Solar and EV work moves a tablet through more conditions in a day than most trades manage in a week: a roof in full sun, a hot loft, a garage wall for the charge point, then the kitchen table for the forms and photos your schemes and network operator ask for. A consumer tablet copes with one of those. The combination breaks it.
What kills devices in solar and EV installation
- Sun on the roof. A dim screen at midday means you cannot read the layout drawing or the commissioning app, so you cup a hand over it or go back down the ladder.
- Heat. A device left face up on a roof or a van dashboard in July gets hot enough to dim its screen or refuse to charge. Summer lofts are worse.
- Loft dust and insulation fibres. Routing DC cable through a loft fills the air with dust and loose mineral wool that gets into ports and under case edges.
- Rain and wet hands. Heavy rain stops roof work, but drizzle, wet tiles and a wet scaffold do not stop the paperwork, and driveway charge point installs happen in all weathers.
- Drops from height. Off a roof ladder, off the scaffold boards, off the stepladder in the loft hatch. Rarely survivable for a tablet in a soft case.
What actually matters in a spec
Brightness, in nits. This is the spec most installers under-buy. Anything described as "sunlight readable" without a number is a guess. Our guide to nits explains the figures; for roof work you want the high hundreds, not the low.
Sealing against dust and water. IP67 or IP68 means dust tight and rated for immersion, which covers drizzle, wet gloves and loft dust comfortably. The difference between the two is in our IP68 vs IP67 guide.
A listed drop rating. A drop height or a MIL-STD-810H rating is a set of test conditions, not a promise, but it means the device was designed for the fall. Not every rugged device lists one, including one of ours. Our roofers and scaffolders guide covers drops and straps for work at height.
A camera with a flash. Handover packs and scheme submissions live on photos: labels, isolator positions, the charge point in place. Lofts and garages are dark, so a flash matters more than megapixels.
Mobile data. Commissioning apps often want a connection while you set equipment up, and the customer's Wi-Fi rarely reaches the garage or the loft. Built-in 4G with two SIM slots gives you a second network on a rural roof.
A full day of battery, or a spare. Commissioning runs long. A removable battery means a charged spare takes over instead of a hunt for the kitchen socket.
Android is enough. Inverter, battery and charge point apps are published for phones and tablets, and the portals run in a browser; design software that needs Windows stays in the office. Our Android or Windows guide has a five minute test.
What we would pick
For most solar and EV installers, the Tuga A8 at £379. Its 1000 nit screen is the brightest in our range, which is the spec that decides whether you can read a layout drawing or a commissioning app on a roof at noon. It is sealed to IP67, has dual SIM 4G for commissioning apps that need a connection where the customer's Wi-Fi does not reach, and a 13MP autofocus camera with a flash for inverter labels in a dark loft and charge point photos in a garage. The 8000mAh battery is removable, so a charged spare covers a long commissioning day. VESA mount points mean it docks in the van between jobs. Two honest caveats. The A8 lists no drop rating and no operating temperature; the A10 and A6 below list both. And it runs Android 12, older than the other two, so check your commissioning apps support it. A hand strap is not in the box; the Hand Strap (£24) is sold separately and worth it on a roof.
If you spend more time with layout designs, roof plans and string diagrams than on the roof itself, the Tuga A10 at £449 gives you a 10.1 inch Full HD screen at 1920 x 1200, 8GB of RAM, IP68 sealing and MIL-STD-810H testing, and it lists an operating range of -20°C to 60°C. The trade-off is the screen: 350 nits is fine under cover and in a garage, and hard work in direct sun. Its 8000mAh battery is not removable, but it has quick charge. A hand strap is in the box.
If you want one device that lives in a pocket, the Tuga A6 at £349 is a 6 inch Android 15 handheld at 277g, sealed to IP67 and rated for 1.5 metre drops, with a removable 5050mAh battery, a 13MP camera with a flash and a built-in 2D barcode scanner. The scanner is the point for this trade: panel, inverter, battery and charge point serial numbers go into the record with a press of the side key instead of being typed off a label in a loft (see our barcode scanner guide). The trade-off is the 6 inch screen for drawings and 4GB of RAM against the A8's 6GB. It is rated for -20°C to 50°C, so keep it out of direct sun on a hot roof; our summer guide covers heat for all three devices.
Accessories worth adding
For the A8 and A10, the Hand Strap (£24) comes first for roof and ladder work, and the Shoulder Strap (£19) keeps the tablet hands free through the loft hatch. A Tempered Glass Screen Protector 2-pack (£14) fits every model and is cheap insurance against grit. The 12V DC Car Charger (£26) fits every model; the Vehicle Mounting Dock (£109) holds the A8 or A10 secure and charged in the van. For the A6, the Belt Holster (£22) keeps it off the knee you are kneeling on. The Capacitive Stylus (£14.99) fits the A8 and A10 but is not listed for the A6. All of these are on the accessories page.
Questions solar and EV installers ask
Will the inverter, battery and charge point apps run on it?
If the app is published for Android and supports the version on the device, it should. The A8 runs Android 12, the A10 Android 14 and the A6 Android 15, so check each app's minimum version; a newer app is more likely to leave Android 12 behind. We do not test individual apps on our devices, so try yours before you rely on it, and use the 30-day returns if it does not suit.
Can I read it on the roof?
The A8's 1000 nit screen is built for it. The A10 at 350 nits is not a roof screen in direct sun, and the A6 lists no brightness figure, so treat it as a pocket device for scanning and photos rather than for reading drawings in sunlight. Our nits guide has the full picture.
What about photos for the handover pack?
All three have a 13MP rear camera with a flash, and the A8's is autofocus. Photograph labels before the panels go up and the finished install before you leave; our guide to site photos that hold up covers framing, light in lofts and backups.
I also do general electrical work. Is the advice different?
Mostly the same device for the same reasons; see our electricians page.
We are a team of installers. Is there a discount?
Yes, and it is automatic at checkout: 3% off at 2 devices, 5% at 3 to 4, 8% at 5 to 9 and 10% at 10 or more, any mix of models. See bulk pricing. Every device comes with a 12-month warranty, delivery to UK addresses is free in 7 to 10 working days, and there is no VAT to add. If a tablet in a case has let you down before, the sums are in rugged vs consumer tablet cost.
