Rooftop Solar-5 Mistakes Indian Installers Make When Scaling Up

India's rooftop solar market, is on a tear, no doubts about it. Ever since the PM Suryaghar scheme has been launched, after a steady start, the numbers are piling up, and fast. While Gujarat has led from the front, other states, notably Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu have been playing catch up as well, and the numbers bear this out.

These numbers, impressive as they are, have unleashed a wave of enytrepreneurship and jobs as well, as people have rushed to benefit from the high demand for installers. The SaurEnergy team has been talking extensively with installers and rooftop solar customers across the NCR region over the past month, across key states to get a sense of what is going right, and what isn't for customers of the PM Suryaghar Yojana. What we have collected in terms of feedback points to some serious issues that need to be addressed, to ensure the growth of the rooftop solar installs under the scheme is sustainable, and the target of 10 million or 1 crore households with rooftop solar is met. Importantly, looking at the demand, many industry players expressed the hope that the government will come out with a fresh version of the scheme that targets 2 cr or 20 million houses in due course, but for that to happen, those in the business of solar installations need to get their house in order as well. Here are the five key issues we have filtered out based on extensive discussions with close to 100 respondents.

1. Overpromising, Underdelivering on Timelines
   
   It is unbelieveble how universal this customer feedback has been. By far the most widespread issue cited by customers. However, in defence of installers, this is mostly more an issue of communication than something they can control at their end. With key paperwork and permissions coming through other agencies, especially state discoms, many installers regularly find themselves facing irritated customers after delays at the other end that they can't control. The need of the hour is for a clearer communiction of the time it would take to actually install the system (30-90 days in most cases), versus the time between a customer saying yes and a system going live (15-30 days). Going live after the system is installed is the period when customers seem to be the most demanding, as by then full payment has usually been made and they want to see the promised savings start as soon as possible.

2. When The Process Fails The Customer
   
   There are many gratifying stories of small installer firms growing from nothing to say, 200 installations every month. However, as many solar installers have seen volumes go up, the focus has been on closing the sales side of the deal to lock in customers, not the actual installation side. Thus, the strong feedback of advances being collected followed by a long period of silence, broken only by assurances that the 'team' has been busy elsewhere. Teams capable of handling two installations a day are being asked to manage 5, which is simply not possible. Lack of trained manpower is also making many installers dependent on a few key personnel, without whom final closure simply does not happen. This is a tricky issue, and the sooner installers serious about long term success solve for it, the better it would be for them and their customers. Sales bookings are  good, but successful delivery as promised is what will ensure that it is sustainable.

3. Equipment confusion

   Far too many customers we spoke expressed dissatisfaction with the modules or inverters they finally got. Installers on the other hand blamed the shortage of DCR modules for having to change plans in terms of modules they had promised. In this case, we believe customers also need to do a little research, or stick to the top module brands and the wait times it may entail if they want to play it safe. For, as we have seen, so far, when there have been quality issues linked to modules, in most cases, the leading brands have a better record of quicker 'no questions asked' replacements  than some of the smaller module makers. Price gaps are also relatively lower in modules vis a vis inverters, so customers donot see the logic of unavailability of a brand versus the other sometimes. With the DCR shortage expected to abate, issues around module choice versus availability should abate soon. However, issues linked to the rest of the BOS, be it structures or wiring or even proper neutral earthing are something customers will need to be alert to. Structures is a particularly tricky issue as many cases see customers opting for a higher height for the solar set up, necessitating extra expenses outside of the scheme benchmark prices. That makes them seek lower costs, not always with good results in terms of long term quality.

4. Lack of Stadardisation This is where many installers let themselves dowm, by trying to be all things to all people. As volumes climb, they will find that it is best to have as much of a standard process and equipment as possible that makes installation predictable for all involved. Trying to agree to every customer demand in terms of module, inverter, structure of even wiring is an obvious waste of time, especially if they have much stronger relationships with their preferred equipment vendors to ensure better service. Keep in mind that with a 5 year O&M commitment, it is in the installers interest to ensure a good mix. Customers have expressed surprise at knowing that a plant they were told would last 25 years comes with different warranties for modules and inverters for instance, with the latter usually carrying a shorter tenure warranty. With storage expected to enter the picture in a big way now, there is all the more reason for both the government and installers to ensure that quality products make the cut. Quality, and maintainance can make all the difference in this case, and it is something good installers should stress on.

5.  Tracking and follow ups
   
   This might come as a surprise, but many customers have expressed dissapointment that they need to follow up with installers for basic issues like scheduled O&M, or worse, performance issues. The industry is still not used to the kind of customer service standards and processes other consumer facing sectors are expected to deliver. This is despite most installers today offering standard or their own custom apps to track plant performance. In a clear case of promise versus actual delivery, after the first few months, most customers stop checking plant performance, expecting the installer to notice any unusual drop and fix it. That doesn't really happen, despite claims of real time tracking of solar setups  and remedial measures by most. Serious issues like module cracks being diwnplayed have riled up many customers, and installers need to stop taking them for granted if they want a long term future.
   
   Other Issues: Many other issues, sometimes too specific to a customer or installer or more generic ones linked to financing, insurance or subsidy payments came up, but these were too narrow to be categorised as a broad problem. Perhaps we will consider a detailed dive into these as more validated informtion comes in.
   
   For customers, the key issue here seems to be to make the effort to get feedback from existing customers of the installer they  want to consider, or play it safe and go with the big brand names, albeit at costs that could be 8-20% higher in most cases. Not doing so will unfortunately expose them to risks they may not have bnargained for when they brought into the undoubted promise of solar to deliver a great product. And remember, seeking a 'deal' too hard for a critical infrastructure for your house connected to your power system, and expected to last 25 years, means seeking quality as well as economy. Too much stress on the latter will be shortsighted thinking for you and the Indian rooftop solar market.