A chic burger connection near the Solarquotes office was opened six months ago. It was small and stylish. And simply closed. I was not surprised.
You see Ned (who managed the installation program from Solarquotes) once went into it and after No -Senf Bat, no was said. “The balance is bothered,” they said. “It is part of art”.
Give me a break. Ned hates mustard.
I respect everyone who tries to run a small company. But that was a stupid decision. Food is subjective. You should be allowed to enjoy a burger without having to endure someone else’s opinion about the mustard.
I was reminded of NED’s experience during a recently checking council meeting. We have checked new installation applications. One of the questions we always ask is: Which panels are you installing?
Most of the answers are reasonable.
But from time to time someone writes:
“Our start -up times are X and Y, but we will install every brand that the customer wants.”
Sounds generous. Consumer -friendly. The opposite of the Hipster burger, right?
Not quite. In this case, I think it is the customer who is wrong.
Installers like MC Electrical know much more about solar than most customers – even after a meeting on chatt.
Solar is more complicated than mustard
Because when it comes to solar, customers usually don’t know enough to make this type of call. You do not know what a clamping zone is or an MPPT window or that some panels are highly exciting, low-streamy, such as the Canadian solar collectors MC Electrical uses.
Installers like MC not only choose a panel (or an inverter or a battery) based on the specifications. You choose one you know – physically, electrically and mechanically. You understand how it assembles. How it is beaming. Where you drive the cables. What does the inverter need? How to assert guarantee. Request a customer support on a Friday evening. You have tested it in the real world for years. It’s all muscle memory. This makes an installation clean, quick and safe.
Bring a rando panel brand because a customer has read about it online and everything that goes out of the window. The probability of a screwdriver literally or electrically goes far up. The job takes longer. The support is slower. And if you turn through several subcontractors, good luck whether you have ever touched this brand before.
The same applies to inverters. Worse for batteries. EV chargers? Don’t let me start.
Hold on what you know
So offering a panel that the customer wants is a great attitude, but it increases the likelihood of a bad result.
Do you want a good system? Stick what you know. Fewer brands, deeper knowledge, better support. This gives your customers the best chance of getting a system that works perfectly for 20 years and quick help if this is not the case.
The customer is king with burgers. Trust the cook with solar.
The phase shift is a weekly opinion column of the solar quotes founder Finn Peacock. Subscribe to the free newsletter from Solarquotes to receive it every week together with our other home electrification reporting by e -mail.
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