Perspectives on the Solar Generation

How I Came to Believe that Training the Next Generation of Solar Leaders is the Most Important Problem I Can Solve

In this post, I tell the story of what it was like leading a solar developer and EPC through a major business pivot from struggling residential installer to a national top 50 commercial and utility EPC and developer. Like many solar businesses, we walked the tightrope between explosive success and catastrophic failure for years. In the process, I learned that no investment of time or energy has a better ROI for a company than investing in your people.

Selling solar is a craft that takes a lifetime to master, not just a job. Over at Generation Academy, we offer dozens of on-demand courses that cover everything from free courses on how to sell solar to advanced courses in motivation discovery and framing. But here are some keys to success, and some of the places you can go with a successful solar sales career.

So you’re considering a job selling solar. Here’s what you should know

Solar sales is a highly skilled profession, requiring creativity, technical knowledge, and most of all, curiosity about the unique story of each potential client. But there are some important components that can help you determine if you have what it takes to be successful.

Your Ultimate Guide to Starting a Career in Solar Energy

If you're looking to break into the solar industry, you're in luck. The solar sector is booming, and opportunities are abundant for those with talent and drive. I've seen many solar novices advance from “getting coffee” to six-figure salaries with mid-level responsibility in less than three years. The trick is getting your foot in the door.

How to guide your client step by step toward solar, instead of forcing it.

Many companies recognize that they’re losing huge sums of money every year due to an under-skilled team. They would invest in training if they thought it would solve the problem - but they don’t believe it will. And they’re (mostly) correct. Most solar trainings aren’t geared toward delivering the skills and support that companies need. In this article, we break down the seven deadly sins that keep traditional training from delivering on its promise to transform the solar workforce.

The solar industry is succeeding despite itself - fires, grid issues, abandoned projects and more. As renewables become synonymous with “power,” we won’t be able to afford to make as many high profile mistakes. We have momentum, but the energy transition is not fated to be successful. If we want to become the 21st century’s source of energy, we need to develop 21st century training, and prepare our teams to execute.

The business case for better training is clear - solar companies go bankrupt every year due to lack of execution capacity. So how did we get here, and why haven’t we already invested in better systems for training our teams?

Lack of training for solar sales is sandbagging the energy transition. Australia points to what’s possible - residential solar at 1.20/W pre-incentive.

The new on-demand course is live on Heatspring! Very proud of how it came out. If you’re searching for a better way to sell solar, this is the first comprehensive solar sales framework, based on both psychological research and practical experience. We’re offering this course along with live team training and individualized coaching packages built to put the principles into action. Contact us to set up a time to chat for team pricing for a package deal or sign up for the on-demand only version here.