This was what was published today as an oped in the Honolulu Star Advertiser-

What do you think will be the outcome or how do you feel about this?

Trade war stalks solar energy
If feds rule against China, gains in U.S. clean energy are at risk
By Keith Cronin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 15, 2012
Hawaii’s progress toward money-saving, job-creating, environmentally friendly solar energy will reach a crucial crossroads on Thursday when the U.S. Department of Commerce will decide whether to set steep tariffs on some solar cells and modules imported from China.
This ruling will respond to a complaint by SolarWorld, a German-owned company with one facility in Oregon, charging that China is “dumping” solar panels on the U.S. market. In a preliminary determination last month, the Commerce Department set low countervailing duties, or tariffs, on these imports.

Now numbering more than 5,000 companies with more than 100,000 employees, the U.S. solar industry has been expanding by 6.8 percent a year, adding some 7,000 jobs in 2011, while the entire economy had a growth rate of only 0.7 percent. During 2011, Hawaii ranked 11th in the nation in solar energy installations, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight 2011 Year-in-Review Report. The industry already accounts for 15 percent of all construction spending in Hawaii and employs more than 2,000 people throughout the state.
With Hawaii’s companies and consumers paying the nation’s highest electricity costs, solar energy offers an economically and environmentally sustainable alternative. Because Hawaii is separated from North America by more than 2,500 miles of ocean, the state currently generates some 75 percent of its electricity from oil that is shipped at great cost from the mainland or from foreign countries. This reliance on oil, as well as other fossil fuels such as coal, sends Hawaii’s hard-earned money out-of-state while polluting the state’s natural environment.
Solar power keeps Hawaii’s energy dollars in the state, generating jobs, sales and tax revenues as well as clean electricity. According to a recent report by economist Thomas Loudat for the Blue Planet Foundation, every dollar in Hawaii’s commercial solar energy tax credit eventually generates almost $45 in additional sales for the state’s businesses and workers and more than $3 in new tax revenues.
But this progress will be put at risk if the Commerce Department sets high import duties on Chinese-made solar panels, such as the up to 250 percent tariffs sought by SolarWorld, whose business — silicon solar cell manufacturing —accounts for about 3 percent of all jobs in the U.S. solar industry. For the remaining 97 percent of the industry, as well as solar energy consumers, low prices for panels aren’t the problem, and protectionism isn’t the solution.
Because costs are falling, we have finally reached the point where, at current prices in many communities, utilities, businesses, developers and homeowners are selecting solar power as a source of safe, affordable and reliable energy. This year, as the use of solar energy continues to increase, the industry expects to develop almost $12 billion worth of projects and hire some 24,000 more workers.
But these gains in employment and the environment will be short-circuited if the Commerce Department approves steep tariffs, resulting in significantly higher prices. According to the economic consulting firm, the Brattle Group, steep tariffs on imported solar panels would result in the loss of up to 32,700 jobs related to the solar industry in 2012, 40,600 by 2013, and nearly 50,000 by 2014. Moreover, a trade war with China would hurt Hawaii, California, Washington, Oregon and other states whose economies and export industries look toward the Pacific Rim.
The United States has more consistent solar resources and lower interest rates than any other country. Without building trade walls, the U.S. is an ideal place to manufacture solar panels and install solar power to ease the transition to renewable sources of electricity.
The U.S. and China should reach an agreement that benefits both countries’ solar industries, instead of initiating a mutually destructive trade war.
To generate clean and affordable energy and good jobs, we need progress, not protectionism.

Often I’m asked, “how can I make more sales in solar?”

Well it depends!

If you’re new to solar and looking to break into this lucrative industry, its one thing.
If you’re already in the solar industry in sales, and you want to enhance what you’re doing its another.
If, you’re a solar integrator and you want not just more sales, but profitable ones, its yet another.

But you all want the same thing! Grow your businesses, client satisfaction, referrals and make some money in the process!

So, I’ve listened to your feedback and developed this for you.

You can do this!

Watch the video and come learn a few new things with us!

Aloha

Keith Cronin

After my solar sales seminar last week, someone came up to me and asked, can having more sales actually hurt my business and invariably, my customers?

It depends.

Why do I say this? Well a couple of reasons. But let me give you an example.

In this hypothetical (or real) situation, lets agree that you sold a $30,000 residential solar system.
The company had a goal of making a 10% profit, or $3,000 dollars.

The company was very excited that you and other members of the sales team are crushing it and making sales.

However, due to their unbridled enthusiasm, there was a gap in going out to the site to verify the conditions of the electrical infrastructure.
Quote was given to the customer and you find out later, you need to upgrade the electrical service.

Ouch!

Even worse- your contract is for a fixed price and the homeowner believes that they should not pay any more and you abide by your contract.
Now what?

Well, you take it on the chin.

So what does this all really mean to the financials of this job and the impact?

For starters, you lost money. It happens.

But let me ask you this- based upon losing $3,000.00- how much more work do you have to “sell” to make up the gap to recoup the $3,000.00 you expected to make? Email or post the answer.

These kind of things should be at the front of the sales persons mind, as well as the company for many reasons.

1. Sales person- if the company doesn’t make $, they will struggle to pay your commissions, benefits and anything else.
2. Company- more obvious- but paying sales people, customer service reps, electricians, vendors….you are already pressured to make it happen each day.
3. The industry- if we continue to do this, the downward spiral will continue and this can happen for only so long and people/companies will drop off the map, leaving orphaned systems and customers disillusioned about what services we offer them, today and well into the future.

So, when your thinking you need more sales, as yourself is it doing more harm than good.

Lately, the chatter on the street is solar sales are great, but it seems to take so long to have my projects installed.
Even when they’re installed, my customer is not happy. They’ve had their project rescheduled 3 times and it wasn’t what we promised them!

This was a conversation I had today with someone.

Many companies today are eager to make lots of sales regardless of the impact to the rest of the company, as the alpha male drives the car, blinded by the potential challenges associated with pulling together the ops team to deliver results.

Why is this?

Expectations and communications, most of the time.

Management has expectations about the sales team- “go make more”. For the ops team- “hurry up, we have more sales”.

On the surface, you’re thinking, so whats the challenge?

Well, for starters- perhaps there is not enough time allocated to a project, straining the already limited resources of the ops team.
There is also the propensity to believe things can be done in less time that originally calculated.

Whats the remedy? Well, on the retail solar side, I’d have sales and ops work more closely together and hold each other accountable to the design, prior to selling a project. If the job comes in on time and on budget, we acknowledge this and compensate for results. If it does not, we provide feedback and strive to learn what we could have done better and adjust our approach.

Burning through overhead, by not completing jobs on time can be insidious and continually erode the profitability of your company. Chasing more sales, is like getting two bloody noses, something you don’t need, as the first one was messy enough.

Shared responsibility will also remove management from the perpetual adult day care role and allow them to do more long term planning, strategy and tweaking their marketing efforts and not take their attention away from growing the business.

What do you think?

Today we learned that we surpassed 18mW of NEM installations on Oahu, more than doubling the previous year.
Maui saw even more growth- 6.6mW, up from almost 2mW the year before.

Its clear that a confluence of reasons contributed to the sustained spike in activity.
1. High oil prices- $100 a barrel impacts electricity costs.
2. Reduced costs of solar panels, which comprise the lions share of the costs.

Ultimately, consumers want to reduce and stabilize their energy costs and solar has been the vehicle to achieve this.