Back when IQ Power (No. 397 on the 2015 Top Solar Contractors list) formed in Florida in 2007, solar PV wasn’t even on its radar as an install option. The state had no solar incentives, and there were no PPAs available. So the company focused on solar hot water systems and has installed 1,840 units since its founding. Over the years, IQ Power added solar pools, solar attic fans and other renewable energy products to its offering, but the company never ventured into PV.
Solar technology itself was more expensive, and solar thermal was a lot easier to sell, said owner Ivy Gilbert. It was an $8,000 investment versus a $30,000 investment for PV.
But times change. In 2012, spurred by the commotion surrounding PV elsewhere in the country, Gilbert put a solar PV system with battery backup on her own house. She had made a habit of using her house as a test center for the products she sold, making sure she only offered products she believed in.
“I was extremely happy with the result,” Gilbert said. “I saw the results on the electric bill, and I wanted technology that would help me during hurricanes when the grid wasn’t offering energy. I have been able to use that on several occasions.”
Now solar pricing has dropped low enough that customers can get a good ROI without incentives, especially in the sunshine state. In response, IQ Power has changed its business model. Where 70% of its business two years ago was solar thermal, it’s now 70% photovoltaics, said general manager Lloyd Notley.
With the addition of PV, the company has had to adjust its sales process, said Notley. With solar PV came new time frames for sales people and new technology for installers. A solar hot water system could be sold and installed within a week, but a PV system can take several weeks to a month. Installers who were fluent in plumbing now had to work with electric cables.
“It was a pretty hard transition,” Notley said. “We really had to put ourselves into it and understand what we were getting into.”
The other major difference between now and just a few years ago: education.
“Other states are endorsing PV so much that the word is starting to spread,” Gilbert said. “Because word is spreading, and people want to reduce their consumption and dependency on utilities, we’re out their educating the public. With education comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes good decisions toward solar for our clients.”
