Mission Photo voltaic doesn’t make photo voltaic panels, nor does it make use of crews to plop them on roofs, however the startup argues it could actually shake up the residential photo voltaic enterprise by steering away from gross sales reps and automating components of the ordering, design and set up course of.
Backed by $23 million in recent Sequence A funding led by Left Lane Capital, Mission Photo voltaic says it’s on observe to put in 30 megawatts of photo voltaic this yr, principally in California and Texas, whereas apparently undercutting a few of its opponents on worth. The startup goals to prime its 2022 set up determine by an element of 5 in 2023.
However first, some context: Tesla bailed on door knocking ages in the past, solely to see its marketshare droop. Sunrun, in the meantime, has greater than 100 sales jobs listed on its web site and is the top residential photo voltaic model by marketshare. So why would slicing out salespeople work for Mission Photo voltaic, which is at the moment nowhere near as active because the trade chief?
For owners, the promote principally comes down to cost. The startup says it costs $2.20 per watt on common for installations, and as little as $1.63 after federal incentives. That’s about 25% cheaper than the 2021 nationwide common of $2.94 per watt (earlier than tax credit), in response to the Photo voltaic Power Industries Affiliation. Whether or not it qualifies as “dramatically decrease,” because the startup characterizes it, is extra a matter of opinion. For folk who’re particularly useful, Mission Photo voltaic additionally affords cheaper DIY choices.
Mission Photo voltaic’s income comes from marking up gear costs, for which it will get quantity reductions. The corporate says slicing out salespeople saves it as a lot as a buck per watt, and from there it leans on its in-house software program to trim the time wanted for issues like system design, allowing and coordinating contractors. For every sale, “there are about 40 … hours of labor concerned within the back-end course of (not together with the bodily labor of set up, which often takes a crew of 3-4 individuals eight hours),” CEO Trevor Hiltbrand instructed TechCrunch. He added that the agency’s software program consists of “a software that has lowered engineering/CAD time from three hours to half-hour.”
Mission Photo voltaic plans to make use of the Sequence A to develop within the Midwest and South, and to proceed engaged on its software program. Past Left Lane Capital, Mission Photo voltaic declined to share who chipped in on the funding spherical, calling them “strategics throughout the trade.”
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