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Green Light Distrikt
Green Light Distrikt is about entrepreneurship focused on the cleantech sector. Edited by Chris Williams with frequent guest posts from friends, experts and industry insiders from clusters across the globe. Our goal is to provide a place where cleantech entrepreneurs in various clusters across the globe can learn from one another. Green Light Distrikt is creating the "Hitchikers Guide to Clentech" to provide a resource for cleantech entrepreneurs. Read more
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Tag Archives: Solar PV
November 18th, 2011
Cuts, cuts, cuts! How to Halt a UK Solar Boom
TOPICS: Government Policy, London, Solar
Back in April 2010, the UK government introduced the feed-in tariff (FIT); a new scheme to incentivise uptake of distributed renewables throughout the country. A set tariff (different for each technology and size) is given to the generator. For example the smallest scale solar pv tariffs were set just above 40 pence per kilowatt. These are planned to gradually decrease over time, in line with a falling cost of technologies. Recent announcements indicate the cost of solar in the UK has fallen by 30% since 2010, in line with a global fall of 70% since 2008.
On an average home installation of 2.5 kW, this translates to around £1,000 untaxed, index linked income guaranteed for 25 years to the home owner. Installations of this type typically cost £10,000, so one would expect the average installations of this type to provide 15 years of income. An interesting proposition, no?
Tagged feed-in tariff, government policyy, London, Solar PV, UK
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October 12th, 2011
The Ultimate Solar Startup Guide
BOSTON -If you’re interested in starting a solar installation company, you’ve just found a gold mine.
I’ve been editing HeatSpring Magazine while helping a friend start a solar business. I’ve found myself constantly answering the same questions, what do I need to go to start a solar company. So, with help from HeatSpring instructors and based on my own experience, I created this handy guide.
There’s a complete reading list below for anyone who’s really interested in the solar industry. If you’ve like to see or download the guide, you can find it here “Learn how to Start a Solar Company with the Solar Startup Guide”
Reading Guide for a New Solar Company
Marketing
- How to Build a Renewable Energy Division in an Existing Construction Company
- Create a Workshop and Have Customers Come to You
- Designing a Sellable Solar Company
Sales
- How to Create a Sales Presentation for a Homeowner Workshop
- 5 key Items to Writing a Solid Solar Sales Proposal
- How to Overcome the Top 5 Objections when Selling Solar
- 3 Things You May Not Know About Solar PV Sales
- Top 5 Ways to Spot a Bad Solar Roof
Solar Financing
- Solar Financing Options and the Benefits of Each
- What is an SREC?
- HS TV Ep 3. The Development of the US SREC Market
- The 4 Ownership Structures Used to Finance Solar Projects
- Beginners Guide to Financing Solar Projects
- 5 Basics Elements You Need to Know to Finance a Solar Project
- How to Create a Solar PPA
Design and Installation
- How to Use Lean Startup Methods to Increase Renewable Energy Profits
- The Solar Interconnection Process 101
- 9 Things You Must Know to Become a Solar Designer
- What Licenses Do You Need to Install Solar
- 90 Second Solar PV Training
Other
Tagged heatspring, heatspring magazine, Solar PV, solar startups
August 8th, 2011
How to Start a Renewable Energy Company – Part 1
TOPICS: BOSTON
Starting in September, aside from working with HeatSpring, I’ll be moving up to Maine to help one of my best friends get his renewable energy division off the ground. For me, it’s not about the money, it’s about having fun, learning, and actually using my hands to build something from start to finish. It will also help me to establish credibility and confidence in order to purchase and renovate a building. My issue with most (not all!) solar and geothermal contractors these days is that in the name of efficiently they are segmenting business roles into more and more specific tasks. It’s not that that it’s bad business, it just gets boring for me.
I’ve installed many systems, designed a few, but also want the experience of testing some of my marketing and sales assumptions. Personally, I’m not sure if I’m interested in staying directly in the EPC world, its a tough business and the competition is only getting more intense ( I should know, HeatSpring trains hundreds of contractors every year). With that being said, it’s very important to actually understand how these systems are being installed. Really understanding the technology will lead to better communications, positioning, and branding of the whole industry. Also, understanding the process can lead to more business opportunities by figuring out how to make jobs more profitable. There are a lot of opportunities selling to contractors that are installing projects to help them do their jobs easier, faster, and more profitably. These business opportunities – selling to EPC contractors – tend to have higher margins, be more scaleable, and have less competition then working directly in the EPC world. The size of this opportunity is relatively large, mainly because of the “newness” of the industry, it’s current “smallness” (which makes some larger players not consider it) and its high growth, you can mess up many times and still have a viable business.
