Brian Sadler talks about support that Solaris Renewables provides to customers after a solar installation, how they handle warranty claims and repairs, optimizing efficiency, tips on ongoing maintenance and performance monitoring, and Solaris Renewables’ approach to customer inquiries and concerns.
John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher, and I’m here today with Brian Sadler, Vice President at Solaris Renewables, a solar company in Massachusetts providing premium solar and storage technologies with exceptional customer service; and designing, installing, and servicing solar systems in Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and Maine. Today our topic is post-installation support and customer service. Welcome, Brian.
Brian Sadler: Hi, John. Nice to meet with you today.
Post-Installation Support from Solaris Renewables
John: Yeah, you too. Brian, what kind of post installation support can I expect from Solaris Renewables?
Brian: I think that’s a huge piece for us, customer experience and having support for our customers throughout. And one of the real reasons that we have stayed tried and true to being a full-service provider, not subbing out pieces and parts of the process: so we can have good communication internally and externally with our customers and control the process and know where all the pieces and parts are at.
So, after the solar system is installed, we have basically a call with the customer to talk about how to make sure that everything’s in place and then how to turn on their solar system. So that’s an exciting time for them to energize their system.
We follow up with that with their links in setting up their monitoring so they can view their system and performance and be able to track how the system and their home is interacting with the solar system.
Additionally, we send a solar kit, which is everything to do with their whole project. So they have a place to go back to. It has their monitoring detail in a Q&A. It has their original contract, any change orders, their plans, all their warranty information for reference and a little bit of our referral program, things like that. So, it’s a nice one-stop resource for customers to rely on.
And then of course when you call into us, you’re not running to a call center somewhere around the world. You’re calling Danvers, Massachusetts. You’re speaking to an employee you probably spoke to before. That employee knows who you are. You generally know who they are. So it’s a much more personal and positive experience, I’d say.
Solar Panel Warranties and Repairs
John: Okay. And we’ve talked in other episodes of this podcast about the warranties on solar panels typically being 25 years. What happens if there is a problem with a solar panel within that warranty period? How do you handle those types of claims and any repairs or replacements that have to happen?
Brian: Yeah, that’s another big reason why we use the equipment we do, and we keep everything in-house as well. So, we’re able to service the system and any warranties on behalf of the customer, so they need not be chasing around manufacturers, calling and following up and trying to learn what’s going on.
A lot of times we’re actually proactive, we are calling customers and telling them there’s an issue and walking them through the steps or scheduling a time when they’re going to be home and we can have them cycle their system on and off and see if that solves it. If there’s a connectivity problem, if there’s actually an equipment problem and what’s going on, do that remote troubleshooting. And then if we need to, we send someone on site and they’re able to address the situation at hand with the customer. So, typically, everything is handled by us, and the customer can be hands off which, again, creates a better customer experience.
Optimizing Solar Efficiency
John: Are there any services that you offer to optimize solar efficiency or is that just part of the pre-planning that you do before the installation?
Brian: Right, so we do … That is a little bit of upfront, but then we want to maintain that. So part of that, the full service that we provide, the ongoing support, making sure that monitoring is up. So we provide guidance upfront. We say that your system, based on all the science of your site and the system that you have, is going to produce this much, and we stand behind it. We actually have a production guarantee and pay customers if they don’t hit their number that we told them they’re going to hit. So that yields a lot of confidence, first of all.
But then we’re able to service the system, have visibility over it, and if we see something that’s not working we want to get right out and take care of it.
We also just recommend that customers look at their monitoring and identify if there is some type of problem and reach out if they see something. What happens is, a lot of customers, when you first get your shiny new solar system and your app, you’re checking it out. You’re learning how it works. You’re learning how that relationship with your home and your consumption works. And how does this whole program and solar thing work for me? And then, over time, it becomes a set-it-and-forget-it, and customers stop looking. And then realize that maybe time has gone by and they changed an internet provider, and now their system has gone down during that time and they didn’t know it.
So if the connectivity with the internet is down, we’re not able to see it as well. So those alerts don’t come and our visibility is gone. So we do recommend customers look at that as well. But in terms of improving or ongoing maintenance, there really isn’t much in terms of a solar system. There’s no moving parts. It’s really electronics and the hardware from the solar panels making the electricity and then interacting with those electronics in the electric system of your home.
There really is nothing else to do unless there’s some type of situation that arises. And, generally speaking, it’s a lot of connectivity. They got a new modem or internet provider, and now we need to make sure that they can get their system visible again.
John: Do you ever have situations where over time maybe something happens that would lessen the amount of electricity that’s being able to be produced, or even the amount of sunlight that’s able to hit the panels? Maybe a tree grows and all of a sudden now that tree’s blocking the sun a little bit or a branch is in the way of a certain panel or some other situation like that? What are some of the things that you see?
Brian: That is possible for sure. That a tree that looked … that wasn’t a problem at installation, and now that tree has been really healthy and growing well and now it becomes more impactful. It would take time. I would say over time, and then generally speaking, the sites that are good for solar are limited by shade. That’s one of the indicators on if a site is going to be good or not. But there is a case there could be a smaller tree that has become really healthy and happy and becomes more impactful shading-wise. And we would ultimately revisit that. But we do have the production guarantee like we talked about. And if it became a significant impact, we would have to revisit what that impact looks like.
But we really haven’t experienced that over the past…now going on 12 years. But I think that there’s not much that’s going to impact it or change too much over time. But the panels do decline slightly over time. But like we talked about, very little over the first 25 years and even over the next 40 years, they’ll be operating at 70%. There’s a limited impact.
Addressing Customer Inquiries and Concerns
John: What’s your general approach, as a company, toward addressing customer concerns and inquiries?
Brian: We take any customer concerns and inquiries seriously, and fortunately we’re all here in the office, and we’re all seeing each other on a daily basis. So, most of our teams are right here. Our install teams are out in the field, and our service techs that we can dispatch as needed, as calls come in. They have a schedule, but sometimes we have something that’s maybe a higher priority. We need to switch gears and send someone out. We have our Master Electrician, Director of Operations, our Construction Manager. We have a couple of our customer care folks that are here that are able to remotely troubleshoot and see what’s going on.
Our engineers are here in-house as well. We have our sales manager and owners here all the time. We have our interconnection and permitting specialist that’s here. So, we have all-hands-on-deck. So, whatever the problem is that might arise or the question that comes up from a homeowner or business owner calling in, we’re able to usually address it right away.
John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Brian. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Brian: Thanks for having me, John. Appreciate it.
John: And for more information, you can visit the website at solarisrenewables.com or call 781-270-6555.