Install Solar and Battery Together or Add Storage Later?

Should you install solar and battery together or later? Install them together when outage operation or stored-energy use is a current requirement and the complete load, equipment, site, control, and approval scope is ready. Install solar-only when the battery has no defined job yet or unresolved roof, electrical, utility, or load questions make storage premature.

There is also a middle option: a documented battery-ready solar design. That phrase is meaningful only when the contract identifies what is reserved now, which present equipment supports the assumed path, and what still must be redesigned, purchased, permitted, inspected, commissioned, and verified later. It is not a promise that any future battery will connect easily.

Compare the three timing options first

The right comparison is not “battery now versus no battery.” It is three different project scopes:

Timing choice	Strong fit when	What you receive now	Main uncertainty
Solar-only now	The present goal is solar generation and storage does not have a clear current job	A complete grid-connected solar project with its own design, approvals, monitoring, warranties, and closeout records	A future battery is a separate retrofit and may require new equipment or changes
Documented battery-ready solar	Storage is plausible but timing is deferred, and reserving specific interfaces or space is justified	Solar plus a written readiness schedule, reserved design conditions, and a future-work map	Products, rules, household loads, and compatibility can change before storage is purchased
Integrated solar-plus-storage	Backup or stored-energy operation is needed now and can be defined	One coordinated solar, storage, control, load, site, filing, commissioning, and handoff scope	Choosing storage before its job and load plan are clear can lock in an unsuitable design

None of the columns is universally superior. A combined project can coordinate equipment and work, but it also requires the homeowner to make the battery decision now. Waiting can preserve flexibility, but the future addition will be evaluated under the equipment, site, utility, code, and product conditions that exist then. Battery-ready planning can reduce avoidable surprises only when it is specific.

Use the residential solar installation service to understand the solar project boundary and the battery storage service to organize the storage decision. Do not let one preliminary quote blur the two scopes.

Give the battery a job before choosing timing

Start with the desired operating outcome, not a product or battery count. Storage may be intended for outage backup, grid-connected energy management, greater use of solar at a different time, or a defined combination. Those objectives affect the inverter, controls, meters, backed-up circuits, reserve, site location, utility settings, and commissioning tests.

If outage operation is needed now

A standard grid-connected photovoltaic system normally stops operating when utility power is absent. The U.S. Department of Energy’s solar resilience guidance explains that independent operation requires storage and the appropriate inverter and controls.

That makes outage need a strong reason to evaluate integrated solar-plus-storage now, but it does not finish the decision. The project still needs:

• a defined backed-up electrical boundary;
• documented loads and starting demands;
• a complete supported solar, storage, inverter, control, and isolation design;
• a suitable equipment location and electrical path;
• current local and utility review; and
• acceptance tests showing the agreed operating states.

Do not use “backup” as a substitute for those details. A battery can be configured for grid-connected operation without serving the loads a homeowner expects during an outage. Solar recharge while islanded also depends on the exact architecture, controls, weather, battery state, loads, and commissioned settings. This timing page does not provide a runtime or recharge promise.

The solar battery sizing guide helps turn circuits, energy, simultaneous power, motor starts, reserve, season, and outage scenarios into a design brief. Complete that work before using an outage goal to justify battery timing.

If storage is for grid-connected operation

Define the tariff, load behavior, export setting, charging source, reserve policy, and control objective that the proposal assumes. These facts depend on the actual utility account and current program. A general claim about using more solar later in the day does not establish a household result.

If no interval data, current tariff analysis, or operating objective exists, the battery may not yet have a sufficiently defined job. Solar-only can be a responsible scope while the homeowner gathers better information. Conversely, if the utility program and household load pattern create a clear operational requirement, integrated design deserves a closer look.

This article does not estimate savings or payback. Those outcomes require current rate, export, usage, equipment, degradation, financing, service, and dispatch assumptions that differ by property.

If the goal is simply “maybe later”

“Maybe later” is not a battery specification. It is a reason to preserve records and avoid unnecessary design barriers. The appropriate outcome may be solar-only with excellent closeout documentation, or it may be a limited battery-ready scope where the site and current architecture justify particular preparations.

Do not purchase extra equipment solely because someone predicts future storage technology, pricing, incentives, or compatibility. Those changing facts cannot be settled at the solar contract date. Pay only for readiness work that has a stated purpose in the present design.