While creating the division of this company I’ll share every step and hope to uncover the “secrets” of renewable energy. It should be fun.
The remainder of this post was originally posted on HeatSpring Magazine and was reprinted with the consent of yours trully.
A lot of residential and light commercial renewable energy work is starting to be picked up by general contractors, like Jamie Leef of S+H Construction in Cambridge. Why? General contractors are in a unique position to pick up this work because they’re used to managing projects, sales, and it supplements their existing business.
Beginning in September, I am going to be working with one of my best friends in Maine to create their renewable energy division. My friend Gilbert took over his father’s residential construction company. It’s a small local company in coastal Maine that has a repuation for building high quality, energy efficient homes. Read below for the full article:
Tagged Geothermal, maine, Solar PV, Solar Thermal
January 6th, 2011
Clean Energy is Filthy, Dirty, Hot, Itchy, Sticky, yet Awesome Work
TOPICS: BOSTON, Business Insights
This is a picture of my hand after a typical day at work. What this picture doesn’t show you it the tiny fibers of insulation that have found there way up my sleeves, and the gobs of duct seal that may or may not have found stuck onto my pants, sweat-shirt, or hair. Installing duct work for geothermal systems may be the cheapest and cleanest way to heat and cool your home, but it is dirty and hard work.
You can hear in peoples’ voices how excited they are about solar power, ‘its the way of the future’ everyone says. I always think about lugging a 50 pound solar panel wearing a 10 pound t-shirt (because its drenched in sweat) across a steeply pitched room. Which is, in 95 degree summer weather actually around 120 because you’re standing on a black, asphalt roof that has been baking in the sun all day.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. In fact, I love this stuff. There is a huge satisfaction in using your hands to build something, and being outside is a huge bonus too. That’s the really the cool part of renewable energy. The base of the jobs being created are fundamentally construction jobs with a little tweaking. All distributed generation technologies (solar PV, solar thermal, small wind, and geothermal) are all installed by electricians, carpenters, roofers, drillers, tin workers, and drillers.
The growth of renewable energy will develop our economy from the bottom up, as opposed to lets say, the finance industry. One sales person and an engineer can create enough work for a lot of installers. The fact that our housing infrastructure is so inefficient – we use about double the energy per square foot of a European household – actually means we have a lot of upgrading to do, and that means jobs. That’s not to say finance, management, and investors aren’t needed and won’t be rewarded, but simply that it looks like the middle class is finally going to get some of the action as a new industry grows.
Tagged Geothermal, Small Wind, Solar PV, Solar Thermal
August 27th, 2010
From Software to Cleantech: Interview with Paul Berberian CEO of ZettaSun
TOPICS: Entrepreneurship, Interviews, Renewable Energy
This week’s post is an interview with Paul Berberian, a successful investor in Boulder, Colorado. He is the President and CEO of ZetaSun, Inc., a concentrating solar business. How many tech/software people do you meet who are also changing the world with clean tech businesses as well? Well, maybe more than you think. Paul is cross-applying his industry expertise in exciting ways into the Clean Tech space. You can follow Paul’s business ventures and high altitude aviation adventures at his blog: http://www.berberian.com/
Tell us a bit about your business:
*Zettasun, Inc. is building a new kind of solar panel designed for commercial rooftops. We use our unique optical and mechanical designs to build a high-concentrating photovoltaic panel that can track and concentrate the sun over 500 times without external devices.
Tagged concentrated solar, paul berberian, Solar PV, zettasun
August 23rd, 2010
“Solar, Inc.” and the Balance of Values
TOPICS: Uncategorized
For the past few weeks, I’ve felt somewhat disenchanted by the solar industry because I finally realized that it’s not a magical kingdom of free lunches and happy feelings — it’s a real industry with ups, downs, big companies, small companies, and a wide range of workers with different motivations.
