You see the project as a journey, a learning experience, and at the end you will have a functional thing, new knowledge, and bolstered confidence going into the next project. (Applause!)
Solar can be and is a candidate for DIY and many people accomplish it successfully. They take many financial risks, spend hours combing the internet and watching YouTube videos, take physical risks in their proximity to electricity and heights, and learn how to navigate all the third parties that are involved in a solar installation. If you are the type who has the high threshold for frustration, mental and physical labor, and financial and physical risk then it is an avenue you should explore.
However, this next part, I would like to be delicate about but needs to be said no matter how it comes out. We want nothing to do with your DIY project. We cannot and will not be available to answer questions and untangle knots you created. We are busy helping customers who chose to hire us to apply our knowledge and expertise, take all the risks, and get the job done, from soup to nuts, on their behalf.
Calling us multiple times a week to ask us how to do this or that, or how to undo this one thing you did wrong, or what is the best way to do this thing coming up is shoplifting our time and expertise. We want to be helpful, and save our customers money wherever we can, so our instinct is to dive in and try to figure it out. It’s a problem and we have had to administer some tough love.
In order for us to get a solar system, PV or thermal, from contract to passed permit as well as we do, it takes about eight departments staffed and led by individuals with a variety of skillsets. Marketing, Sales, Admin, Finance, Permitting, Engineering, Compliance, and Service & Install. We don’t just pay our people fairly, we pay them well. We do this to attract the best in the industry, and this investment translates to smooth installs and happy customers. We do not have an on-call answer man help desk expert department who knows it all to field calls from DIYers who hit a snag.
That means when a DIYer calls and asks which color wire goes into which color box thingy, if the person who answers that call isn’t in the Service & Install department, the call answerer isn’t going to know the answer. Wanting to be helpful they will try to contact someone in Service & Install to ask them. They will be expected to go through the Service & Install Manager to find out which technician is best suited to answer questions about “colored wires and box thingies” then another call is made. That technician is on a roof and so does not answer the call until his current job is done. So, we have two office staff waiting on a third with this colored wire box thingy issue on their plate until then.
Let’s assume the technician is able to translate colored wire and box thingy into understandable solar speak and give an answer. He tells his manager, the manager tells the person who took the call, and they call the DIYer back. The DIYer expresses their gratitude verbally, but not financially, and has one more question. Do they need to capitalize the letters in the model numbers for the equipment on the permit application? Now the call answerer has to repeat the Service & Install process with the Permit Department.
This DIYer has tied up 5-6 of our staff and probably 10-15 of our jobs on a project that we gain no revenue from. Even worse, because we were so helpful on colored wires, box thingies, and grammar rule variances according to permit offices they are going to use us as a solar resource for the rest of their project. As far as we are concerned, that is not DIY.
We wind up working twice as hard for free. The principle of DIY needs to be Do It Yourself, as implied, and needs to be all-encompassing. You’ve got the internet and a list of merchants that will sell you the components. We wish you the best of luck, but don’t want to be involved.
We feel petty, but we are going to charge to answer questions or flat out refuse to get involved unless we handle 100% of the project.
All that being said, have you heard of www.solarfixflorida.com? That’s us too. It may seem like a contradiction to what was written above, please allow us to clarify.
The most arduous way to get solar for your home is DIY. The second most is by hiring the cheapest contractor. Many solar customers in Florida did just that and their install was bungled or they have a pile of equipment and material and no one to put it in. Others started as DIYers and bought all the equipment and materials, then realized the scope of work ahead of them and lost the DIY spirit. Some realized we markup equipment and materials and feel crafty buying these components themselves and saving a few pennies.
Regardless of how they got there, they have the stuff and now need someone who knows what to do with the stuff. www.solarfixflorida.com is a site where they can go and get a quick estimate on what we would charge to install their components. This is, of course, a rough estimate that might change drastically once we get on-site. If any components are missing and we need to procure them, the customer’s design will not be accepted by the permit office, etc.
This rough estimate may create some new business for us, and we’ll be glad to have it. On the other hand, it may re-inspire some DIYers to do it themselves. The above rules still apply. The recent rash of customers being abandoned because their solar contractor has gone out of business, is being prosecuted, or has otherwise become unavailable to finish installing or provide service is what inspired us to put the site up.
As we have said many times before, we are primarily a service-based business. We love new sales and installs when they fall in our lap, but we pay the bills by offering service on electric and thermal solar. We work with all brands and arrange warranty claims for our customers with all of them. We’ve been doing this since 1999 and have developed an expertise that is valuable. We charge accordingly and we are worth it.
