OnGrid Solar Energy Systems

OnGrid Solar Services:

OnGrid Solar Financial Analysis Calculator (Payback Financial Analysis Tool)

Article on for why solar makes financial sense now

OnGrid Solar Consulting Services:

Solar Brokering
Solar Purchaser's Consulting

Solar Financial Analysis Consulting & Training for Businesses

Business Customer Education & Technical Consulting

OnGrid Solar also provides Solar Education and Advocacy services:

OnGrid Consulting Services

OnGrid helps customers and solar buyers make informed decisions in two ways:

Solar Brokering
Solar Purchasers's Consulting

OnGrid helps businesses by providing educational and training services in:

Solar Financial Analysis
Customer Education

Solar Brokering

We help streamline the sales process, taking away the work and worry. We discuss your needs, survey your property, gather several bids, and help you make an informed decision. When you're ready, OnGrid will process all the paperwork for you.

OnGrid saves you time and effort. OnGrid has developed a more efficient process so we can save you the time you’d otherwise have to spend on multiple site surveys and biased pitches from multiple salespeople. Instead, we’ll do that work for you in a single visit, then present you with the results and several bids.

Your worry is minimized. We answer all your questions at all times during the process. We’ve pre-screened each vendor so you are only getting bids from the vendors we trust and believe will give you the very best service. We do this to to make sure you are happy and to protect our reputation. There are other good vendors out there, not all of whom have chosen to work with us at this point. We’ll be happy to point you to them in case you want to get additional bids to “check us out”.

On thing you’ll find is that this is a low or no-pressure interaction. Even when I worked as a direct company salesman, I was called by several customers the “ultimate in low-pressure”. I’m very happy to keep it that way – my philosophy is that I’m here to help those who want to find out more and make an informed decision. It’s never been a good use of my time to try to persuade anyone, and I'm not good at it, so I don't try.

We ensure that we are working only with serious customers who know they want to move forward with a system. This allows us to reduce costs and pass the savings on to you.

OnGrid does an extensive free telephone interview, reviewing your electric bills, electric usage patterns, needs, wants and desires, roof type, age, location & orientation and possible shading. From this data, we estimate the size and cost of your solar electric system. We calculate the payback and other financial measures including resale value, rate of return, and cash flow if you borrow for the system. We’ll send you this analysis via email, so you can review it with your CPA or investment advisor. Up to this point, there is no cost or obligation.

If and when you’ve decided solar makes sense for your situation, you invite us out to do a formal solar site survey. At that time we ask you to agree to pay a $1,000 deposit, good towards the down payment on a system, payable at the time we deliver you the bids. This ensures that we are working only with serious customers, saving us, the vendors, and ultimately you from the costs of non-serious customers. Of course, if the bids don’t come back in line with the estimate, we won’t ask for the deposit unless you still wish to move forward.

You are always welcome to get other bids and compare us in every way. Even after you've given a deposit, you are still free to chose another vendor and receive a full refund of your deposit. We are confident that the quality and price of our offerings are very competitive. In addition to the convenience and non-pressure, we believe you'll appreciate the extra value of an additional, independent, experienced set of eyes on your project.

We don't manage the project installation - we only work with professionals who do this themselves - but we do keep a watchful eye, ensuring quality and customer care are maintained, and we are here to help make sure things go smoothly. Not only does the installer need to satisfy you, but they also need to satisfy us to make sure they continue getting the opportunity to bid on future projects. Our reputation is as much at stake as theirs is.

We are paid by the sellers for our efforts. However, we cost them less than their regular inside sales personnel. Our commission rate is lower because we make the sales process more efficient – we do the work of 3-4 other salespeople in the same time and number of visits. Our “closing rate” is much higher and our expenses are lower. This savings is shared in 3 ways: (1) OnGrid earns a little more because we offer a unique, more efficient service, (2) the vendor saves and keeps a little compared to their usual sales process and costs, and (3) most importantly, part of the savings is passed on to you, the customer. OnGrid ensures you savings through continuous competitive bidding and our vigilance in the marketplace.

