Green energy has slowly transitioned from trendy to essential. Everyone is looking for a way to reduce their carbon footprint and prevent a climate crisis from jeopardizing human life.

When someone mentions green or renewable energy, the first thing that comes to mind is solar. The world is obsessed with solar energy, from massive panels to small household installations or the glorious arrays on modern spacecraft. Homeowners want to install solar panels on existing homes or include them in the architecture for new structures.

How can homebuilders work to meet the growing solar energy demand?

Understand the Existing Need

The looming threat of climate crisis has countries worldwide looking for ways to reduce their contribution to global emissions. Collectively, the goal is to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and hopefully reach the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This may sound like a monumental task with the human race continuing to dump millions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year, but some countries are taking the first steps to achieve that goal.

The U.K. will double its solar capacity by 2030, adding 40 GW of power generation. According to experts, this will leave the country 11 GW behind the recommendations outlined by the Climate Change Committee. To reach the net-zero goal, the U.K. will need to quadruple its solar capacity, up to 120 GW, by 2050.

Contractors can use this as an opportunity to take advantage of this growing demand to supplement their business. The need is there and it’s growing every year. The trick now is for homebuilders to understand it and learn how to use it to their advantage.

Building Partnerships With Solar Installers

Homeowners aren’t the only ones increasing the demand for solar energy. In 2019, the global solar energy market was worth USD 50 billion. Experts are projecting a CAGR of 20% year over year, with the industry expected to be worth more than USD 200 billion by 2026.

Homebuilders who don’t have solar installers on staff should build partnerships or business relationships with local companies. This way, instead of not having the information on hand when a new homeowner asks about solar installation or financing, builders can call their partners or send people to a solar installer they already have an established relationship with. The exact details of this partnership might vary, but as long as it’s beneficial for both companies, it’s a great way to ride this solar wave.

Offering Solar as An Upsell

New homeowners are always looking for ways to improve the value of their home, even before they’ve broken ground. This is the perfect opportunity to offer the addition of solar as an upsell that will improve the bottom line. It might seem like a challenge, especially when building a new house is already so expensive, but solar is often a surprisingly easy upsell.

Installing solar is 20% cheaper as part of new construction than installing the same size array on an existing home. They can reduce electricity bills by up to 80% and add more than $24,000 to the home’s selling price if they decide to sell in the future.

Don’t just look at this build as a one-time investment because, for homeowners, these are long-term plans. Help the client see the potential future benefits of a solar upsell instead of just focusing on reducing utility bills or shrinking carbon emissions in the short run.

Building Solar-Ready Homes

Many variables go into creating the perfect solar setup for a home, from the angle and orientation of the roof to the layout of the vents and blueprint of the home’s wiring system.

Some existing properties might need more work or lack the necessary load-bearing specifications for the roof. Incorporating solar into the design from day one makes it easier to create an efficient and effective system that will keep the home powered.

Building solar-ready homes means installers can avoid problems in the future caused by installations on buildings that weren’t suitable. The last thing any company wants marring their reputation is an incomplete installation or a solar panel falling through the roof because it wasn’t designed to be load-bearing.

Builders Play a Role in Solar Energy Uptake

Humanity is quickly approaching the point where green and renewable energy is transitioning from buzzword to necessity. Massive changes need to happen if there is any hope of preventing climate crises and keeping the world safe and livable for future generations.

Companies can use the increased demand for solar to their advantage. They can cater to people’s demands for this energy source and partner with other companies to meet customers’ needs. They can upsell installations and build houses that are equipped for future installations. Homebuilders should be looking for ways to incorporate more solar into their operations moving forward.

By Evelyn Long, Editor-in-Chief of Renovated.