Where will the next community solar systems be installed?
While solar installations have significantly grown over the last decade (until 2016), coupled with PV prices declining and efficiency increasing, the ever increasing costs for finding hosting space for solar systems is a threat to solar energy.
This begs the question, why do we not see more solar energy installations on commercial buildings? Take for example the warehouse-clad areas of Brooklyn, NY or Cambridge, MA, where there is an abundance of roof space and large concentration of potential off-takers nearby.
The options presented by solar developers are financially beneficial to property owners over a ten to twenty year period, often allowing property owners to hedge against increasing electricity prices while obtaining clean energy. What these numbers don’t account for is the risk averse nature of property owners. Being conservative investors, often the financial upside is not enough when one accounts for the potential downside of roof damages. The current options available are opaque or do not address entirely issues that could occur due to the presence of PV installations on a roof.
The message here is that, even a property owner who is potentially interested in solar PV will raise several concerns to solar developers. We touched the surface of these problems but in a nutshell:
- Roof leaks are difficult to diagnose and identify until they become a very costly issue
- Even if they are identified early on, it is not clear who is responsible for them
- Various insurance policies & warranties have notification requirements, which rely on sorting out the previous two issues
Enter Potluck Energy. Potluck helps solar developers by mitigating roof damages for potential customers. By focusing on the concerns of property owners and removing the largest risks associated with roof PV installations, Potluck increases solar developers’ value proposition helping them convincing property owners. With its roof monitoring system Potluck:
- Pinpoints the locations of leaks in their infancy
- Immediately notifies users before it becomes a costly issue
- Processes claims to insurance companies, reducing the burden on property owners
- Learns more about your roof as time goes on and uses proprietary algorithms to predict and prevent further roof leaks
In this way Potluck Energy adds value to the existing offers of solar developers and increases customer conversion rates. For more information see our featured solar project.
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