From Installing Solar Panels to Scaling With Solar Leads

My first job in solar was as an installer straight out of college.

There was something gratifying about getting up on the roof in the early morning and making tangible progress happen. You’d start with a plan, a truck full of parts, and full tool belt. By the day’s end you’d see real progress: mounting rails where before there had been a barren roof, solar panel after solar panel securely fastened to the racking and conduit perfectly bended to take the home runs into the inverter. When the switch flipped and the meter started spinning backwards and I felt a sense of pride — we did that!

Now that I’m focused on unlocking the overwhelming public support for solar (check out this recent public poll from Gallup and SEIA), I don’t get to see the tangible progress on a daily basis.

But we get to see other types of progress. Now that I work at a computer, these are the kinds of emails that I love receiving:

• “We closed another job from your leads late last week. It’s a 6.25kW and I’ll try to remember to send some pics when it’s finished. More leads would be great but keep up the good work.”
• “2 are 10 kW in size, both roof top and the other is 9.25 kW in size on a large garage….hope this helps and thanks!”
• “We’d like to get more leads. Got a deal out of the first batch you sent.”

Our greatest success metric is when one of our solar leads turns into a new solar installation.

As someone who has worked in sales for a long time, not all leads will turn into closed sales. Our solar leads are no different. While we continuously optimize for quality, our main goal is to unlock consumer interest and help people get started on the journey to going solar. We have customers that have been able to expand their sales staff or support the needs of a team of hungry solar sales people.

Little by little my direct connection to the visible progress faded. I worked on multi-megawatt projects, but typically only got to see pictures and would occasionally get out on a roof and walk the site.

Although I may spend too much time on a computer now (vs when I was on the roof), I take pride in helping companies grow and create an impact greater than I ever could have with my Makita impact driver!