Clean power supply
Published on February 4, 2021 | by Zachary Shahan
February 4, 2021 by Zachary Shahan
SunPower has long been one of the largest, most influential, and popular solar companies in the United States. In fact, its forerunner was a central part of what started the global solar industry decades ago. It is heavily focused on installing solar energy in American homes and businesses these days and that is now happening in 7 new markets.
SunPower is expanding into 7 new regions in 6 states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland and North Carolina) and is strengthening its umbrella organization for solar systems as early as 2021 – in particular the SunPower Residential Installation (SPRI) program.
“With SPRI, local businesses and entrepreneurs can start or expand their solar energy businesses without taking on the complex and wealth-intensive roles often associated with a traditional solar trading business,” the company writes. “With SPRI, sales organizations and small businesses can focus on marketing and selling solar power, while SunPower manages the entire process of rooftop installation, maintenance, and repair, customer service, and warranty. This structure lowers the barrier to entry for those looking to enter the rapidly growing renewable energy sector, provides SunPower with new channels to meet the demands of its rapidly growing customer base, and gives homeowners more options when purchasing solar energy. “
Solar energy was the main source of new electricity capacity last year. The reason is clear: it's cheaper. People can save money by switching to solar power, and now people in several regions of the US sun belt can do so through SunPower. “In the first quarter of 2021, SunPower will launch SPRI in:
- Tucson, Arizona
- Fresno and the Greater Central Valley, California
- Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
“It will start in later this year Denver, Colo., Raleigh, NCand the DC Metro Area. The company plans to hire more than 300 field service technicians in these cities by 2021, performing twice as many installations every year. “
Solar energy is growing rapidly again. However, it is worth adding a few notes on the fact that this program is designed to grow and grow solar marketing and sales for SunPower. This is the opposite of Tesla's approach, which was primarily about eliminating marketing and sales people – and the associated costs.
SunPower is making a positive impact, and while it creates jobs, it comes at a cost. The question is whether this is an effective and cost-effective approach to customer acquisition compared to other options – but SunPower certainly seems to believe so at this point. “With SPRI, we're expanding the solar category by enabling entrepreneurs to build sales and marketing-focused solar companies,” he said Tony Garzolini, VP of Sales at SunPower. “Our strong dealer network continues to be the foundation we rely on, but you no longer need to own construction equipment or manage a customer service team to be part of this incredibly exciting industry.”
Do you want to sell solar? Log in! They can also become a full-fledged SunPower installer.
Related story: Solar energy = “Cheapest electricity in history”
Images courtesy of SunPower / SunPower
Fill out our 3-minute reader survey!
Do you value the originality of CleanTechnica? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica member, supporter, or ambassador – or a patron on Patreon.
Sign up for our free daily newsletter so you don't miss a story.
Do you have a tip for CleanTechnica, would you like to advertise or suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTech Talk episode
About the author
Zachary Shahan tries to help society, to help itself word for word. He spends most of his time here at CleanTechnica as Director, Editor-in-Chief and CEO. Zach is recognized worldwide as an expert in electric vehicles, solar energy, and energy storage. He has reported on cleantech at conferences in India, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in NIO [NIO]Tesla [TSLA]and Xpeng [XPEV]. However, it does not offer any kind of (explicit or implicit) investment advice.