This is your SolarWakeup for May 11th, 2020

My Update. Just over 22 months ago I joined the team at Quick Mount and moved my family to the Bay Area. After 13 years developing, financing and leading teams in C&I and utility scale solar, I joined the residential solar segment. Quick Mount revolutionized the mounting space going back to 2006 and in a competitive market I was asked to get Quick Mount back to its leadership position. What originally was estimated to be a 3 year process, ended up in a sale of the company in 14 months from the moment I arrived. The team was best in class and ownership trusted us to grow it with great additions and success followed with a new strategy implemented. With the turnaround and sale complete, I remained with the acquiring company to help with the integration and now is the time to move on to find the next great company in solar. The past 2 years have been the greatest time in my professional career and a real sign of the maturity in solar today. In the meantime there will be time to catch up with family and consulting while the opportunities present themselves as they have in the past.

The People. If I learned one thing in the last 2 years it is that the people in residential solar are amazing and what’s proof in the past month is that their resilience is like no other. I’m overjoyed to have had a chance to work with this group of solar professionals and look forward to doing much more with you.

The Market. I published my bullish outlook of the market a few weeks ago which has now been confirmed by half a dozen public companies during their earnings calls. In my interview with Palmetto’s CEO and President we talked about how the company had some of their best sales in the past month and I predicted that 2020 wasn’t going to be a down year compared to 2019. I believe that not only is 2020 going to be a better year than expected but I see great promise in the years ahead, investors are saying the same by buying in on the company stocks. Whether it is public or private markets, solar’s investment environment has never been better.

SolarWakeup. SolarWakeup will continue publishing the newsletter and expand into serving the solar market with reports and information. Many of you have already participated in the module index which will expand its reach and value that it creates for manufacturers and installers alike. Just like Expedia expanded air travel, so will a transparent marketplace for installers. You already see manufacturers expanding clarity with online stores and dealer networks as proof of the path forward. More to come on this tomorrow. 

Opinion

Best, Yann