The solar industry enjoys bipartisan and nearly universal support among Americans. 90% of Americans think solar power should be a larger part of our energy supply, and 76% of Americans think the United States should move to a sustainable energy future through “a reduction in our reliance on nuclear power, natural gas and coal, and instead, launch a national initiative to boost renewable energy and energy efficiency.” It’s great being popular, but that hasn’t translated to policy victories.
The Treasury Grant program expired, and the fate of the 1603 tax credit program is up in the air. How can an industry that is so popular among the people be so unpopular among elected officials? People point to the deep pocket books and well-heeled lobbyists of the fossil fuel industry, to Congressional gridlock and, of course, to Solyndra. But often the blame is levied on installers.
Industry advocates, environmental groups, and even Bill Clinton have called on solar installers to spread the solar gospel, dispel anti-solar myths, go to the state or national capitol and reach out to their communities. Many of these groups provide resources to help installers with these efforts. SEIA is always full of useful facts, One Block Off the Grid makes really engaging infographics, and Vote Solar has a whole section of ideal legislation for them to push for. While those resources are helpful, they don’t address the biggest hurdle to installers: time and money.
Installation is a rough business. It’s a lot of traveling to project sites, time on rooftops, filling out paperwork and permits, negotiating with suppliers, getting leads and closing deals — and all with small margins. For many smaller installers, their team members are either on a roof or talking with potential customers. With thin margins and little free time, it’s unfair for the rest of the industry to look to installers to engage in heavy PR or government affairs campaigns. While installers are consumer facing, have local roots and “Joe the Plumber” appeal — which make them a theoretically ideal messenger for the industry — they do not have the time or money to be both installer and primary messenger.
But given their time constraints, here is what installers can do.
- Letter to the editor
Make a form letter and if you see an anti-solar piece in your local paper send it in.
My name is ____, I started ____ in _____ with _____. For the last ___ years we’ve helped ____ families save money on their electric bill, and trained and hired _____ community members. While the …..
- Invite your local reps to a project site or to visit your office.
You might not have the time to go to the state capitol or to Washington D.C., but your officials spend a lot of time in their home districts, and most love a chance to say they support local businesses job creators and new technologies.
Your first invite should be a standing one, but whenever you do something even remotely interesting (100th install, hired 5 new people, school project, etc.), send another invitation.
- Take on a high school intern.
One of the best ways to get people to support solar is for them to know someone involved in the industry. The more people who know someone working in solar and the more people who know someone who went solar, the better. Many high schools have programs to temporarily place students with local companies to teach them about how businesses work. While it can be hard to figure out how to make the most of an intern, setting up a partnership with a local school will help spread solar awareness, ease your workload and potentially plant the seed for a solar school project
There are plenty of other ways for installers to advocate for the industry, but these are some of the easiest and most effective ones. If you have any other suggestions for easy ways installers can be advocates, or if your installation company has done any good advocacy late, please leave a note in the comment section below.
Lavin is The Solar Marketing Group’s Business Development Manager and helps renewable energy companies analyze the market, articulate their message, and connect with their targeted audience to achieve their marketing/communications goals.
I was just about to comment and then I look down and saw Jim beat me to it!! Educating the public is the first long hurdle. Think global, act local. I take pride in being an advocate for solar change in my community. Great article, Carter!
Installers hosting ‘Solar Parties’ with their customers at the solar installation location is a great way to have a good time with the community and your neighbors, show of solar system while it’s producing clean energy and spread the solar word in a fun, local and interactive way. Depending on the customer and the solar installation, the invitation can even extended to local business and community leaders, media and public representatives. If there’s a marketing budget in play, providing basic appetizers and drinks, promoting through mailers and other avenues can go a long way to fostering a positive solar experience for everyone from those who see the message to those who come and join the party. If any installers take this up, make sure to invite me!
Thank you, Carter, for such an insightful article. We installers need to be committed to being not just community advocates for solar, but also invest time and efforts in creating future advocates by educating at the youth level. We need to look past the competitiveness of the industry and focus on being a force that pushes the policies to progress and evolve which will result in a better Environment and future for the next generation. At PPC, our philosophy is… all solar is good solar – no matter who installs it. Everyone benefits.
Hey Carter, I agree completely with what you are saying here. I think the most useful thing installers can do is to create a blog that is focused on explaining the value of solar to the public. That is what we have tried to do with our blog:
http://runonsun.solar/blog
and that has been fairly successful.
But whatever installers do, they need to do it with integrity as we are the primary ambassadors for our industry.
Great article! I would love to see installers banned together to create a solar advocacy group specifically focused on advocating for the solar industry from their perspective.