The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

As the solar industry continues to grow consumers find it harder to choose who to do business with.
Today I feel we need to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of the solar industry.
The good: It’s been almost 13 years since we founded Power Solutions now Renewable Power Solutions Inc. We must admit that in the last 13 years we have taken leaps and bounds with regards to knowledge and technology. As a 13 year veteran in an industry still developing I have seen a lot of companies come and go and many more doing work that is less than professional. However, we rely on consumers to do the proper due diligence before choosing a solar contractor. In today’s business environment it is more important than ever to make sure the company you choose is not only capable of performing the work they delineate on the scope of work, but also have the resources and expertise to be around for the warranty.
Also more great news is that in today’s market you don’t need any money to install solar on your home. With solar leases taking a precedent over the solar purchases in California, we found that a residential system can actually get positive cash flow in one month after the install. How it works is simple. The investor or leasing company pays 100% of the price of the system and leases it to the end user. The payments are less than the bill from the power company; the owner gets a 20 year warranty on the entire system, plus maintenance for 20 years at no extra charge. Furthermore, the escalations are usually less than 50% of what you will get from your power company.
The bad: In part the bad is a direct result of the stage in which the industry is in, what I call the infancy stage. We have been able to gain sufficient experience to manufacture good quality solar panels in the USA and outside the USA. We have more than plenty of experienced and reputable companies/contractors to do the design and the installation of the systems. But, we also continue to see companies trying to make a quick buck which gives the industry a bad reputation. Here are a couple of examples without naming any one in particular, we call it the brown bag effect: I sell brown bags and I do solar, I paint houses and I do solar, I do kitchen cabinets and I do solar, I do windows and solar. The sad part is the consumer apparently knows no better until they dig deep into a company to realize that they are signing a contract with a company that has very little experience and sometimes the wrong contractor’s license.
These consumers are paying a lot more for the system and contractors don’t have the longevity to stand behind their warranties. Also we are seeing a tremendous amount of so called referral companies that claim to do all the due diligence on behalf of the client. The reality is that those companies go to solar companies and try to sell your name and information at a rate ranging from $300.00 to $500.00 per name. Who do you think is going to pay for that? And not only do they try to sell your name to us, they try to sell it to 3, 4, 5 or more companies at the same time. Beware of referral companies; they are driving your cost up.
The ugly: We have seen our fair share of bad installations, bad designs, and too many so called referral companies popping out to get a piece of the pie. We encourage consumers not to use these so called referral services; they really don’t do anything for you other than increase the price of the installation. You can avoid the ugly part of the industry by only allowing solar companies with a reputable record to do the design and installation of your solar power system.
In today’s market any homeowner with good credit can go solar. Solar leases are one vehicle Renewable Power Solutions Inc is using to increase the production of solar power benefitting homeowners across California.
I hope you find value on this blog and hopefully we all can learn from each other. The solar journey continues; you too can be part of the solar revolution.

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