TL;DR
A production estimate is the installer's forecast of how many kilowatt-hours a proposed solar array will generate per year, modeled from system size, panel orientation and tilt, local weather data, and site shading measured on the roof. Tools such as PVWatts and Aurora generate the figure, and many states require it in the contract because financing payback and savings claims hang on it.
What it means
A production estimate is the installer's forecast of how many kilowatt-hours a proposed solar array will generate per year, modeled from system size, panel orientation and tilt, local weather data, and site shading measured on the roof. Tools such as PVWatts and Aurora generate the figure, and many states require it in the contract because financing payback and savings claims hang on it. Some installers back theirs with a performance guarantee that pays if output falls short.
Where it sits in the glossary
Production estimate is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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