Project Title: Consumer Choice in Solar
Funding Opportunity: Technology to Market 3
Solar Subprogram: Technology to Market
Location: Boston, MA
Amount Awarded: $1,600,000
Awardee Cost Share: $1,600,000

This project is developing a scalable online product that enables consumers to freely choose solar equipment, financing, and installation options. Inefficiencies in the current solar shopping process have constrained consumer options and increased acquisition costs; by taking a consumer-centric approach, this project aims to maximize consumer choice and autonomy, resulting in more solar homes and businesses across the United States.

This project aims to apply best practices from online shopping in other industries to the solar shopping process to lower customer acquisition costs and the installed price of photovoltaic systems. The approach focuses on the development of scalable online tools that facilitate consumer decision making, while streamlining the sales process for suppliers, through a combination of information technology and process optimization.

Multiple studies suggest that most consumers who consider solar without installing a system have delayed their decision, rather than deciding against the technology. EnergySage’s research has confirmed this pattern of behavior, and further indicated that the shopping options currently available to consumers fall short of their expectations based on their experiences in other product categories. By adopting best practices from other industries, this project aims to better align the consumer experience with consumer expectations, increase conversions from consumers interested in solar to solar sales, reduce customer acquisition costs, and increase solar deployment in pursuit of ubiquitous solar.