CASE STUDY · COMMERCIAL SOLAR INSTALLER · 4 MIN READ

IndyGen: A Power Plant Developer's Move Into Commercial Rooftop Solar

the systems it was seeing

200 to 300kW

the systems it was seeing

working with our team at interview

1 to 2 months

working with our team at interview

where IndyGen came from

Utility scale

where IndyGen came from

8:29

From utility scale to commercial rooftops

IndyGen is a power plant developer that "recently Diversified into the commercial and industrial space", bringing what it does at utility scale down to on-site rooftop solar for businesses.

That move changes the job. A utility-scale developer deals with very few customers; commercial rooftops mean many. In IndyGen's words: "we're a power plant developer we're very antisocial we don't speak to very many people we don't need to". It knew the product and the commercial case. What it lacked was "connections to customers on a on a wider scale".

Why it did not hire a sales director

The traditional route is to hire a sales director with a network. IndyGen saw the risk in that:

“it's quite a heavy investment with no guarantee of return because you're gambling you're gambling on the guy you pick”

Comparing what it pays us with what an internal hire would cost in wages, its conclusion was: "I think that we are doing better with TNW than we would with a an internal guy whose job it was to be generating leads". On whether the pricing scales: "I think it it works well for us at the minute". You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace.

If you are weighing up the same choice, our guides to how to get commercial solar leads and commercial solar lead costs set out what each route involves.

Approaching with caution

IndyGen had seen lead generation go wrong. "one of our installer subsidiaries has used lead generation before", and the problem was the same leads sold to several installers: "it was multiple selling multiple leads". So "we approached TNW with caution". What it found instead:

“it's much more collaborative you're not just getting a lead and then selling it to a load of different people and a race to the bottom”

On Solar Surveys UK each project shows without the business's name or contact details. You register interest, our team matches it to the installer best placed for it, and only that installer gets the details.

Why two to 300 kilowatts is the right size

The systems IndyGen had seen were "pretty ideal two to 300 kilowatt systems". The reason is who decides:

• These are smaller businesses, often family companies with a few directors, so "the decision making process is is going to be a lot faster".
• Larger projects take longer: "anything bigger than that you're into a much longer gestation period before decisions made because you got boards to go through".

Systems of that size go through a full G99 application with the network operator, and connection queues are changing; our guides to the G99 application and grid connections reform cover both.

Asked if it would recommend us, IndyGen joked that it was "hesitant to recommend because I don't want a competition".

The full interview is in the video above. TNW Marketing's own write-up of IndyGen's interview is on tnwmarketing.com. More installers talk about their leads in our case studies and on the reviews page.

IndyGen case study: FAQ