The decision and control are always in your hands. We’re here to help whatever way you see fit. However, the bottom line always remains the same, I'm here as your assurance that you end up satisfied. If this makes sense for your situation, we'd be delighted to work with you. Please contact us to get started with a free telephone interview - andy@ongrid.net or (408) 428-0808.

Purchaser's Consulting

Another way we can help purchasers make good buying decisions, is similar to the broker business, but on an hourly basis, and not limited to my own list of partner companies. As consultants, we will help the customer to:

Figure out if solar makes sense for you, and how much of a system you need, and run an estimated financial analysis of what your likely payback & returns will be (See: http://www.ongrid.net/PVPayback.html ). This takes about .75-1.25 hours for a simple residentail site, and a bit longer for commercial, municipal, and other applications.
Refer you to several high quality local companies, to add to your own list of bidders. For commercial and municipal applications, we can manage the bidding process for you.
Perform a site survey if needed to assess shade or answer other unusual questions - this is not usually needed. Takes about an hour (plus travel time if over 30 minutes away).
Review, analyze and compare the bids, making sure you understand what’s included in each bid, how they compare and stack up “apples-to-apples”, and what to look out for or be aware of so you aren’t surprised or disappointed. Takes about .75-1.25 hours for a typical home (more for larger projects).
Answer questions and make recommendations or provide insights into each of the companies, the industry, etc.

Almost everything can be done by phone, satellite photos & maps and email to save you time and expense.

Typically I can provide you an analysis and bid review in about 2-2.5 hours. By directing you to the better companies, I can help you confidently get the best offers in both price & quality, saving you hundreds, and maybe thousands of dollars.

The decision and control are always in your hands. We’re here to help whatever way you see fit. However, the bottom line always remains the same, I'm here as your assurance that you end up satisfied. If this makes sense for your situation, we'd be delighted to work with you. Please contact us to get started with a telephone interview - andy@ongrid.net or (408) 428-0808.

Solar Financial Analysis Consulting & Training for Businesses

OnGrid would be pleased to help your business by providing educational and training in Solar Financial Analysis. This is our primarly expertise, and you may have gathered from our extensive list of publications and presentations, as well as the many training classes we've been asked to present. We've helped numerous clients better understand how they can use rigorous financial analysis methods to demonstrate the financial rates of return and other measures to their customers. Often, it shows solar to be an attractive investment, which usually leads to a sale!

There are several ways we can assist you. We can:

Train your personnel to better make the financial case and understand the variables
Provide you with the OnGrid PV Sizer and Solar Financial Analysis Calculator on a subscription basis
Develop course curriculum for you or we to present to your customers

Business Customer Education & Technical Consulting

OnGrid has also helped several utilities in educating their customers about what solar electricity is, and what it can do form them. We've also partnered with several installers and manufacturers to present end-consumer training classes.

We'd be pleased to help you grow your business by setting us and/or performing these training classes. There are few marketing mechanisms more powerful than educating your customers, and letting them see you as the competent professional who will do a great job on their installation. Presenting to them in a training class gives you prestige and authority and makes you a trusted source. It also helps you hone your presentation techniques, both in the classroom and in the living room - and it boosts your knowledge and confidence.

Consider having OnGrid Solar help you set up a series of customer training courses and watch your sales and confidence grow! We would also be pleased to help train your personal on the technical, marketing, and financial aspects of solar. Andy Black is a NABCEP Certified Solar Installer, has a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, and a Marketing Certificate, as well as 10 years in the solar business. Click to see a full list of our qualifications
Contact OnGrid Solar at: andy@ongrid.net or (408) 428-0808.

Solar Financial Analysis & Purchasing Consultation
www.ongrid.net	.	OnGrid Solar	.	4175 Renaissance Dr #4, San Jose, CA 95134	.	(408) 428-0808	.	andy@ongrid.net
©Copyright 2006 OnGrid Solar Energy Systems