This value represents our commitment and focus to remove complexity for our clients. In order to achieve this, it needs to be adopted across the whole organisation.
Joe Gravestock
18 December 2025
Payaca now handles commissioning applications for G98 and G99 installations. Complete the full DNO compliance workflow from initial application to final energisation approval.
Matt Franklin
13 August 2025
Stop messy paperwork! Learn to create simple digital forms in Payaca for your team to use on-site. Get accurate job info straight to your mobile app, every time.
Matt Franklin
31 May 2025
Payaca has achieved ISO 27001 certification, the internationally recognized standard for information security management, demonstrating our commitment to protecting customer data and privacy.
Matt Franklin
30 December 2024
Ben Clarke, an Account Executive at Payaca with over a decade of field service management experience, argues that renewable energy businesses suffer when using generic CRM software designed for other industries.
Ben Clarke
19 December 2024
Join Matt Franklin, CEO of Payaca, as he sits down with the company's new Chief Technology Officer, Matt Bessey, to discuss how software innovation is driving the adoption of low-carbon technologies.
Matt Franklin
15 October 2024
Sweden leads the world in heat pump adoption. We look at what drove their success and what the UK can learn from their approach to scaling installations.
Matt Franklin
14 October 2024
The UK government has set out an ambitious target to install 600,000 heat pumps per year, the industry seems to be far behind this target. In this blog, we look at what steps the renewable sector as a whole can take to help get us there.
Felix Rusby
23 September 2024
This article compares different types of solar technology that are available to choose from.
Felix Rusby
8 August 2024
Breaks down how solar panels are recycled and some of the challenges involved in the recycling process. This article covers specific examples from the UK as well as predictions about where the industry is headed.
Felix Rusby
26 July 2024
MCS accreditation is not legally required to install solar panels or heat pumps, but it significantly limits available work opportunities. Learn why MCS certification matters for your renewable energy business.
Felix Rusby
1 July 2024
Understanding the global solar panel supply chain - from raw materials to final assembly. Learn where components originate and what this means for the industry.
Felix Rusby
24 June 2024
Understanding when quotes become legally binding agreements. Learn the five essential elements that create enforceable contracts and how to protect your business.
Felix Rusby
6 March 2024
This article weighs up the reasons why you should consider investing in a CRM, including signs that you need it and what type of solution to look for.
Felix Rusby
20 January 2024
Discover everything you need to know about qualifying as a PV solar installer, including training time, cost and industry insights.
Felix Rusby
5 January 2024