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You’re Invited: A Solar Soirée With a Sales Pitch

SunWize employs an increasingly popular marketing strategy and sets out to woo community groups with food, drinks and discounts for installation services.

Subway billboards. Google ads. Tupperware parties.

A growing number of solar retailers are turning to some tried-and-true strategies to entice would-be buyers to plunk down a good chunk of their savings to install solar panels on their rooftops.

SunWize Technologies is the latest to try a familiar strategy: getting existing customers to hold neighborhood parties to promote SunWize's installation service. In return, the party host gets a cut of the sales, while neighbors and friends are entitled to discounts if enough of them place orders.

It's a type of outreach that generally could require more money and time than, say, sprucing up a website and buying Google ads. If done well, the strategy could produce high-volume sales.

"When you bring neighbors and friends together, they have a chance to hear the feedback from multiple people looking at the same technology," said David Kaltsas, SunWize's executive vice president. "We end up with more educated customers, and they tend to be happy customers at the end."

SunWize isn't new to the solar business. Founded in 1992, the company was named the country's largest distributor of solar energy equipment in 2008 by market research firm SolarBuzz. It has a factory that uses the company's own encapsulating technology to make hardy solar energy products for industrial applications such as marine exploration and railroad transport.

SunWize also has been designing and erecting solar energy systems for years. After Mitsui & Co. bought it in 2006, the company has put more resources into that line of business, Kaltsas said. The company set up the head office for its installation business in San Jose, Calif., last year.

California, of course, is ground zero for solar retailers. The state offers generous incentives via its California Solar Initiative and is home to more solar energy installations than any other states (in terms of production capacities).

SunWize is up against hundreds of installers in the state alone. It provides residential installation business in California and Oregon, and commercial installation in additional states such as Texas and New York.

The company came up with the idea of hosting solar parties roughly a year ago and held five or six events to define the rules for the program, Kaltsas said.

SunWize typically asks existing customers to hold such gatherings, where a company representative would be around to answer questions. From there on, those in each party would have 60 days to sign installation contracts.

The company offers a 5 percent discount for overall installation costs for five homes, 10 percent for 10 homes and 15 percent for 15 homes or more.

SunWize said its neighborhood discounts, along with California's own incentive and the 30 percent federal investment tax credit, could save each homeowner over 50 percent of the equipment and labor costs. Citing data from the California Solar Initiative, Kaltsas said the average prices of residential systems installed for the first six months of this year ranged from $7.22 per watt to $7.75 per watt (not factoring in any incentives).

The host of the party would get a referral fee. For each person who signs up through the party, the host gets 1 percent of the cost of the solar energy system that will be installed at that person's home.

Holding neighborhood meetings to offer group discounts seems to have become a popular approach. That will give SunWize plenty of competition from among installers who also are wooing an entire neighborhood at a time.

Foster City, Calif.-based SolarCity and Los Gatos, Calif.-based Akeena Solar have already carried out such marketing efforts, for example.

Some communities have banded together to seek group discounts. GoSolarMarin came into being in 2007 when a woman in San Rafael, Lisa Max, decided to organize homeowners to negotiate for discounts. It has continued to do so today, but now charges a referral fee to installers it has selected.

One Block Off the Grid in San Francisco, meanwhile, started off as a for-profit business to organize community meetups and negotiate with installers for discounts. The company makes money by charging installers a referral fee.  

SunWize also recently launched a financing program in which customers could obtain a zero-interest loan for up to 12 months from Lyon Financial Services.

The company would cover the interest portion of the loan, which is meant to last until the customer could take the 30 percent federal investment tax credit. Kaltsas declined to say how much the program would likely cost SunWize. 

Image via SunWize.

Comments [33]

  • russ 08/24/09 1:17 PM

    Sounds like Tupperware!

     Reply
  • Steve Pluvia 08/24/09 6:11 PM

    Nobody should have install PV at $7.22-7.55/watt; anyone that did was Sunscrewed not Sun-wise.

     Reply
  • Curious 08/24/09 7:03 PM

    SunScrewed?  What price/watt do you think is fair?

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/25/09 1:01 PM

        Fair?  How about what produces ROI (look that up if you don’t know what it means).  Anyone installing a system for $7/watt will never achieve an ROI therefore the entire exercise was, well, stupid.
  • semiconductor_rep 08/25/09 12:14 PM

    Steve - thats the going rate for california residential installs. See the CSI data. Just shows you how f’ing inefficient downstream market is in the U.S.

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/25/09 1:10 PM

        The primary problem with stupid install prices is the limited ability to access modules and BOS parts at mfg prices.  This should change as an ebay-internet free-market system develops due to the oversupply situation and manufacturers desire to rapidly sell more product.  The other primary problem is installs like the one in this picture. PV systems need to be cleaned & inspected regularly.  I’d love to see someone clean that pv system.
  • russ 08/25/09 2:32 PM

    The last I read is about 5 USD/watt - still expensive/impractical without subsidies & incentives

     Reply
  • Geoff 08/25/09 2:56 PM

    Does solar really HAVE to produce a ROI? Home improvements aren’t always money makers; what’s the ROI on a deck? A tidy, short-term ROI is nice, but, when it comes to home improvement, making money off it isn’t the only consideration. There is homeowner satisfaction involved, as well as home value appreciation. The positive effect of solar systems on home value is, at best, unknown, varying, and, likely, increasing. In any case, someone who uses their roof to move the country one step closer to clean energy independence is, at least, patriotic, not just “stupid”.

