Main pain points of solar installation company owners

When you say "solar companies", do you mean like solar panel installation companies?

Do you mean companies offering installation service or selling solar power products?

I mean solar panel installation companies.

For companies that market solar systems, I would guess their biggest pain would be customers who want to be off-grid.

Before I installed solar power I got quotes from each licensed installer in my state. Each of them has their own design setup and they install the same identical setup for each home that they work on. Any desire to customize that design was met with strong resistance.

Are you thinking of this as a career move?

When we started the process of having solar installed on our house, we looked at three levels of installation.

1) The "Door knocker" - Several years ago, every couple of months, a van of solar sales people would park on our street and begin door-to-door solicitation for solar. The programs they offered were everything from "Free! - We just lease your roof, install the panels and PAY YOU each month!" to signing us up for the net credit program (in RI back then, it was not much of an offering). The sales team did not rep any hardware, were no spokespersons for any hardware, the installations were handled by an LLC and was whatever could be obtained. We dodged the bullet on this many years ago when, after selling us on (on hindsight, very badly) designed system, the installation team discovered soft spots in our roof and would not install it - our contract was negated. That company, Sungevity LLC, closed up shop a little bit later. A neighbor of ours went the Door Knocker route to lease her roof and has had a multitude of problems with the system not producing power and the company no longer available for servicing.

2) Mom & Pop / DYI - A few years back, we put out to bid for our solar. Included M&P local solar companies as well as companies with commercial footprints in the region. We knew what we wanted, the M&P came back with a kit-bashed solution where the panels and inverter were one vendor and battery backup was another, with the caveat that they could install the batteries but were no wholly versed in serving them and offered limited warranties. Yes, they were slightly cheaper than the commercial option, but I am retired and we wanted to pay for the installation, in full, and have some warranties or guarantees. I have one neighbor who even installed his own, and well... it looks like it. Uneven panels in wrong places, conduit running everywhere, etc.

3) Commercial footprint - We went with Generac. We also looked at Tesla. Not sitting here going "RAH! RAH! RAH! Generac!!!"; they were just the best of breed for our location and offered one, complete portfolio of products that could be customized for any situation. Panels, PVLinks, inverter, batteries, external propane generator (if we wanted). Plus full warranty on the system and ONE phone number to call / text if there are any issues (we've had a few). Once we decided on Generac, we worked with the Generac designer who, based on our homes architecture, E/W orientation and power consumption, designed very comprehensive system for us. Once under contract, she coordinated with the regional Generac installation team. The people on the installation team were all Generac certified technicians (all the means is that they had the training to know what went where and what it was supposed to do once installed, and that satiated the warranty requirements on the the components). The installation is also TIGHT to the house. My icon photo is of our installation. No pipes, no gaps. They knew what they were doing.

So... ask yourself - how much of this do you want to do? Door knock, coordinate the installation and move on? As other respondents have posited; create your own portfolio of cookie-cutter installation parts that you are comfortable with? Partner with a commercial entity like Tesla or Generac where you are more or less a trained sales rep with a supported portfolio of products?

It can be exciting. If I was not totally enjoying retirement (and did not suffer from crippling vertigo). I would ponder getting into the industry - it's only going to take off the more climate change keeps impacting energy grids and grid power expenses increase. I think you can probably make a good way into it.

Rade

In my state, a solar installer spoke with the state and volunteered to write their test. This test is required for licensing. There are only four licensed installers in the state, they are buddies. If you are new and want into the business. I would recommend that you get a job with one of the licensed installers first. Work for them one year, before you branch out on your own.