Does the Wild West of Solar Sales Need Taming?

The other day I caught myself day-dreaming, thinking about where the renewable energy industry was heading, and I was over-come by anxiety. It puzzled me, how could I feel anxious about the future of the US solar energy industry when it experienced a record breaking growth in 2010? The more thought I gave it, the more it became evident.

I support the DOE's SunShot initiative to bring the installed cost of Utility scale PV down to $1.00 per watt and lower residential to $2.50; however, in the race to reach parity with utility rates, the equally important goal of improving quality assurance throughout the entire value chain must not be lost. Clearly there is little value in achieving low installed costs if the resulting installations do not offer complete customer satisfaction over the twenty to thirty year life of the PV system.

Ultimately the appropriate goal must be low cost over the entire lifecycle of the system. This objective requires, along with durable components, highly qualified sales and installation personnel. One sure way to achieve this goal is through meaningful training and certification programs for solar professionals.

During the past two years, I have been actively involved in the development of the NABCEP PV Technical Sales Certification. At first I wondered what the need was given that we already covered quality assurance through the PV Installer Certification. But it soon became obvious: no installer, no matter how good, can install a system that will meet consumer expectations if the initial site assessment or design is flawed, or if the sales person over promised performance or financial return. 

Let’s face it, the area of PV sales is still pretty much the Wild West. I regularly hear about or meet “PV sales professionals” who don’t know the first thing about the technology. Just the other day I met a person who worked in the residential systems department of a large national company who didn’t even possess the basic knowledge to pass NABCEP’s PV Entry Level Exam. This sort of situation seems like a disaster in waiting to me. I think our industry’s best hope is to apply the same level of diligence and commitment to sales as we have to installation and that’s where the NABCEP PV Technical Sales Certification comes into play.

NABCEP was started to provide customer protection by improving the quality of installations. I’m pleased that the PV Installer Certification has gone a long way towards that goal. Now it’s time to address the risk that unqualified sales personnel pose to the growth and credibility of the PV industry.

It’s time for qualified sales professionals to show their commitment to excellence and set the benchmark for who can sell solar PV by getting NABCEP certified. By doing so, you will be proving your experience and competency and demonstrating your commitment to best practices, realistic performance estimates and quality component selection. You’ll be raising the bar and leveling the playing field so that projects are won on quality and not by cutting corners and making false promises. Put simply, becoming certified will give your company a competitive advantage.

Personally, I’ve been involved with sustainability and renewable energy since 2004, and I’m not here to just make a quick buck but to make sure that renewable energy is here to stay. I’ve learned about what happened to the Solar Heating & Cooling industry in the 1970’s and 80’s and a big part of my motivation at work is to make sure that the same thing doesn’t happen again. 

The reality is that the renewable energy industry is under very close scrutiny. Many local, state and national leaders are still wondering if clean distributed generation is a viable alternative to centralized fossil and nuclear power. We are competing directly against those industries to provide America’s future electrical generation capacity. We, the solar industry, have a responsibility to make sure that we sustain strong growth without any missteps related to sales or installation so that America’s future is green and not gray.

Applications are now being accepted for the second sitting of the PV Technical Sales Exam and I urge everyone who is involved in the sale of residential and small commercial PV systems to find out if they are eligible to take the exam. The faster our industry builds a pool of people who have demonstrated their technical sales knowledge and their commitment to ethical presentation the sooner we will be able to weed out the “bad actors” who threaten the successful growth of the industry in their quest for a “fast buck”.

In the meantime, visit our website and view “Faces of NABCEP” to read what some of our Certificants say about becoming certified.