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/25/09 4:29 PM

        Is that story you give people as you try to justify paying/charging 2x installed costs?  When you install PV, you’re prepaying for power.  Justifying why you SUBSTANTIALLY overpaid is just plain.. Texan.
  • semiconductor_rep 08/26/09 1:38 PM

    Steve - whats the problem with cleaning that system? Just get up on a ladder, wot? You afraid of heights?

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/26/09 2:26 PM

        Its all fun-n-games till you fall butt first on that 12 foot cleaning pole…
  • Solvida 08/26/09 5:25 PM

    That system can be cleaned with a hose and no ladder. 
    Russ, I hear you but the US is a large place. $5/w installed cost in Hawaii, given the avg $/kwh there, is a great investment. Suggest googling for Travis Bradford’s chart depicting the where grid parity will occur, free of subsidies, for the entire globe. Its a Chart amongst Charts and pretty thought provoking.

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/26/09 8:35 PM

        Solvida, what about that there hard water coming from that hose?  And the eventual etching when you leave that there water on that there glass???  Any solutions for those issues I can accomplish from my deck chair holding my hose would be appreciated…
      • Steve Pluvia 08/26/09 9:53 PM

        Solvida,—also—please link me to the hose that cleans baked bird terd off roof mounted PV while standing on the ground.  thx in advance, oh wise one.
  • Eric Wesoff 08/26/09 6:08 PM

    And Solvida knows of what he speaks.  Some other commenters, not so much.

     Reply
  • Scott 08/26/09 8:57 PM

    $7.22/watt is the price BEFORE incentives. After your utility rebate and federal tax credit the price is closer to $4/watt. Thus, the article is a little misleading. ROI on systems in the investor owned utilities (SCE, PGE, SDGE) can be as little as five years with IRRs in excess of 20% for SCE customers in the Coachella Valley. On the other hand, if you’re someone with a $30/month electric bill, solar is probably not for you since you’re paying cheap ‘baseline’ rates.

     Reply
      • Ucilia Wang 08/27/09 8:00 PM

        Hmmm ... didn’t mean to mislead. If the prices did include incentives, I would’ve written that.  But I’ll add a line in just to be clear. Thanks, Scott.
  • Solvida 08/26/09 11:21 PM

    properly installed tilt angle will alleviate any gathered or pooled water problem that would cause any significant damage over time and regular hosing with water will clean the modules enough to minimize kwh losses due to soiling. 
    Clumped particulate matter and/ or bird poop are more significant concerns than general uniform dusty/dirty appearance. If you have these problems, wash more often. 
    Etching is general module wear and tear.

     Reply
      • Scott 08/26/09 11:40 PM

        Don’t hose your panels off if you live in an area with hard water. They’ll spot badly just like your car does if you don’t shammy it off. I clean my panels with a squeegee attached to a 25 foot telescoping pole. My cleaner of choice is windshield washer fluid cut with 50% water. Works great on soiling of all kinds (including caked on bird droppings). Best of all, I clean my panels while standing firmly on the ground.
      • Steve Pluvia 08/27/09 11:26 AM

        Exactly correct Scott; Anyone with hard water needs to do a circus act with a long squeegee or get on the roof with the sham-wow. I suspect the information is what Solvida *tells* the people who buy his stuff; reality is not the same as the sales pitch…
  • Solvida 08/27/09 4:34 PM

    I don’t sell anything but I do have an empirically informed opinion on most everything being sold in the industry space these days. I advise clients as to the best and most bankable options for their specific application.
    Spotting is a more significant issue with CPV and HCPV mirrors. I agree that softer water is better for glass and mirrors both and applaud Scott for maintaining his PV so readily.  I do maintain however, that PV panel glass must get incredibly spotty before significant accrued kwh loss. mudcaking and Bird droppings much worse.

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/27/09 5:43 PM

        Allrighty then.  So a hose *won’t* work unless you live in a bird free zone; and it won’t work in areas with hard water.  And given you can’t see what’s on your panels (i.e. bird crap) unless you’re one of a very few individuals that have a microinverter monitored system, you’d kinda need to climb up there and find out eh?  Do you have any hands-on experience with a microverter monitored system that identifies performance of every module, or is your opinion on this issue limited to your seat-of-the-pants guess?
  • rooferguy 08/27/09 6:29 PM

    Hi Steve -

    The only “hard” water I’d really worry about is really big hail (snowball size)!  Hosing off hot panels with hard water will create a film that is hard to remove—so we just recommend to customers that they wait for God to wash the panels in the next storm.  The dust or dirt films that form between the rains may reduce output by 4-7%, but we factor that in when we provide initial performance estimates.

