We are in some interesting times especially when we look at the solar industry as a whole. Trying to understand if right now is going to help the industry drive up sales or just cause everything to crumble is definitely something our editors have been toying with.
Is the cost of solar going to skyrocket now that demand has dropped?
Will sales numbers be blown off the door since more and more people are staying at home and quarantined due to Covid-19?
We are seeing conflicting information and trying to peel back exactly what is going on.
Company taking losses:
Sunpower:
Company taking the pandemic positively:
Daqo:
So what does it mean for the solar industry with this current pandemic going on. Simply put – those who innovate will survive and those holding to traditional business models will likely wither away.
- Solar installers will have to switch their install crews from W2 employees to 1099 contractors to cut costs because I wouldn’t want a crew at my house installing panels right now – even though guidelines are being pushed to do so…
- Manufacturers will have to switch more to focus on utility scale solar projects while
- Distributors will need to plan for holding up to 6 months of inventory while installers are on hold.
- Sales processes will have to become entirely digital
Our hunch is that reducing projections for sold solar doesn’t make sense as the market is currently just reacting to the current pandemic at hand. Our hope is that this will pass in the coming months and the market will recover by the end of Q2 which will put us in a good position to rebound when we look at the solar industry.
Maybe we should get some boots on the ground to get opinions of how companies are combating the current Covid-19 outbreak.