Installing solar and battery together coordinates one complete system

The practical advantage of a combined project is coordination. Solar panels, module-level electronics if used, inverter architecture, storage, controller, isolation equipment, meters, backed-up circuits, electrical connection, equipment locations, monitoring, and owner handoff can be drawn together before installation.

The Department of Energy’s solar-plus-storage overview explains that co-located PV and storage can share some hardware and project work, and that they may use AC- or DC-coupled configurations. Its published cost examples are old utility-scale cases, not a South Carolina residential price guide. The useful principle is coordination, not a percentage.

Work that can be coordinated

A combined proposal can address these questions in one design cycle:

• Which solar equipment and battery architecture operate together?
• Where do solar, storage, the utility, home loads, and backed-up loads connect?
• Which device forms the local electrical reference during an outage?
• Which circuits are backed up, excluded, or controlled?
• Where will the battery, controller, disconnects, meters, and panels be located?
• Which conductor, conduit, service, bus, breaker, and transfer paths apply?
• Which equipment combination is listed and documented as a complete system?
• What will the utility and local authority review for this address and filing date?
• Which monitoring account shows solar, storage, grid, and home flows?
• What must be tested before the homeowner accepts the project?

Coordination does not mean every authority treats the equipment as one filing. NREL’s residential PV-plus-storage benchmark notes that utilities or authorities can still require solar and storage to be reviewed separately even when installed at the same time. The proposal should identify the expected route without promising a permit count, review result, or schedule.

What combined installation does not solve automatically

Installing together does not establish the appropriate battery power or energy, a supported load list, solar recharge behavior, future expansion, product service, or utility acceptance. It also does not make every DC-coupled or AC-coupled configuration equally suitable.

If a salesperson starts with a battery model before documenting the loads and operating goal, the timing may be ahead of the design. If the roof, service equipment, construction schedule, utility account, or ownership structure is unsettled, combined work may require revisions rather than reducing them.

Use the detailed AC-versus-DC battery guide after the timing decision. It owns conversion paths, existing-inverter retention, shared power limits, clipping, mixed architectures, failure domains, expansion, and architecture-specific warranty questions.

Solar-only now can be the cleanest decision

Solar-only is a complete project, not a failed battery plan. It can fit when the homeowner wants solar generation now, has little outage concern, lacks a defined storage operating objective, or wants to resolve another property decision first.

Reasons to keep the current scope solar-only can include:

• backup loads have not been measured or prioritized;
• a future EV, heat pump, well pump, HVAC replacement, addition, or occupancy change could alter the load plan;
• a roof replacement or structural decision is unresolved;
• electrical service or panel work needs a separate evaluation;
• equipment location, flood exposure, access, or clearances are unsettled;
• a generator or other resilience path is still being compared;
• utility rate or export assumptions are not verified; or
• the battery proposal does not document a complete listed system and acceptance plan.

Waiting creates a real boundary: the later battery is a retrofit. The future provider must inspect the installed solar, ownership, equipment condition, inverter, module-level electronics, monitoring, warranties, service, site, and interconnection record. It may recommend AC coupling, a different integrated path, retained equipment, or equipment replacement based on facts that do not exist today.

The existing-solar battery retrofit guide owns that later feasibility review. Read it before assuming that “we can always add a battery” means no redesign.

Make a solar-only project easier to evaluate later

Even without a battery-ready upgrade, the solar closeout file should contain:

• final module, inverter, module-level equipment, disconnect, meter, and monitoring models;
• serial numbers where supplied;
• approved and as-built roof layout and one-line diagram;
• permit, inspection, and utility records;
• configured inverter and export settings;
• homeowner monitoring ownership and access;
• data sheets, manuals, warranties, registration, and proof of purchase;
• installer workmanship and service terms;
• roof and structural documents relevant to future work; and
• clear ownership or third-party modification restrictions.

These records do not make the array compatible with future storage. They replace guesswork with evidence when the retrofit is evaluated.

“Battery-ready” must be a written design, not a label

Battery-ready can describe anything from a documented hybrid architecture with reserved space and electrical capacity to a vague claim that a battery could be added someday. Ask the bidder to define it in deliverables.

