By Janice Kleinschmidt
When considering the market for photovoltaic products, the experts have thoughts on the mindset of the ideal client.
Samuel Cochran, SMIT
The perfect customer is someone who understands the full impact and opportunities that their project can have. Obviously, with the state of our economy, money becomes a very large issue. When a customer can see beyond that one aspect, recognizing value in the way materials are used, they can see how our products play into the big picture of their goals.
Brian Tell, ShadePlex LLC
The perfect customer would be one who recognizes that solar does not have to be just rectangles on roofs—that solar can now deliver aesthetics and form in addition to function and value.
Amelia Amon, Alt. Technica
The perfect customer is somebody who is willing to look at using solar in an awning to do a multitude of things at the same time. So rather than saying the cost of solar is going to be pricey, they say, “If we do this awning, we can also capture water and provide additional lighting.” The perfect client is one willing to look at the entire system and see that it makes it a worthwhile product.
Todd Dalland, FTL Solar LLC and Pvilion Inc.
The perfect customer is forward thinking, with a long-term view of extraordinary profit. You don’t have to be a green-oriented, save-the-environment person to know that this solar revolution is coming and that getting in on the ground floor is the way to capitalize on it.
Brian Dentinger, Birdair Inc.
I think an ideal application is in the transportation sector. There are large, open spaces like parking lots. These areas are currently heat islands and environmentally unfriendly. Shading these spaces and generating free electricity is a win-win scenario.