The questions you'd actually ask before paying for solar.

Your project is split into four milestones. You only release funds when each milestone proves itself.

• M1 Site Survey (~10%): an engineer visits your property, audits your loads, and signs off on a scope you approve.
• M2 Scope Approval and Equipment Procurement (~60%): you approve the scope; we procure your equipment with verified serial numbers.
• M3 Installation (~25%): mounted, wired, commissioned, load-tested.
• M4 Testing and Handover (~5%): 14-day monitoring window, warranty registration, training.

At every milestone you receive a proof pack (photos, video, signed checklist) before the next release. No proof, no approval, no payout.

Every milestone produces a documented bundle of evidence that the work was actually done.

• M1: 12+ site photos, engineer-signed scope document, load measurements, GPS-stamped roof angle data.
• M2: equipment photos with serial numbers, supplier receipt, walk-around delivery video.
• M3: install photos, commissioning video, load test results, technician sign-off.
• M4: signed handover document, warranty registrations, training receipt.

You see every pack on your project dashboard, timestamped. They are kept on your project record permanently. If anything goes wrong later, the proof is the receipt.

For a typical residential install, 14 to 22 days from M1 site survey to M4 handover. Most of the time is procurement and the 14-day monitoring window after install. The actual install itself is usually 1 to 2 days.

Because that's how Lagos solar typically goes wrong. Pay an installer upfront, watch them disappear or cut corners. Pay them at the end, watch them refuse to start.

Milestone payments are a fairer split: the installer gets paid for work they actually proved they did. You release funds when each step is documented and signed off. We hold the money in between, in a regulated escrow partner's dedicated virtual account, not in our pocket and not in the installer's.

In a dedicated virtual account opened just for your project, with a regulated escrow partner. Not pooled with other customers. Not in SabiHand's operating account. Not in the installer's account.

The account name references your project ID (for example SH-SOL-2418 — Customer Funds). You can see the balance on your dashboard at any time.

Your quote is locked at M1 sign-off. If USD to NGN moves more than 3% between sign-off and procurement (which would meaningfully shift our equipment cost), we send you a small adjustment for your approval before any equipment ships. You can approve, or pause the project at no penalty.

Inside that 3% band, we absorb the variance. We do not nickel-and-dime over small moves.

Before M2 procurement begins, yes, with a small admin retention covering the survey work. After M2 procurement (when your equipment has been ordered against your scope), you cannot get a full refund because the equipment has been bought specifically for you. We can negotiate a partial refund net of equipment cost.

This is why we ask you to take your time approving the scope. Once you approve, we move fast.

Not yet. SabiHand Solar is upfront-only for first launch. Financing partnerships with Lagos banks and asset-finance companies are a Q3 priority. If you want to be on the early-access list when financing is available, mention it on your intake form.

Every installer is verified before they take on a job, so you always know the work is tied to a real, accountable professional. You see their profile on your dashboard once assigned: their name, photo, tier, SabiScore (a quality rating based on prior jobs and on-time delivery), and the LGA they operate in.

If anything goes wrong, we know exactly who to hold, and the engineer attestation on every milestone leaves a paper trail.

No. We assign the best match for your roof, your load, and your LGA. You see who you're working with, but installer assignment is our call.

This protects the system. It also protects you. Letting customers handpick installers ends up with the popular installers overloaded and the rest underused, and the underused ones disappear from the platform. We optimize the network, you get the right installer.

Three things stop a single installer from sinking your project:

• Engineering signoff at every milestone. A SabiHand engineer reviews their work item-by-item before any proof pack reaches your dashboard. Sloppy submissions get sent back for retake.
• SabiScore consequences. Repeat issues drop the installer's tier and reduce their job allocation. They have a financial incentive to do good work.
• Your approval gate. You review and approve every milestone. If you're not satisfied, money does not move.

If something goes wrong post-install, your warranty (and the installer's warranty obligation) is documented in the M4 handover pack. We mediate disputes, we do not disappear.