At minimum, a credible readiness schedule should address these categories:

Readiness category	What the contract should show now	What must still be checked later
Operating goal	Preliminary backup or grid-on objective and assumed loads	Actual loads, priorities, reserve, tariff, outage scenario
Architecture	Present solar topology and intended future storage connection	Exact battery, inverter, controller, firmware, listing and coupling design
Electrical capacity	Reserved breaker, bus, service, conductor, control, or meter conditions actually designed	Current calculations, code, utility settings and equipment ratings
Physical site	Proposed equipment zone, route, mounting basis and known clearances	Exact product dimensions, instructions, environmental conditions and local review
Controls and monitoring	Present gateway, meters/CTs, networking or control boundary if installed	Current supported configuration, software, owner access and commissioning
Documentation	One-line, equipment schedule, assumptions and limits	Revised plans, certification evidence, permit, inspection and utility documents
Future work	Explicit list of work intentionally deferred	Site survey, final design, equipment, installation, testing and handoff

Architecture readiness

If readiness depends on a hybrid or storage-capable inverter, require its exact model, current documentation, available inputs, voltage/current limits, supported batteries or subassemblies, rapid-shutdown path, meter/controller requirements, and the design capacity already used by solar. A label on the inverter is not enough.

If readiness assumes a future AC-coupled battery, document the present PV inverter, point of connection, service/panel constraints, meter and controller locations, backup-bus concept, and future isolation path. AC coupling may preserve a solar inverter later, but it does not remove complete-system compatibility or site review.

UL Solutions explains that UL 9540 evaluates an energy-storage system as a complete assembly, including charging, discharging, protection, controls, and communication. Its code-authority guidance also cautions that individually listed PV inverters and batteries should not simply be field-matched into an ESS without the appropriate complete-system evaluation. Readiness therefore cannot rest on two component logos or a connector that appears to fit.

Electrical readiness

“We left breaker space” is only one possible condition. The later design may be limited by bus ratings, service capacity, generation connection, aggregate inverter output, conductor route, gateway/control equipment, backed-up panel, transfer equipment, current sensors, export controls, or utility settings.

Ask the present designer to state exactly what is reserved and what calculation supports it. If the future system’s power and architecture are unknown, acknowledge that the reserved condition may need revision. Do not describe spare space as reserved capacity unless the design establishes both.

Site readiness

A future battery needs a location allowed by its listing, manufacturer instructions, adopted code, and local review. Record the proposed indoor or outdoor area, wall or pad, access, vehicle-impact exposure, environmental exposure, distance to relevant equipment, routing, and any restoration work.

Do not install arbitrary conduit without a justified path and size. Future equipment may require different conductors, communications, bend space, protection, or routing. A well-documented route can be useful; an unexplained empty raceway can create false confidence.

Readiness expires as facts change

A responsible readiness clause says what is supported by the current design and what must be rechecked when storage is purchased. Battery generations, inverter support, firmware, listings, utility rules, code editions, local interpretations, household loads, service equipment, warranties, and product availability can all change.

The contract should not promise that a named future battery will be available or that a product generation not yet selected will work. It should preserve options through documentation and explicit design conditions.

Compare the future work without inventing a cost

NREL’s residential PV-plus-storage benchmark separates hardware from electrical balance of system, labor, permitting, inspection, interconnection, sales, design, and other work. It also analyzes a battery retrofit to an existing AC-coupled system. The report is older, so its prices should not be used in a 2026 proposal. Its durable lesson is that a future battery is a project, not a box delivery.

Create a task map for each timing option:

Project task	Integrated now	Battery-ready now/later	Solar-only now/later
Load and operating-mode design	Complete now	Preliminary now, final later	Later
Solar and storage architecture	Complete now	Present solar plus assumed path now, final later	Later retrofit design
Equipment procurement	Solar and storage now	Solar now; storage later	Solar now; storage later
Battery location and routing	Final now	Reserved or documented now; recheck later	Survey and design later
Panel/service/control work	Complete now	Defined preparation now; remaining work later	Evaluate later
Permit/inspection	Current project route	Solar now; storage requirements later	Solar now; retrofit route later
Utility/interconnection	Current project route	Solar now; storage change later	Solar now; retrofit change later
Monitoring and account setup	Integrated current system	Solar now; storage integration later	Solar now; retrofit integration later
Commissioning	Solar and storage now	Solar now; storage and new modes later	Solar now; storage and new modes later
Warranty/service map	Coordinated now	Present terms now; new boundary later	Separate future boundary

The table identifies work that can recur; it does not prove what a provider will charge. Some later projects preserve existing equipment and require modest changes. Others require panel, inverter, controller, wiring, site, or documentation work. Ask for an itemized current scope and an unpriced future-task list rather than a fabricated estimate.

