Insights: Residential Solar Installer Data
To complete the puzzle, we have to look to the people and companies answering the call to fill all this residential solar demand: the solar professionals. Are they seeing the same trends and driving factors that homeowners report? Are they feeling as confident about the solar market? The short answer is, “Yes.”
The installers in our survey overwhelmingly report increased interest from homeowners in the past year — to the tune of over 90 percent of all respondents.
How will they respond to this interest? How will they make sure customers install solar with them? Let’s see.
Of solar professionals have seen in increased interest in energy storage paired with solar.
What’s driving solar sales?
Battery storage
Solar plus battery storage continues to grow in popularity, with 82 percent of solar professionals noticing increased interest from homeowners. Why? The reasons vary, and there are a few policy and market conditions to note.
California’s Net Billing Tariff — commonly referred to as NEM 3.0 — which requires customers to have specific “time-of-use” (TOU) billing plans that align with peak electricity rates, has been a huge driver for storage demand in the state. By installing battery storage along with solar, consumers can harness stored energy to power their home when rates are at their highest — or sell it back to the grid when they’ll get the best payback. Another reason, of course, comes down to the rise in retail electric rates. Batteries help customers store solar power so they can use it when needed, instead of relying on the grid.
Grid dependence has other potential downfalls, too. Two-thirds of solar installers (67 percent) noticed that when natural disasters hit — and power outages are a real possibility — homeowners showed increased interest in solar options.
Electric vehicles
If it seems like electric vehicles (EV) are having a moment, it’s because they are. Over 800,000 electric vehicles were sold in the U.S. in 2022, almost double 2021’s numbers (which nearly doubled 2020’s).
Of course, every EV needs to be charged, and no one likes being surprised by a high electric bill from their electric utility. Enter solar: Almost 80 percent of solar professionals said EV adoption often led to interest in solar — and knocking those electric bills down to size. It also circles back to battery storage, which gives consumers the flexibility to charge EVs with stored solar energy even when the sun isn’t shining.
Of solar professionals said EV adoption often led to interest in solar.
Of installers have seen an increased interest in solar thanks to the IRA.
Inflation Reduction Act
More than 45 percent of installers say they have already seen increased interest in solar thanks to the IRA, and another 40 percent expect to see increased interest at some point.
At the same time, only 30 percent of residential solar professionals believe homeowners are aware of the solar benefits included in the IRA.
This striking disconnect shows that there’s a clear need for greater market education. Solar professionals can help realize the bump in business they expect post-IRA by educating prospects on what this landmark act means and why it matters for them.
What’s holding solar professionals back?
While this much growth is extraordinarily positive, it does come with its own set of challenges. The first among them being able to respond to this increased interest. In fact, only one in ten installers reported having no trouble meeting customer demand.
Among the top reasons installers struggled to ramp up their installs are a common refrain across industries: supply chain issues (28 percent) and struggling to find enough qualified employees (17 percent). Homeowners being reluctant to commit to quotes (22 percent) rounds out the top three.
Struggled with supply chain issues.
Struggled with finding qualified employees.
Are experiencing homeowners to be reluctant to commit to quotes.
Are facing lack of cashflow within the business.
Where there’s still work to do
Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the cost of solar systems continues to be a big reason homeowners think twice about signing on the dotted line. It’s not until after these dollar and cents issues that we get to concerns about a solar project itself, like the roof not being suitable for solar (10 percent), selling the property or moving (10 percent), and the time an installation takes (five percent).
Still, the most common reason homeowners backed out of committing to a solar project was overall project costs, with over 40 percent of installers mentioning it. Of course, one way to mitigate high costs is through access to financing options. It’s likely not a coincidence, then, that the second most common reason installers cited was lack of access to financing (14 percent).
Making sure homeowners are aware of all the incentives and the wealth of financing options available, then demonstrating the potential ROI of a system can help installers overcome these challenges and help solar reach its enormous potential.