Post-Installation Service Contracts Adding Thousands of New Sales Prospects in the Near Term
Santa Clara, Calif., September 11, 2012—Previously over-looked opportunities are now emerging for photovoltaic (PV) systems providers within the United States by addressing the growing requirement for post-installation service contracts across multiple installation sites, such as municipalities and school districts, according to new findings within the NPD Solarbuzz United States Deal Tracker report.
This incremental opportunity represents more than 2,000 immediate new targets for PV systems providers within the US, as a complement to the 37 GW of PV pipeline above the 50 kW level dating back to January 2010.
According to Christine Beadle, Analyst at NPD Solarbuzz, “Traditionally, the focus of PV systems providers in the US has been on current or planned installations, but competition has become increasingly fierce across the 3,700 projects above the 50 kW level that are at various stages of development. Recently, systems providers in the US have started to target completed PV installations as a means to expand their addressable market and revenue opportunities.”
Completed PV projects in the US now exceed those being installed or planned. More than half of the PV projects are completed, with less than a tenth in the installation phase and slightly more than a third in planning stages.
Figure 1: US PV Projects by Status
Source: NPD Solarbuzz United States Deal Tracker report, September 2012
A variety of opportunities now exist for PV systems providers targeting the multi-GW PV installed base within the US. This includes post-installation service contracts across many individual and multiple sites, options to expand the size of existing PV installations, and the potential to up-grade original site installs with advances in PV technology.
“Over the lifetime of the PV installation, equipment has to be maintained, cleaned, and repaired,” added Beadle. “Securing service contract business has therefore become a highly lucrative source of on-going revenues.”
Accessing comprehensive details of the back-catalog of completed PV installations above 50 kW in the US is critical to succeed within this new revenue segment. Establishing relationships with commercial PV systems owners also provides the scope for system expansion or new project development in the future.
The NPD Solarbuzz United States Deal Tracker reports project activity in the non-residential (including utilities) segment, including categories dedicated to the operations and maintenance of PV projects above the 50 kW level. Other parameters within the database for each installation include owner or host name, project developer, installer, system size (MWp and first year MWh), installed system pricing, system type (ground mount, roof mount, BIPV, tracking, or carports), contact details, operation and maintenance, acreage, PPA provider, electricity off-taker, city, county, state, utility territory, timing of installation, module and inverter suppliers, racking/mounting suppliers, and monitoring.
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