CASE STUDY · COMMERCIAL SOLAR INSTALLER · 7 MIN READ

Luz Solar: Why a Developer Since 2010 Sticks to 50kW to 400kW Rooftops, and Which Sites He Turns Down

in renewables

Since 2010

in renewables

the systems he goes after

50kW to 400kW

the systems he goes after

site visits done

4 or 5

site visits done

of those moving towards installation

2

of those moving towards installation

12:57

In solar since 2010, and a leaner way of working this time

Stephen started "back in the good old days, when we had feed-in tariffs". Luz Solar began by developing domestic sites, "just short of a thousand properties", for an investment company. It then moved into large rooftops, including one in Oldham in 2012 that was "just short of a megawatt", and into ground mount, starting with a 10MW site in Cornwall. In all the business developed "about 220 give or take commercial solar projects in the UK".

When the UK market crashed the original company closed. After two and a half years working in Brazil he came back and started again, and this time the business is kept small: "We've got an engineer, electrical engineer, designer, we've got technical designers, and we've got a good team of installers". In his words, "everything's outsourced pretty much."

Finding the clients is one of the things he chose not to rebuild in-house. Luz Solar used to do that itself, speaking to "the top business owners, the directors or the FDs", and now that work comes from our team: "it saves me a massive headache".

Why he chooses 50kW to 400kW and leaves the megawatt jobs

Stephen has the experience to design megawatt systems. He chooses not to chase them, because at that size the tender is decided on the balance sheet as much as the design:

“when you're talking about shelling out millions of pounds, tend to get the tenders and tend to get the actual job. So you tend to be wasting your time, getting to a point where you're in the last three”

So for a business of Luz Solar's size, "50 to 400. It's a good sweet spot for us." That is worth deciding before you browse leads: the size of job you can win, not only the size you can build. When a lead lists the likely system size, you can pass on anything outside your band before you spend a day on a visit. For the paperwork that comes with larger systems, see the commercial solar planning permission and G99 application guides.

The site he would not take again: asbestos and a structural survey

One of Luz Solar's current sites, in Birmingham, could not go ahead until two surveys were done first: "required an asbestos survey, it required a structural survey". The DNO side did not worry him ("we could deal with those all day every day"). The surveys did, because of the time they take before anyone can install.

He reads an asbestos roof as a warning about the whole building: "that's typically saying it's a 1950, 60, 70 building that's not structurally sound". Asked for his advice to other installers, he kept it short: "Don't take those ones on." With building regulations, asbestos and overclad quotes to sort, "it's not something that we'd probably go near again."

The answer for him is to look at the detail before choosing the lead. Because each lead shows its information first, he can see a site like that coming and pass. If you do take one on, our guide to solar panels on an asbestos roof sets out the surveys and options, and the commercial solar survey checklist covers what to check on the roof during the visit.

Every meeting with the person who decides

For Stephen the most valuable thing is who is in the room: "the quality of actually speaking to the decision makers. I think that's the most important thing." He is realistic about hit rates on commercial sites, where owners say they are "not ready or it's more expensive", and points out that "nobody can force a guy to put solar on the roof." Even so:

“Not one of the leads has been a waste, to be honest.”

Of the four or five sites he has visited, two are moving towards installation. As he put it: "You know, that's 50% is pretty good."

What went wrong with leads before

Stephen had bought leads once before, at a company he worked for after returning to the UK. "They were shelled out to three or four other companies", they often missed the decision maker, and "ultimately we ended up claiming a lot of the money back because it's just a waste of time."

What he finds different now is that the businesses he meets "are very interested. Whether it's the right time is irrelevant," and that he gets "the right information to hand for us to actually put a proper proposal together for them." He expects an MD or finance director to get more than one quote, and is happy with that: "if we do our job properly and we sell it properly and give them the right information, you know, it's up to us to sell that."

On Solar Surveys UK you browse the leads free and choose the ones you want. You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace. Our guide on how to sell commercial solar picks up from the moment the survey is booked.

Taking only the leads you can work properly

There was no shortage of choice ("it gave us plenty to look at"), and he still took only a few. The commercial decision was to "get, I think, the first few across the line" before taking more, because each commercial site takes real work "unless you've got 50 staff, or 30 staff, working on individual projects."

He says the same about the future: "I won't be taking all of your leads because, you know, they come through thick and thick." The service side he rates highly: "you've got a staff there that are constantly on the phone if I need them".

Q: So any advice?

Stephen: Don't take those ones on.

Q: would you recommend us?

Stephen: so I'm sure there's plenty of installers out there, we'd appreciate a quality lead, which I believe yours are, as I say, how I used to do them ourselves internally, so.

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

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