    Can’t believe we’re going there but .... as far as microinverters and bird droppings, I’d guess that if a flock of seagulls were to have a party on a panel you’d be able to identify an output decline on the web based monitoring with Andalay or Enphase.  But a single digestive-challenged bird (not an ostrich) would probably not be able to make a difference that exceeds the 3%+/- tolerance of a single panel.

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/27/09 10:10 PM

        Dammit Jim I NEED ANSWERS!  Speculation is useless.  We need Solvida to conduct an empirical investigation and report immediately.  And Roofer—please straighten out Solvida on this hose issue, his misinformed clients are on a need to know basis.
      • Steve Pluvia 08/27/09 11:08 PM

        Roofer—the real news today is that from Gunther portfolio; See his post re Nanosolar, Solyndra and Solopower visit.  Looks like Shaym’s prediction of at least one disruptive tech busting out (and into full lo-cost production) may be coming true…  That Shyam Mehta is one smart feller.
  • rooferguy 08/27/09 11:58 PM

    Steve - send me the link to the Gunther reference you made—as well as Shyam Mehta.  I’m very curious to see what he predicts.

    I base my predictions on reality, engineering and physics—not hype.  So far all I’ve seen from these guys is high cost hype.

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/28/09 10:14 AM

        The Gunther link is here:http://guntherportfolio.com/ Shaym is an analyst here at Greentech Media.  His report on PV earlier this spring used a clever calculation based on probability that one or more of the disruptive PV technologies currently “simmering” in development would come to full production.  Shyam and Eric Wesoff (also here at GTM) are IMO two of the top analysts in this space.  It is rare to find guys who actually do research and are smart enough to take market information and process it into valuable ideas.  Both of these guys can (and do) do this.
  • rooferguy 08/28/09 11:15 AM

    Thanks Steve.  This Gunther guy has good information.  I agree about Shyam and Eric.

     Reply
  • JoeJoe 08/28/09 12:58 PM

    I seem to recall a diagram and some references to the soiling issue in Martin Green’s, Solar Cells, Power to the People. IIRC he said something like, there’s a significant literature on the subject (soiling/natural cleaning). Someone here might have a copy hanging around.

     Reply
  • Solvida 08/28/09 1:28 PM

    Here’s the study I know best:
    The link is to a report of a soiling study done in 2006 by a few colleagues. I installed 2 of the 3 systems used in this study. This is not an apples to apples comparison to the residential system shown in the photo (completely flat mounted , frameless modules), however it is useful and relative. A flat mounted panel would seem to collect more dust and grime than tilted array but framed modules accumulate dust rapidly along the lowest rail/ frame edge. Sites are in smoggy LA. The process included an agitation brush which certainly is a better process than just spraying modules with a hose. However, spraying with a hose regularly will definitely keep modules operating at or near peak performance. Hope this is informative to existing or new system owners,  the point of the website and comments is to be informative and contribute to the knowledge pool.
    net Results- no wash annual = 5.1% drop, 1 wash=3.3% and 2 =0% loss.
    I emailed one author about hard water issues and response was ” re: hard water - I don’t know of any studies that specifically address that.  My feeling is that it’s probably a negligible and difficult to measure.
    There’s a lot of data on European & east coast projects where it rains often and they don’t see any measureable soiling. The main issue is dirt / debris buildup during dry periods. “
    Hope this link works but if not, just google SunPower soiling module study and should be easy to find.

    http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzP-eq-nC0rqMDJkMzdhMjctMTk1ZC00NzUwLThiOTUtYjVmODBiZGJhYTEz&hl=en

     Reply
  • FreeCleanSolar.com 08/28/09 2:34 PM

    i am a fan of most anything that legitimately promotes the adoption of solar, wind and other distributed green energy sources.  Kudos to sunwize.

    whois steve pluvia?

    http://articles.latimes.com/1999/apr/04/business/fi-24043

    http://seekingalpha.com/user/171350/comments

    http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9906/04/onlinecon.idg/index.html

     Reply
      • Steve Pluvia 08/31/09 2:53 PM

        I doubt anyone here is against solar or wind adoption, I don’t agree with SunWize preaching they’re saving mother earth while teaching you the downward dog (yoga move), when they’re really just making you grab your ankles. I have no problem with someone making a reasonable profit on their services.  For installers this means adding say 20% to the design, permitting and labor costs.  Sunscrew Does not do this.  They add 20% + to the cost of materials plus the design and permitting costs.  They managed to get away with this “double-dip” practice during times of very limited module supplies.  They won’t get away with it much longer.  Imagine an architect charging you 60k for a house design, then charging you 300k markup on the house materials used to build the house, and another 100k markup on the labor to build the house.  In short, what installers are currently doing, and that’s the very reason every public company that’s an installer is a dynamite short right now..
  • Richard 09/3/09 12:22 PM

    there’s a product on the market called PowerBoost.  Attaches to your garden hose - so easy to use.  Anyway it’s supposed to leave a coating or something and it really works.  The water sheets off.  I use it about once a month.

     Reply

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