Also ask which present work is useful if the future product changes. A reserved equipment location may retain value across product families. A proprietary controller purchased only for an assumed future battery may not. The proposal should explain the tradeoff.

Apply the South Carolina filing-date boundary correctly

Battery timing affects which rules and reviewers see each phase. As of August 10, 2026, the South Carolina Building Codes Council lists the 2021 South Carolina code family and 2020 National Electrical Code with state modifications as effective. The Council adopted the 2024 code family and 2023 NEC with implementation set for January 1, 2027.

Do not write or accept a proposal that treats the 2024 codes or 2023 NEC as already controlling an August 2026 filing. At the same time, do not assume a future storage retrofit will remain under today’s code set. Verify the filing date, local authority, current modifications, permit process, equipment instructions, and project-specific interpretation when each phase is submitted.

The South Carolina Energy Office’s battery-backup overview identifies storage, inverter/control, emergency-load wiring, metering, isolation, and interconnection as parts of a grid-connected solar-plus-storage project. Its interconnection guidance directs homeowners to their actual utility for current requirements.

Utility procedures are not interchangeable. Dominion Energy South Carolina’s current residential resources, for example, request a single-line diagram and exact array/inverter information. That does not establish a storage approval path for every project or the process for Duke Energy, Santee Cooper, an electric cooperative, or a municipal provider.

Use a current bill and the South Carolina utility hub to identify the serving utility. For every timing option, the contract should assign responsibility for:

• determining the utility and existing interconnection status;
• preparing the one-line and exact equipment documents;
• identifying whether storage needs a new, revised, or other submission;
• documenting export and grid-interaction settings;
• responding to utility and local-authority comments;
• arranging applicable inspections and completion evidence; and
• obtaining the required release before normal operation.

Integrated work does not ensure a single review. Battery-ready work does not reserve a future outcome. Solar-only permission does not authorize an unreviewed storage addition.

Map warranties, ownership, and service across the phases

Timing changes who touches the equipment and when coverage begins. A combined project may have one installer contract but still contain separate module, inverter, battery, controller, monitoring, workmanship, roof, and labor terms. A later retrofit may bring another installer into contact with the original solar equipment.

Build a responsibility matrix:

Event or component	Solar installer/contract	Storage installer/contract	Manufacturer terms	Homeowner responsibility
Solar modules and inverter
Battery and power conversion
Controller, meters, gateway
Backed-up panel and circuit work
Roof, wall, pad, conduit, restoration
Monitoring and firmware
Diagnosis, removal, shipping, reinstallation
Future modification or expansion

Ask whether a later modification requires the original installer’s consent, affects workmanship or product terms, or changes monitoring responsibility. Third-party-owned solar can impose additional modification restrictions. Solar loans, leases, power-purchase agreements, or service contracts should be read before the future path is assumed.

Sunburst’s warranty overview provides a first-party question framework, but only the signed terms for the actual project control. Do not infer that a manufacturer product remedy pays all diagnosis, access, removal, shipping, electrical work, reinstallation, or recommissioning.

For battery-ready solar, require the contract to say whether the readiness work itself is covered, who verifies it at closeout, and whether another installer can use it later. Do not call a future storage installation covered before that project and its terms exist.

Commission each phase for what it can do

Commissioning is the documented process of configuring and testing the installed system against the approved design. It is not the same as seeing equipment powered on in an app.

NREL and Sandia’s PV and storage operations best-practices report emphasizes controls, monitoring, documentation, permits, maintenance, and response responsibility for PV-plus-storage. Adapt that principle to a residential acceptance plan.

Solar-only commissioning

The closeout should verify the installed equipment and as-built design, configured grid settings, monitoring account, solar production/flow direction, labels, shutdown information, inspection and utility status, warranties, and owner documents. It should not claim battery backup behavior.

