Parent Company Claim Installation of ‘Hundreds’ of Their Solar Roofs

Solar roofing business enterprise GAF Energy and its figure, worldwide roofing producer Standard Industries, say their contractors have deployed “loads” of installations over the last yr*, suggesting they may be outpacing larger rival Tesla.

While a good deal of the attention around solar roofs has centered on Tesla, GAF Energy has been quietly deploying its sun roofing systems. Though the organization declined to offer particular deployment numbers, Standard Industries’ estimate of “hundreds” of roofs deployed would seem to put it well in the front of its maximum-profile competitor.

Tesla had installed only 21 sunroofs as of February 2019 in the carrier territories of California’s 3 biggest investor-owned utilities, the country’s largest residential sun market, facts show. A Tesla spokesperson advised Greentech Media this range is low and unrepresentative. Tesla said it’s far installing sunroofs in eight states however declined to provide unique deployment figures.

Standard Industries first unveiled its “roof-integrated” DecoTech device in 2017. These 12 months created a new standalone company, GAF Energy, to house the product, with Martin DeBono — former fashionable supervisor of SunPower’s residential business* — brought on as president.

“We agree with that roofing, and solar products are on a trajectory to merge,” Robert Lahey, GAF Energy’s vice chairman of sales, stated at the sidelines of Greentech Media’s Solar Summit closing week.

Compared to Tesla’s smooth tile-like solar roof, GAF Energy’s product sits flush in opposition to the roof. However, it remains recognizable as solar paneling.

“Several oldsters are looking to make that killer product. I don’t think all of us has solved it yet,” Lahey said. “But I trust we have…The best roofing-included product out there available on the market today.”

“We haven’t run into [Tesla] inside the marketplace,” Lahey brought.

GAF Energy aims to vastly boom the penetration of residential solar by cutting down on customer-acquisition and installation fees. It has a unique benefit over maximum solar installers and developers in that regard: Rather than signing up clients through conventional channels like door-to-door income or in-shop advertising, it unearths them after they’re searching for a new roof, the use of leads from its broader roofing enterprise.

Standard Industries claims it’s the world’s largest roofing producer, with offices inside the U.S. And Europe. GAF, a subsidiary, has licensed roofing contractors in all 50 states, putting in 1. Five million roofs each yr — equivalent to 1 in 4 residential roofs built inside the U.S.

“Most people get sun nowadays with the aid of proactively getting bought sun using a solar company,” said Lahey. “It’s flipped with our equation.”

“We’re basically merging the product itself — each sun and roof — and we’re merging the purchase experience,” Lahey said. “There’s loads of optimization for all events whilst you try this.”

GAF Energy sees lower-than-average patron-acquisition expenses for the rooftop solar market, Lahey said, even though the organization declined to provide genuine figures. He stated the “overwhelming majority” of GAF Energy’s enterprise comes from inbound requests or referrals.

Customer acquisition is the most highly-priced part of a residential solar gadget, representing 21 percent of the average gadget fee, at $0.65 in step with watt, according to Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.

National residential installers pay the most to usher in new customers while neighborhood installers tend to have decreased customer-acquisition expenses.

Some groups — along with Tesla — are experimenting with greater passive ways of promoting residential solar, though no employer has perfected it. Tesla lately announced it would be near many of its stores, instead of counting on a smaller backbone of retail places plus online income.

While Tesla’s consumer-acquisition expenses dropped from $zero.Eighty-four cents in keeping with watt within the first half of-of16 to $zero.40 consistent with watt in the 2nd 1/2 of 2018, the organization’s residential installations dropped from 650 megawatts in 2016 to 208 megawatts closing 12 months as it chases more worthwhile sales.

Tesla may additionally have higher logo-call visibility amongst would-be sun customers. However, GAF Energy said it has a name that contractors and roofers apprehend. The presence of its determined agency throughout all U.S. State markets can also offer an area. GAF Energy is focusing its solar efforts on 9 states, which includes California and the Northeast.