There's no "installation side" of "the business." There's installers that can't sell. And "sales reps" who can't really explain WHY and so they sell the wrong things, almost always, the wrong way, on thin margins for "installers" - without the proper protections and warranties and features and benefits included in the "deals." There's too many people selling - and not knowing what to say or do- and too many "experts" talking about solar power the wrong way - and the notion that a "sales rep" won't "trust" an installer??? That is pure comedy! Banks can't sell either- so they feel obliged to open these kinds of avenues - but if they understood the real problem - the lousy ads, the awful advice, the awful training, and the failure to understand the product- they'd say no - we don't need this. We just need to better understand the product. TPO is not "solar." It is what sales reps and banks do because they don't understand what's really going on with solar power. The "grand reshuffling" - as I've been calling it for years is definitely happening- but mostly from inertia not truly informed directed leadership - in my opinion - I've been telling my team for several years that software will be seeking to combine with lenders and eventually installation groups- because, well, that's how companies are supposed to be set up- it's just that "solar" as the industry has allowed itself to be- is a broken box of toys with pieces missing everywhere- for absolutely NO good reason AT ALL! But let's see how this goes- so now - the "musical chairs of consolidation" (Really just reassembly) has gone from "grab a chair" before the music stops to "grab a table" - or maybe we're at "grab a section" of the ballroom- and next it will be "grab a ballroom" (the dealerships only model you've seen happening throughout the "EPCistan Region" of the "solar world." Next it will be sorry, there's no more ballrooms - would you like to buy some? That's the model- and VC will chase this, thinking that it is a bankable business model- until the red water marketing dries up, the VC runs out - and it all breaks up again - unless anyone in the "solar" world wants to wake up and buy the info they need about what's REALLY going on with Solar Power. Solar City back in the day used to make deals like that- acquiring entities that had some sort of unique customer acquisition methodology - there's still opportunities like that out here to change everything about this industry. ALmost overnight. Or more likely, during the day.
You nailed it! I am a Generac dealer in Indiana. I have over 10 years with Generac in their generator product line. 2 years ago I decided to enter the PWRCell clean energy portion. This just so happened to be right when Pink Energy (Power home solar) filed bankruptcy. Wow what a nightmare the next few months would be. Failed installations and empty promises to the end user. I inherited 30+ systems just locally. This isn’t counting all the systems state wide! I went around repairing and getting these working just so the customer could see something out of their investment. Needless to say they will never see the return. The margins that this company made were way too large. The solar industry is damaged and hurting from all these dishonest companies. Fortunately I have generators as my primary business however I really enjoy the clean energy side! We need more honest solar companies who understand how solar works in different areas in the US. Even in Indiana where we don’t get a ton of sun, solar does make sense for the right price. Solar isn’t something these dealers can just jump into. You have to have a solid back ground in electrical and controls to really be able to deliver the proper product to the customer.
To a experienced electrical contractor, solar is just another electrical project to make some coin. Solar is so simple, the NEC has only 11 pages dedicated to solar in the code book. Nevada did the right thing, they got rid of all 3rd party solar sales people and rightfully so placed the authority with the contractor, who takes all the risk might I ad.
The banking system is geared only towards big businesses. They won’t lend to individual homeowners and small business owners. If we want financial security in these increasingly predatory and dangerous times, when only 1% oligarchs are getting ahead, we have to do all of the work ourselves.
That's my line man - and the industry that triggers as its number one comment on social media "Solar is a Scam" decides to have a cattle call for the industry to "network" whatever that means- called "Solar Con" - this stuff writes itself...
Maybe follow the recommendations on how to pick your installer. Verifications, do’s and don’t. You will see many of these in this channel. Pretty good recommendations by the way. Check the BBS on your installer and bank. Never sign immediately read every single word in the contract. And pray for the best.
The Fed kept interest rates artificially low for far too long. Endless rounds of quantitative easing put far too much money into play. The inevitable inflation started to happen, and the worst may still be yet to come. Listening to two sales people, who benefitted from the money faucet being left wide open for 15 years or more, complain about banks now wanting to have tighter controls on how money is spent on these projects, is very interesting. Given the proliferation of predatory sales and lending practices, which resulted in thousands of customers getting a massive solar loan (and oftentimes a sketchy solar install), it's hard to feel too much empathy for what the solar sales industry is dealing with, today. This was unavoidable and will weed out the unscrupulous and the untalented. In the end, it will be better for the consumer and better for the industry. Frankly, anyone who can't afford to install solar without getting a loan simply shouldn't do it; the math just doesn't add up, especially when you throw in higher interest loans. ROI is faster w/o a loan, and faster still if you DIY as much of the install as you can, paying for it with cash.
Would you say the same about using cash for buying cars and houses? People routinely borrow money for large purchases. A new car loses tons of value and resells for waaaay less, while adding solar to a house increases competitiveness and price when selling. So I'm not following your logic. Big companies like banks, retailers and oil, etc have much more of a history of greed than small businesses like contractors do. 🤷🏼♂