Published on Apr 12, 2023
Updated on Feb 12, 2024
The solar power industry in the United States has seen impressive growth in recent years. As a result of growing environmental concerns over the rise in carbon emissions caused by the usage of traditional fuels for transportation and power generation, modern consumers have become more conscious now. The government has also provided evident tax benefits for installing solar PVs.
Here’s what the industry has achieved so far:
As per the report released by SEIA, Solar accounted for 50% of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the US grid in 2022, the fourth consecutive year that solar was the top technology for new additions. The country installed 20.2 gigawatts (GWdc) of solar PV capacity, bringing the total installed capacity to 142.3 GWdc, enough to power 25 million homes last year. Further, it is projected that the total base of installed solar will be five times larger in 2033 than it is today.
Source: SEIA
What do solar customers want?
With the rising popularity of solar panels as an alternative, customers are getting curious about the hows and whats of it. Every customer is different. This is why it becomes imperative for organizations to understand what each specific customer is interested in and what expectations they have.
- Transparency & Information: The process of going solar is long and expensive, and also there is a significant knowledge gap that hinders customer experience. Buyers want transparency across the entire journey from pre-sales, and sales to post-sales service.
- Convenience & Control: Customers look for convenience in their experience throughout the customer journey. The majority of the crowd wishes to shift to solar solutions to benefit from a cut in their electricity bills, hence ensuring financial savings. They want to be able to avail of these services at their own convenience and have complete control over their purchase process.
- Personalized Experience: Customers want a personalized experience for example, receiving advice on how to maximize energy savings. This will help organizations in building confidence and increase the likelihood of a sale and referral. Considering customers’ valuable feedback is also essential to improve the overall experience.
Tech Savvy CX is becoming a game changer for the solar industry. Organizations are addressing customer needs with the advent of advanced technology, paired with data analytics. Many companies have already identified the pain points and have come up with excellent solutions to address them.
Technology’s potential capabilities in the solar panel Industry:
- Mobile Application: Mobile apps can be a powerful resource for solar panel clients, providing energy usage tracking, maintenance alerts, and support and educational materials.
- Online support: Solar enterprises can use online forums, chatbots, and virtual assistants to provide prompt and effective customer support, reducing the need for phone calls or in-person visits.
- Gamification: Tech-savvy integrations to visualize the process. Organizations can experiment with various media like videos and gifs to demonstrate the process starting from finding the right number of panels for each home to visualizing the end product.
Some interesting Use Cases:
Green Brilliance: Considered one of the top 10 solar contractors in the United States, Green Brilliance provides an end-to-end solar system that is designed, installed, monitored, and maintained in-house. They partnered with Mantra Labs to empower solar panel customers in the US with a digital platform that addresses customer-centric problems such as visibility on the installation process, savings, and budgeting concerns, financing options, installation impact, and more.
Sunpower Solar: SunPower sells premium solar panels and offers financing options like loans and leases. Customers can also track their energy usage and keep an eye on the performance of their solar system with the help of a mobile app. In addition to all this, Sunpower has an interesting feature called Design Studio on their website which, with the help of a video, explains how to use their app to create a personalized design of one’s roof, detect obstructions and make a customized layout according to a customer’s energy consumption.
Momentum Solar: Momentum Solar’s customer experience strategy on its website is designed with a user-friendly interface that allows visitors to navigate and find the information they need easily. They also offer a variety of resources, such as a solar savings calculator and an FAQ section, to help educate their customers on the benefits of solar energy and how the process works. Overall, Momentum Solar’s customer experience strategy on its website is centered around transparency, education, and exceptional service.
Conclusion:
Today’s consumers are moving more towards a financially and environmentally conscious lifestyle. They expect a better customer experience everywhere, be it buying a grocery, insurance, ordering food, booking a cab, or buying a solar panel. It has become the need of the hour for companies to shift their focus on enhancing the overall experience of the customers and making the entire purchase process as smooth as possible.
As competition becomes more intense in the solar industry, it will be interesting to see how firms will leverage technology to provide innovative solutions for solar panel customers. As a solar panel consumer, what is the biggest blocker you find while thinking about installing solar panels at your home?
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