On the weekend, I posted a piece called Three Ways to Accelerate a Transition to Local Solar Power. In it, I highlighted three noteworthy approaches: local financial incentives, which San Francisco just approved, a solar financing district, which the city of Berkeley is creating, and plans, such as one by Helio Micro Utility, that enable homeowners to have solar panels installed on their roofs and pay for power rather than the panels themselves. Needless to say, these are not the only ways to encourage the widespread adoption of solar power, even setting aside efforts to reduce the costs of photovoltaic cells.

Grist is reporting today that a California-based company called Sungevity has just announced what it calls the most affordable home-based solar power system in the world, which will cost San Francisco residents just $2,000 installed. What I found particularly interesting was how this company, founded by an organizer formerly with Greenpeace, is undertaking process innovations to help rooftop solar power enter the mainstream.

Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passacantando said of Sungevity’s founder:

“Danny Kennedy was one of our greatest warriors fighting for a green and peaceful future. But I always knew victory would be at hand when some of the warriors would shift their focus and raise the capital to literally build the green energy future with real green jobs.”

I have to wonder whether his background led him to pursue an unconventional path to breaking down barriers to solar power. While many companies are working to develop technologies that could reduce the costs of solar panels, Kennedy recognized that the cost of the panels themselves is only part of what hinders homeowners from going solar.

Grist explains that Danny Kennedy and his team found ways to simplify the process of ordering a solar power system installation, eliminating some significant inefficiencies and greatly reducing the waiting time that customers experience. Customers can find out their options by providing their address online. Sungevity then uses satellite and aerial imagery to determine the home’s solar potential and the customer’s choices without the site visits that other companies require. Kennedy notes that this enabled his company to provide roughly 500 solar quotes for customers in a two week period, something that might have required 140 business days through conventional methods.

Sungevity has also streamlined the process in other ways. It takes care of any permits that are needed and reduces the time from (online) order to install to just two weeks, compared to months for some companies. Grist compares the process to ordering a book from Amazon or a computer from Dell.

Grist also highlights the company’s efforts to use imaging to promote solar power in my neck of the bay:

“For a small East Bay town called Albany, the company remotely assessed around 3,500 roofs and discovered that roughly 2,000 were solar-appropriate. ‘If every one of those customers went solar with Sungevity, the 2,000 homes combined would save that community $30 million in electricity over the next 25 years and 40,000 tons of CO2,’ says Kennedy. The company sent direct mail to those 2,000 addresses; each mailer had a picture of the house with a PV installation on it, a price quote, and a pitch for the investment benefits of PV. Through this kind of marketing, Sungevity is attempting to scale the solar market beyond the LOHAS choir.”

Undoubtedly, receiving a picture of your own home with a photovoltaic system installed and a customized quote would make a much greater impact than a generic solicitation to dial a number to arrange for a free site visit to obtain a quote.

The Triple Pundit blog also took note of Sungevity’s marketing, which, it observed, is distinct from some other solar power companies that provide a lot of links and text, but little of interest to people who have limited understanding of solar power. Instead, Sungevity’s website greets visitors with “a real person talks to you with empathy, enthusiasm, and interest, literally pointing out the various sections of the site, and why they’re relevant.”

A news story on Sungevity’s approach to solar installation from the NBC affiliate in the Bay Area can be seen below:

You can also see some remarks by Sungevity founder Danny Kennedy at a recent environmental conference here:

Evan

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