This is your SolarWakeup for March 16th, 2020

Social Distancing. Before we get into the headlines and solar market, let’s take a step back to recognize the gravity of the current situation. Now that it has reached the pandemic levels and changed everything about our everyday lives, we realize that what we do in normal times relies on a level of stability that currently does not exist. In the hopes of getting back to normal as fast as possible do your part and stay away from others as much as possible, there are plenty of infographics that show you what happens when people isolate and stop the spread of the virus. Not only will things get back to normal you will likely help save some lives at the same time. If you need some additional pressure of what happens when the ‘flu’ spreads across the globe, read this 1997 piece by Malcom Gladwell about the Spanish Flu.

Let’s Track The Delays. Like everything in the economy right now, there is going to be a pause to growth as people stay home to isolate and stop the spread of COVID-19. With the longer cycles of utility scale and C&I to be less affected by the short term, SolarWakeup is going to track any slowdown that may occur. This survey is meant for residential solar installers given that is where 60% of the solar jobs sit and there are weekly/daily sales, loan closings and installations. This will give us a tracking view of the market and provide the feedback we need to make our business decisions. Please take 5 minutes and fill out this survey if you are a residential installer, if you are not an installer please send it to a few that you know. This is the network effect of data that helps us all. Here is the link.

The Positive Outlook. While the CDC has asked for society to stop gathering in groups greater than 50 for the next 8 weeks, I look at the positive. 8 weeks is achievable and we should look at this in a positive way. The CDC could have said longer and there may be a few weeks coming up where we’re asked to stay home altogether. The solar market was going to grow by over 25% this year, which means that ever losing 8 weeks would mean we can rebound and catch up. With the fed rate dropping to zero, we may see better rates for solar loans across all market segments creating opportunity to scale everywhere. I’m optimistic that we will do the right thing as a society and come out ready to do big things.

Let Solar Help. Many of you may be going through business hurdles through this pandemic. I can’t promise that we can help everyone but let me speak on behalf of the industry that if there are issues or questions that are hurting your business, please let me know and I’ll do my best to advise or put you in contact with someone that could be helpful. My email is yann@solarwakeup.com.

The Survey. Don’t forget to participate in the survey and please share this tweet to get it out as much as possible. 

Opinion

Best, Yann