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(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) November 18, 2008 4 Comments

Sungevity to Sell Solar Software to Other Installers

The Berkeley, Calif.-based company, which has devised an application for estimating the cost of a residential solar install, will let other installers use its system next year for a price.

Software as a service has come to solar.

Next year, Sungevity will let other solar installers use its project estimator for a fee, said president Danny Kennedy. The company has created a system that takes satellite data and a person's average utility bill to come up with an estimate for a solar system. The software takes into account a variety of factors including the pitch of the roof and azimuth, or relation to the sun, of the home.

In all, the software can cut the cost of a solar install by 5 percent to 10 percent or more because installers don't have to clamber up on people's homes to perform an estimate. It takes the company only a few hours to concoct an estimate that includes how long it will take to pay for itself.

Sungevity will license its system to installers outside of California. It will initially target seven other states and also look to expand overseas. RoofRay has a similar online solar estimator. Kennedy added that Sungevity, which started installing solar systems this year in the state, is already facing a backlog. (Kennedy made the announcement at the End-to-End Electricity conference in New York sponsored by Greentech Media.)

Cutting the cost of solar installs has gained more focus in the past two years. Although companies and researchers have poured millions into increasing the efficiency of solar cells, comparatively little has been sunk into the construction project that is an install. Installation, however, comes to around one-half to one-third of the total cost of system.

Among other tricks to reduce installation costs include: integrating the module with the frame at the factory, standardized components, building integrated photovoltaics and using software to organize installations to cut down on the number of installers needed. 

 

Comments [4]

  • William Fullton 11/18/08 1:43 PM

    I’ve been a solar installer for many years and this article is leaving out CPF Tools, which from my understanding, is the nation’s leading solar software. I was a beta-tester and software as a service came to solar back in early 2008. You’re 9 months behind and even my competitors are on it.

    As for value to the installer, CPF Tools has all the utility rates, rebate/tax credit, and equipment information from across the country. I’ve tried the other options and none of them come close. I know for a fact that Sungevity won’t have that information.

    The people at CPF also have lead gen and financing. I mean, CPF stands for Clean Power Finance. Do your homework and ask an actual solar installer next time what software they are using.

     Reply
  • Chris Bunas 11/19/08 7:42 AM

    Correction: Solar panels cost 2/3 to 3/4 of each job, BOS cost about 10%. Installation labor costs roughly 5% of a job. The cost of estimating is considered an overhead expense. You can not determine if jobs are completely feasible from Google earth or other sat services without visiting the site (ie: main service panel upgrades, roofing material types, roof structure and attachment methods, etc.). You can not determine the exact pitch and orientation of roofs so that your within the tolerance of the requirements for the CA Solar Incentive.

    That being said, if you could eliminate the 25-50% of LEADS that are NOT feasible it would save on overhead expense. Any solar installer can already do this without the use of specialized software by qualifying customers better, getting utility bill info up front, using free available tools such as Google to view site information, and eliminating prospects that either do not have the finacial resources or will not qualify for loans.

    BTW: most of the above can not be performed by automated hands off software.

     Reply
  • BP solar 11/19/08 10:21 AM

    Wow Solar_CT

    it appears pretty obvious to me that you are working for Clean Power Finance. Sure you were a beta tester…whatever you say. I mean, you ARE an actual installer

     Reply
  • jack ucciferri 11/25/08 1:22 PM

    I’d be very interested to hear from any installers that have actually tried this software.  Can it really get my guys off the roof?  So far they’re not doing that effectively in CA from what I hear?

     Reply

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