We are Bodhi

Author : 
May 3, 2021

17TeraWatts is now Bodhi.  We are simplifying.  We are combining the company brand with the software brand that our customers have come to love and trust.  We are now simply Bodhi.

Our focus on the customers remains the same

When we launched the company just over 3 years ago, we literally had no code or product, but we had a strong vision of where we wanted to go.  In the broader drive to a cleaner energy future, all the focus in the industry was on the hardware, the engineering, and the technology.  The relationship between technology and the people that use it, however, remained orphaned.  

We set out to fill that gap.  Our mission was to redefine the energy experience, cultivating that bond between people and the energy that powers their lives.   And the invention and birth of Bodhi was the first step, focusing on solar and how to redefine the solar customer experience.  

As we move to the next stage in our company evolution, our vision and our mission remain the same.

Why did we change?  Answer: Customer experience

We initially chose 17TeraWatts because the name fit within our mission.  It was a conversation starter.  People were curious about the number and name.  Once they understood that 17 trillion watts or 17 terawatts (actually 17.8 now) are consumed globally to power the economies of 195 countries and the daily lives of 7.7 billion people, it got them to stop and think.

We named our customer experience software Bodhi only after extensive customer interviews and user testing. We intentionally designed Bodhi to have a persona, to be similar to that friend you always go to when you have a question or when you need advice.  When users overwhelmingly told us they liked the fact that they were interacting with Bodhi (which means enlightenment in Sanskrit) rather than a generic app, the name stuck.  

However, one of the most important skills in design is not how to add more features, but the opposite: How to simplify.  How to strip away features and leave the user with just the core essentials so that he or she can have a seamless experience without confusion or hesitation

The same applies to our company brand.  We were carrying two brands, 17TeraWatts and Bodhi.  It was easy to explain the relationship, but therein lies the problem - the fact that we had to explain it.

Coinciding with this, our team has steadily grown and has developed a culture that embodies the traits that we set out to design into Bodhi.  Our team tirelessly works to be there when you have a question or when you need help, whether it be about the solar software stack or what solar customers really think.  Add to that the fact that I’ve been called the “Bodhi guy” more than once, it only made sense to rename our company Bodhi.

Our brand inspiration: New dawn

This past year was a rollercoaster, but as we look ahead, we’re operating in a very different environment than we did just a year ago. Solar rebounded spectacularly in the 2nd half of last year, and the start of this year is no different. More broadly, there’s a renewed public focus on clean energy and a collective will towards climate action and climate justice that’s been missing for quite some time.

Bodhi now reflects this new dawn.










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