What a year! It seems like Santa has been delivering our solar industry lumps of coal these past few Christmases: the scammers, the bad PR, high interest rates, the tariffs, the politicking in Washington, supply chain hangups, and high profile bankruptcies. And what about the “rebound in the 2nd half of the 2024” that never really materialized? That’s enough coal to keep Tiny Tim warm for all Christmases to come.
Yet we still believe! We believe in the magic of Christmas. We believe this year Santa will reach down deep and turn coal into candy!
So in the spirit of the holiday season, we bring you Bodhi’s 12 days of Solar Christmas, 2025 edition.
On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A Really Modern Solar Customer
Yes, consumers are currently staying on the sidelines on most big purchases, including solar. However, that doesn’t change the macro-trend. More consumers continue to express their desire for energy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and that gives them more control over their entire household energy. That means they want solar, but also means they want all the energy products and services that are becoming available: batteries, smart appliances, EVs, smart panels, VPPs. The solar+ world needs these modern customers to continue to make sophisticated demands and bring their 21st century appetites to our industry. We have the tools. What we need are the players (us) that are able to deliver to these modern solar customers products that are easy to buy and intuitive to use.
On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
Appreciation of Solar’s Contribution to Grid Resiliency
For so long, the solar industry has had to defend our value to the energy landscape, fight against those who say we burden the grid. Times are changing though. Never before has the individual had such an ability to impact the stability, capacity, and resiliency of the grid. As the density and broad distribution of solar + storage systems on the grid grows, more and more folks are recognizing the inherent value this distributed system presents. Even utilities, known for centralized control, are encouraging solar and storage deployments. Centerpoint in Houston, Texas, in response to hurricane weather events, now incentivizes solar and storage. Likewise so does Oncor in Texas. And notably, both of these utilities are in deregulated, investor-owned territories. We wish for many more to follow.
On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
An IRA Bonus in Your Backyard
The promise of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is finally becoming real through a number of investments, tax credits, loans and grants. For example, this year we saw $2 billion allocated to REAP grants and $7 billion awarded to 60 organizations. Most notable is that communities across the US and across the political spectrum, but predominantly those in red districts, will be able to experience the benefits these IRA programs can deliver.
Related: IRA updates for residential installers
On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A Local PV and Storage Manufacturer
To make a new grid is to build a new grid. Where we get the parts to build this future may be coming from just down the street. While onshoring has been in process for some years, the factories are about to open. With over $500 billion in investment and over 160 factory openings or expansions, the impact across the country is evident. Find the nearest manufacturer on this map. We in the industry can usher in their success by driving our customers their way. Yes, it is still a global supply chain, but the more we can bring into our communities, the deeper the relationship we can build with our customers..
On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A Crossfit Guide to Running a Solar Business
The challenges of running a solar business have never been more in number and degree. We solve one challenge only to be faced with 2 more. This year, we wish for the tire pulls, bag tosses, and hop sequences that give our solar business the diverse skills to meet the new market landscape. But we don’t have to do it alone. Bodhi has hosted several regional executive round tables, convening solar installers, EPCs and Sales Orgs to discuss challenges and validate winning strategies. Comparing notes reminds us that we have developed expertise across a wide array of technologies and customer experiences. It may not get easier, but we have gotten better.
Related: Top lessons Texas installers don't want you to know
On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
Easy Repeat Sales
For so long, solar has been transactional. Find a customer. Install a system. Rinse and repeat. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Repeat sales to existing customers are becoming more common, helping to drive down customer acquisition costs. The challenge? It’s currently really tedious and costly to give customers the attention they need to drive follow-on sales. Service is busy troubleshooting system issues. Sales is focused on new customers. Marketing has too much on their plate. Therefore we wish for an easy way to consistently and automatically engage customers post-install and be able to market to them hyper-personalized recommendations of new products and services all throughout the 25 year life of the customer relationship.
On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A New Narrative for the Solar Industry
For the first time in many decades, the narrative around solar has been dominated by sales scams, high interest rates and faulty systems. No need to ask why customers have been on the sidelines. We envision a new narrative that is informed and corroborated by companies with integrity, clear communication to customers, fair dealing, and more competitive financing tools. Solar can learn from adjacent industries how to overcome some of our self-created challenges. Think of the hospitality industry which can provide seamless experiences when met with very discerning, very demanding consumers.
On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A Passport to the Electric Grid
The grids of the US have shown their colors. In the west, there are fires, in the east, congestion, and in Texas, there’s no failsafe. So along comes millions of customers who can participate in the grid’s operations in new ways. Sometimes they act alone in the form of defection, but more often they join forces with other single operators in the form of Virtual Power Plants. Business model diversity is emerging which gives customers the chance to choose how to interact with the grid. Each market presents a different set of opportunities, but conceptually, a customer can choose to rent, share, or own the solar and storage resources installed at their site and then determine when and how much they want to participate.
On the 9th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A BonaFide Solar Company
As the last 2 years have painfully made clear, the solar brand is not an easy button to having a successful business. Of the top 10 companies in the US by volume according to Ohm Analytics, 4 of them are out of business. This includes arguably the most iconic solar brand SunPower. In their place and as part of the new narrative, we wish for a bonafide solar company. One that focuses on fundamentals where values matter, customers matter, and employees matter. We wish for a solar company that can be an example for all of us and lead us in this next wave of solar adoption
On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A Big New Problem to Solve
Is it not enough that solar and wind were far and above the predominant new form of electricity generation in the US. Despite the years of economic recovery from the pandemic, solar has still averaged 26% year over year growth in capacity over the last 10 years. And this is still not enough to be on track to meet climate goals. If that weren’t enough, the goal posts are moving. With AI data centers, EVs, home electrification and cryptomining, load growth is no longer just tied to dwelling and industry. Now we are electrifying information and transportation in fundamental ways. Yes, we have been facing big problems with substantial chutzpah, now we get a new, bigger problem. When dropped in the tub, you stand up. When dropped in a lake, you learn to swim. When dropped in the oceans, you grow gills.
On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
An Expanded & Empowered Workforce Across the US
Now that we have a bigger problem, a more sophisticated set of consumers, and a new narrative, we can really get to work. We just need the people to fill the shoes of those before them. And fortunately, we can build a workforce with eyes wide open. Along with training skilled tradespeople, we will need people and tools to bridge the gap between the customer experience and the hard work of building a new dimension of the electric grid. Customer sentiment cannot be underestimated. While we are building these projects, it is the mundane that shapes our success. The customer phone calls, the emails, the texts and the expectations that may not be met can be the difference between success and total failure for a business. We will need digital assistants in multiple forms to augment our staff’s capacities. Just like you don glasses when your eyes are tired, we wish for new technologies to leverage our experience without compromising our effectiveness.
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me:
A Bodhi AI Assistant in a Pear Tree
The new and enhanced Bodhi helps your staff be more effective and honors your customer’s demands by giving you new insights into their experience and your operations. All of this in service of your business running more smoothly and this more profitably. Talk to us. We’ll be your Rudolph through 2025 and beyond.
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