All project communication goes through your project chat thread on the dashboard. Direct phone-number exchange between customer and installer is auto-flagged. This protects both sides:

• You get an audit trail. Every conversation is logged. If a dispute happens, the messages are the receipts.
• The installer is protected from off-platform side deals (which usually end with the customer asking for free extras).
• SabiHand stays in the loop on every promise made, so we can hold either side accountable.

If you have a question or concern, message your project manager in the chat. We typically reply within 2 hours during Lagos business hours.

From your priority loads, not from an idealized "whole house" assumption. During the site survey we measure your peak draw, calculate your daily kWh need, and cross-check against your PHCN bill. The system is sized to comfortably cover your priority loads on an average Lagos sun day, with battery cushion for cloudy stretches.

If you tell us "I want to run 3 ACs and a freezer 24/7," we will tell you the cost honestly, and we will not undersize to win the deal.

Three layers:

• Manufacturer warranty on each component (panels: 25 years linear; inverter: 2 to 5 years; lithium battery: 5 years). We register these warranties on your behalf.
• Installation workmanship warranty from your installer (12 months on labor and any installation-caused failure).
• SabiHand mediation guarantee: if the installer disappears or refuses to honor their warranty, we step in. Documented in your M4 handover pack.

Yes. We size the inverter and balance-of-system with reasonable headroom so a future expansion (one or two more panels, or a bigger battery) is straightforward and not a full rebuild. Talk to us when you're ready and we'll quote the expansion as a separate small project.

Send a message in your project chat with the symptom. The installer or a partner technician comes out under workmanship warranty (within 12 months) or manufacturer warranty (component-specific). Service-call response time is documented in your M4 pack: typically 48 to 72 hours in Lagos for non-emergency issues, 24 hours for system-down emergencies.

Not at first launch. We are Lagos-only until the process is polished and the installer network is stable. Abuja and Port Harcourt are next on the roadmap, then other major cities. If you're outside Lagos, fill the intake form anyway and we'll let you know when we're in your city.

Yes, with your landlord's written permission. We provide a simple landlord-clearance template you can use. Some installs are designed to be portable (especially battery and inverter) so you can take part of the system with you when you move.

Talk to your landlord first. They often agree because solar adds property value.

Solar still produces in cloudy conditions, just less. Your system is sized so a multi-day cloudy stretch is covered by battery storage. We design for Lagos weather, not California weather.

Installation itself is rescheduled if there's heavy rain on install day. You will not be charged for weather delays.

Compare line items honestly. We use Tier-1 equipment with full warranty registration, real engineering signoff, and milestone-payment escrow. A quote ₦500k cheaper might be using lower-tier panels, a no-name inverter, no engineering review, or an installer who disappears at handover. Cheap up-front is often expensive after install.

If our quote is higher, we will walk you through the line items so you can decide. If we are over your budget, we will tell you honestly rather than undersize to win the deal.

SabiHand is a managed skilled-services platform for Lagos. Solar and inverter installation is our launch vertical. We operate as a product line of Decipher Media Solutions LTD (Lagos-registered).

Our model is simple: vet the installers, hold the money, prove every step, mediate every conversation. We are not a marketplace. We are not a referral service. We are the company you hire, and we put a real person and a real engineer on your project.

"Sabi" is Nigerian Pidgin for "knows" or "is skilled at." Hire who sabi means "hire someone who actually knows the work." It's our promise: when you hire SabiHand, you are hiring people who know what they're doing. Vetted. Tiered. Supervised. Held accountable.

Yes. The site survey costs us labor and engineering time, but we don't charge for it because that's the moment you decide if SabiHand is right for you. No survey fee, no obligation. If you don't approve the scope after the survey, you owe nothing.

The M1 release (~10% of the project) only happens after you approve the scope and the project formally begins.

Email hello@sabihand.com. We typically reply within 24 hours during Lagos business hours.

For active projects, message your project manager directly in your project chat. Faster, audit-logged, all in one place.