Battery-ready commissioning

Complete the solar tests, then verify only the readiness items actually installed:

• labeled reserved breaker or connection location, if designed;
• installed conduit route and condition, if included;
• gateway, meter/CT, communications or controller functions active now;
• reserved physical location documented on the as-built plan;
• present inverter model, settings, ports, and design limits recorded;
• updated one-line and readiness schedule delivered; and
• deferred tasks and re-verification conditions acknowledged.

Do not simulate battery operation when no supported storage system exists. Readiness acceptance proves the current deliverables, not a future operating mode.

Integrated solar-plus-storage commissioning

The project acceptance plan should cover the agreed grid-on and grid-off modes under safe manufacturer procedures. As applicable, verify transfer/isolation, backed-up boundary, load-control sequence, solar response in the island, battery reserve behavior, reconnection, metering directions, monitoring ownership, alerts, shutdown instructions, and owner training.

The exact tests depend on the equipment and design. Homeowners should not open energized equipment, defeat protective devices, change grid profiles, or create an unsafe outage. Require qualified project personnel to document the accepted result.

Later retrofit commissioning

When storage is added later, repeat the tests affected by the modification. This includes the new battery/control system and any changed solar, monitoring, panel, service, export, backup, or utility function. A working original solar app is not proof that the modified complete system is commissioned.

Use a timing scorecard before asking for prices

Complete this table with evidence, not assumptions:

Decision field	Solar-only now	Battery-ready	Integrated now
Storage has a defined current job	Not required	Preliminary	Required
Backed-up loads and starting demands	Future	Preliminary	Final for proposal
Solar/storage architecture	Future retrofit	Assumed path documented	Complete current design
Complete-system/listing evidence	Solar only	Current solar plus future verification condition	Current full configuration
Battery site and routing	Future survey	Reserved/documented and rechecked later	Final current design
Service/panel/control capacity	Solar scope	Exact reserved condition stated	Final current calculation
Permit and utility work	Solar project	Solar now, storage later	Current coordinated scope
Warranty/service boundary	Solar terms	Solar/readiness now, storage later	Solar and storage terms mapped
Commissioning	Solar modes	Solar plus present readiness items	Agreed solar/storage modes
Product availability risk	Future	Future	Current procurement still verified

Choose integrated work when the battery column can be completed with current evidence and storage matters now. Choose documented readiness when the preparation has a clear purpose and remains useful despite future re-verification. Choose solar-only when the readiness spend or storage decision is not justified by a defined need.

After selecting the scope, use the home battery quote comparison guide to normalize exact equipment, usable energy, power, backed-up circuits, site work, monitoring, warranty, contract, and acceptance fields.

Red flags in a solar-and-battery timing proposal

Pause when a proposal contains any of these patterns:

• “battery-ready” with no exact model, one-line, reserved condition, or future-work list;
• “add any battery later” without complete-system compatibility evidence;
• solar-only described as outage power without storage and island controls;
• integrated storage proposed before backed-up loads or operating goals are defined;
• battery capacity used as an outage-duration claim;
• solar recharge stated without an exact supported island path and conditions;
• combined installation presented as automatically cheaper without itemized scopes;
• waiting presented as a fixed future surcharge without site/project evidence;
• a 2026 filing described as controlled by South Carolina’s 2024 codes/2023 NEC;
• one utility’s procedure presented as statewide approval;
• spare breaker space described as full electrical readiness;
• a present inverter label used as proof of compatibility with unspecified future equipment;
• future product supply, price, incentive, or approval treated as settled;
• product warranty presented as complete installed service; or
• final payment due before the appropriate commissioning and closeout package.

What to bring to a solar-and-storage timing review

Bring a recent utility bill, twelve months of usage when available, outage priorities, circuit/panel information, large-load details, expected EV/HVAC/home changes, roof records, HOA requirements, generator plans, proposals, financing/ownership terms, and any product claims a bidder made.

A useful review should return one of three conclusions: price integrated solar-plus-storage now; price a specific battery-ready solar scope and list the deferred work; or complete solar-only with a strong future retrofit record. It should also state why the other two scopes were not selected.

If you want to compare those scopes for your property, explore a solar and battery assessment. The review can organize the load, architecture, site, utility, warranty, and commissioning questions; the final equipment, compatibility, output, availability, price, and approval depend on the written project evidence.

