Posted Monday, October 30, 2017

Residential Solar Market Challenges

A leading industry research firm known as Greentech Media is reporting that 2017 will mark the first year of residential solar installations decreasing instead of the increasing trend we’ve been seeing for more than five years in a row. This is particularly interesting considering that the cost of solar power per-watt is currently at a historical low.

So why exactly is this happening, and are there any good reasons why residential and commercial solar installers like Urban Solar should be concerned? According to Greentech Media, at least part of the anticipated decline in 2017 solar installation can be explained in this way:

“[It’s] primarily due to weakness across major state markets, including California and several states in the Northeast, which are feeling the effects of a pullback from national providers.”

Solar City (now owned by Tesla) and Vivint Solar, two of the largest national solar power equipment providers, have both publicly stated their intent to ‘restrategize’ how they operate, including implementing more focus on profitability versus focusing on growth. This kind of pivot may be good for shareholders, but at the very least it creates industry trepidation as consumers and installers end up feeling the brunt of higher equipment cost and outsourced labor costs.

When a national provider looks at regions of the US that are already saturated with high amounts of solar power installs (California for example), they naturally tend to not invest too much into those regions. This is a basic economic principle: go where the customers are. This becomes especially important in light of continued drops in solar module manufacturing costs, a trend that only means less money in the pockets of these providers.

So how will all of this impact smaller, regional solar power installers like Urban Solar? Probably not too much, and here’s why: there’s way more to our business than just the purchase of solar power hardware. Because Urban Solar is a full-service energy solutions provider for both residential and commercial customers, we have a value proposition that spans the entire life cycle of the installation. This includes designing, commissioning and ongoing maintenance and customer service.

Contact us today to learn more about our solar power solutions, including our completely free energy assessment. It only takes a few minutes to learn how much solar power can benefit your home or business.