Thoughts on Solar

We have written at some length about Enphase micro-inverters in the past, but today Enphase returned the favor.  Here was the lead story in their Summer 2012 Newsletter that just went out this morning:

That is Run on Sun Founder & CEO, Jim Jenal, posing amidst our solar installation at the Westridge School for Girls here in Pasadena.  The article quoted Jim and provided a link back to our video highlighting the Westridge installation.  Pretty cool.

Even cooler, however, was the meeting that we had this week with Mark Abrams, the Director of Product Management for Enphase.  We met with Mark to provide him with feedback about their existing products and to offer our insights about their next generation product that is still in prototype. This was a great exchange - we told Mark what we loved about their products - but also important ways in which the product could be improved, at least in the eyes of an installer!  Mark listened intently, took notes, and promised to see what he could do to incorporate our feedback.

It is hard to over estimate the value of such interactions between manufacturers and installers, yet it doesn’t seem to happen as often as it should.  So here’s a note to the rest of the manufacturers out there - if you really want to improve your products, start spending (more) time with installers, and I don’t mean your sales people.  (Trust me, we already get more than enough contact from your sales reps.)  You might not like everything that you hear, but learning first hand what our problems are is the best way to build a long-lasting relationship with the folks who are the most important to your long-term success.

After all, that might be Jim’s face that you see in that photo, but it’s Enphase’s products that made that project a reality.