Sunburst designs both phases in the same conversation. If you go solar-only this year, we document what the future battery would need — inverter architecture, physical space, conductor routes, panel capacity and the utility approval that would apply — and hand you that drawing whether or not you buy the storage from us. If you install together, one crew, one permit set and one commissioning visit covers the whole system.

That single-scope approach is how our residential solar installation and battery storage services are built — in Hilton Head Island, Charleston or anywhere else we work — and both fall under the same lifetime full-system and roof-penetration warranty. We work from Daniel Island across the Lowcountry and statewide; you can see local scope in Charleston, Summerville and other cities.

Pair this with the retrofit feasibility checks if the array is already up, or the AC-versus-DC architecture comparison if the phasing decision hangs on inverter choice. Book a free assessment to get both phases priced honestly.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to install solar and a battery at the same time?

It can be when storage has a defined current purpose and the complete system is ready to design. Simultaneous work can coordinate architecture, site, controls, filings, monitoring, warranties, and commissioning. It is not automatically better if backup loads, utility assumptions, location, or storage goals are unresolved.

Can I install solar now and add a battery later?

Many existing solar systems can be evaluated for a later battery, but feasibility is not automatic. The future review must verify ownership, inverter and controls, complete-system compatibility, site, electrical capacity, permits, utility requirements, warranties, and intended loads under the facts that exist then.

What does battery-ready solar mean?

It should mean a written set of current design deliverables: intended architecture, present equipment, reserved electrical and physical conditions, controls or communications included now, an as-built one-line, and a list of work deferred. Without those details, it is only a marketing description.

Do I need a hybrid inverter to add a battery later?

Not universally. A future DC-coupled design may use a supported hybrid architecture. A future AC-coupled battery may retain a suitable solar inverter. The exact equipment, listing, controls, grid-on/off behavior, service capacity, and filing route decide. Compare coupling after defining the timing and load goal.

Will installing together avoid a second permit or utility review?

Not necessarily. A combined proposal can coordinate submissions, but the local authority or utility may review solar and storage through separate requirements. A future battery can also require a new or revised submission. Ask the contractor to describe the project-specific route without assuming the result.

Does solar-only work when the grid is down?

Standard grid-connected solar normally shuts down when utility power is absent. Outage operation needs an approved islanding design with the appropriate inverter, storage, isolation, controls, and load path. Do not infer backup from panels alone.

Will a battery-ready system work with newer batteries years from now?

That cannot be promised. Product generations, firmware, listings, utility rules, code, household loads, service equipment, and manufacturer support can change. A readiness plan preserves documented options and site conditions, then requires a fresh compatibility and approval review when storage is selected.

Does adding storage later always cost more?

No universal cost result is supportable. A later project may repeat design, mobilization, panel, permit, utility, monitoring, and commissioning work, but it may also preserve a healthy solar inverter or benefit from different needs and products. Compare itemized present work with the documented future task list.

Should I wait because battery technology may improve?

Future product performance, pricing, availability, and support are uncertain. Base the current decision on whether storage has a useful job now, whether the load and site are defined, and whether the proposal documents a supportable complete system. Do not treat a market prediction as project evidence.

What should be commissioned if I choose battery-ready solar?

Commission the solar system and verify only readiness items actually installed, such as a designed connection point, conduit, meter/control hardware, reserved location, labels, records, and as-built one-line. Future storage operating modes must be commissioned after a supported battery system is designed and installed.

Sources and methodology

This guide was researched August 10, 2026. The full 226-URL live sitemap and local battery cluster were audited first. Current search results and homeowner forums were used to identify decision questions; technical and regulatory conclusions rely on official or primary sources.

• U.S. Department of Energy: Solar and Resilience Basics
• U.S. Department of Energy: Solar-Plus-Storage 101
• NREL: Residential PV-plus-storage installed cost and deployment benchmark
• NREL/Sandia: PV and energy-storage operation and maintenance best practices
• UL Solutions: Energy Storage System Testing and Certification
• UL Solutions: PV inverter and battery ESS compatibility
• South Carolina Building Codes Council: Building Code Adoption
• South Carolina Energy Office: Battery Back-up
• South Carolina Energy Office: Interconnection
• Dominion Energy South Carolina: Solar Technical Resources

Equipment combinations, product status, code, permitting, utility procedures, warranties, site conditions, and household loads can change. Verify the exact design and requirements when each project phase is contracted and filed.