Page 18 - North American Clean Energy September/October 2019 Issue

solar energy
Saving an Industry’s Reputation
Opinions of a solar inspector
by Christopher Beauchamp
18
SEPTEMBER•OCTOBER2019 /// www.nacleanenergy.com
MY GRANDMOTHER, TRYING TO INSTILL
good values in me when I was young, would say, “It takes years
to build a good reputation and only minutes to kill it.” This didn’t resonate with me until I was an adult and running my own business. In those 10 years, this statement was my motto - it
kept me very busy with business flowing in from word-of-mouth advertising. I have since changed careers to solar inspecting, but my motto remains the same. Unfortunately, not everyone holds themselves to the same high standard. Over the six years I’ve been working as an inspector, I have been astounded by what I have seen in the field. Based on my firsthand experience, I can tell you that the reputation of the solar industry is at risk.
Some of the more memorable offenses include the times I’ve caught installers grounding to gas pipes, mounting an entire roof array without one piece of flashing, and even gluing modules to rails when they ran out of clamps. One experience that stands out
is the installer who argued with me to avoid a poor score on his inspection. He should have had a grounding rod reaching eight-feet into the ground. Instead, he chose to use three different three-foot grounding rods. He informed me it was actually nine feet in the ground and had passed all local inspections - when I called him on it, he was not happy. After that, I couldn’t help but wonder, who is overseeing these installations? Who is making sure that the installer has followed code and best industry practices? There appears to be a lack of consistent oversight on quality, or adherence to code being
enforced by local government (or the installer themselves). We, in the industry, all know that the city inspector references a quick checklist and rarely gets on the roof. The homeowner may have a false sense of security after the local AHJ visit, so when problems arise later it becomes a matter of bad customer experience, which fosters a lack of trust.
When a homeowner has a roof system that is not performing as the sales representative promised, they can get frustrated. When leaks appear because flashings were not installed correctly, the homeowner gets even more frustrated and angry. When the installation company doesn’t return their calls, the homeowner becomes livid. By the time that homeowner finds out the installer is no longer in business (which is happening far too often) they’ve reached the breaking point. From then on, most of their conversations with friends will be about how terrible solar is, how it wrecked their house, how they were deceived, and how no one in their right mind should get solar on their home. This is the worst kind of word of mouth – and it hurts all of us.
Just as every consumer should do research when choosing a good auto mechanic, restaurant, or even doctor, so too should they put in the time to research before choosing a solar installer. All solar installers operate differently; consistency can vary from crew to crew even within the same company. Homeowners need
to be more curious about the company they are hiring, and not just gloss over
the details when the salesman is at their door. They need to read the small-print