I'd like to see any discussion of this moved over to the RE-markets list. While it is marginally on topic here since it has to do with your businesses, you will find that there are some non-wrench-member folks on that list that may have some helpful insights.
Marco Mangelsdorf wrote at 11:48 AM 9/8/2011: >In 2008, about 200 Net Energy Metered systems went in on this Big Island of >Hawaii, where I live. About 400 in 2009 and over 800 in 2010. The same >increase in adoption rates took place across the Aloha State. > >I think that the next two years or so will bring a stop to this kind of growth >most likely because of the fed grant in lieu of tax credits very likely going >away come 1-1-2012 and a likely change to the HI. state tax credits as well >after this next legislative session as well as the continued progression of >our small island grids becoming more closed to PV due to grid saturation >issues. > >Be that as it may, until theres a contraction in the PV biz in our Aloha >State (not a question of if but when), were going to continue to be in an >insanely competitive sales environment. > >My commercial sales these past 9 months have been kinda light and Im bothered >by that. Our standard approach is to always offer the highest efficiency mods >from Brand X. But weve been losing sales to others who are undercutting us >by as much as 30 or more percent. No surprise, really, since these mods are >so much more than pretty much the rest of the market, aside from Brand Y with >its HIP and HIT lines. > >Ive resisted going all in or even mostly in as far as getting container loads >of good quality Chinese mods as weve been hyping ourselves as providers of >the highest efficiency production mods on the planet along with our solid >econoline of U.S.-made mods with a minus zero PT and flash test data for every >mod. But if you hit em with Brand X and theyre not really educated on Brand >X nor asking for the best, any other quotes that theyre considering from >others will make the Brand X quote look way high. And at that time you can >usually kiss the sale good-bye. > >So Im considering a substantial change in our approach to selling PV. Go >mostly Chinese, go low price to keep up with the competition, offer quotes >using Chinese mods as a standard matter of course and perhaps offer Brand X on >a more limited basis. It just seems to me that the commoditization of the PV >biz these days has most consumers concluding that price is the most important >factor whether the mods come from China, the U.S. or Timbuktu. > >Let the fireworks begin. > >marco
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