Simple Solar-Powered Livin'
I recently finished listening to the audiobook of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and realized that the industrialization of the solar industry is very similar to that organic agriculture. Both stem from the Back-to-the-Land Movement in the 60’s and 70’s (please skim this Wiki article!), and were as much philosophical concepts as they were practical solutions to the energy and health needs of humans. As both ideas eventually hatched, they began to grow out of their idealism bubble and into the real world where they connect with other industries and organizations and mature. This article analyzes the social implications of this growth, as I’ve witnessed in my career.
Through the industrialization of solar panels as a commodity, small companies must grow by partnering with political and financial professionals not necessarily as passionately connected to solar ideals. The question is, do the ideals get diluted in this process, or do they in fact permeate the new realms of business and grow more? Most would side with the latter, but let’s not discount the former.
Regardless, I think it boils down to motivation – there are distinct categories of people working under the solar industry “umbrella.” These groups would be:
Me on my first solar thermal install in Bolton, MA
Group 1: People who are directly involved in the industry whose motivations at work mostly originate from a long-held belief in back-to-the-land values.
David Buzby, Chairman and founding investor of SunEdison.
Group 2: People who have been peripherally involved in the industry whose motivations at work mostly originate from an interest in their previous field – e.g. finance or politics or manufacturing.
Generally speaking, the bigger Group 1 gets, the more it needs Group 2 to remain stable and effective. As far as I can tell, Group 2 folks are very excited to be working in the solar field, and seem to be more and more influenced by the motivations of Group 1. However, I hope that Group 1 doesn’t become too absorbed into Group 2 through the industrialization of the industry.
10MW SunEdison Plant in AZ
I hope we as young clean tech professionals can keep the solar industry (and any clean tech industry) from falling off course in terms of values. We can do this through relentless discourse at any and all levels. Keep the values and philosophy discussion relevant and central.
Tagged Alteris Inc, Solar PV, sunedison
June 7th, 2010
Being a Solar Hero and Lessons on Leadership
TOPICS: BOSTON, Renewable Energy
I am a solar hero. Well, almost. For the past month I’ve been running a crew installing solar in Roxbury. I’d say we’ve installed about 50kW in the past month, not bad on a pitched roof. This is some of our work to the right. The name solar hero started as a joke around the job site but mainly is used to talk about anyone who kicks a#$ and takes names while installing solar.
Over the past 3 months I’ve learned 3 things about leadership, its kinda like a 3 steps process to becoming a leader type stuff. By leader, I mean someone who others would willingly follow. I have to admit the working construction was the last place I thought I’d be learning about leadership but here goes.
Step 1: Gain Trust
The first thing I learned is that you need to gain people’s trust and respect. People don’t listen to the words coming out of your mouth, but they listen to if the source (ie you) is credible. Credibility is determined by trust. This is hard in the beginning because trust usually comes over time. These are not my words either, you can see The Leadership Challenge
Step 2: Provide a vision.
Once you have gained everyone (or most peoples trust) the next step is to provide a vision. Sometimes this can be a direct vision, “we are going to put solar panels on the roof today” or a lot of times I’ve found the best way to get a vision is through asking good questions “what do you guys think is the best path?”. This not only increases trust, but it involves others in the decision making process so they’re more likely to buy in to the last decision.
Step 3: Help Others
Here is the key part. Help everyone else as much as you can to do their jobs even better to reach the vision. When you help others, they will WANT to help you in return.
From my time in school and in past jobs, I’ve noticed a huge difference between formal power structures and informal ones. Most leadership comes down to informal structures. You may ask what is the difference? If you had a group of guys and asked them who they would want to follow, whoever they point to is most likely a leader type figure to them. Even though this might not be their direct boss. Why would they follow this person? Because they probably trust who they choose and he/she helps them to do their job the best. Sometimes people get this confused with formal power structures, where people will do things when they are told because their boss is telling them.
How can we use this to further Renewable Energy adoption?
What I’ve started to think about is how can I use these learning to further renewable energy integration, specifically on a political front.
Here’s what we need to remember, no one will listen to us if they don’t trust us first. It does not matter if every thing about global climate disruption is true, if we are not trusted then we won’t be listened to.
So, here’s the challenge, how do we make ‘non-renewable energy believers’ trust us? Simply stating what we believe to be facts over and over again will not do it.
Tagged leadership, Marketing, Renewable Energy, Solar PV
