When customers set up residential solar panels, they’re usually left at midnight all through the method, mentioned Scott Nguyen, founder and CEO of Bodhi.
After they signal the contract, they
don’t know the way lengthy the set up goes to take and what the varied steps
are, he mentioned.
“You should buy $30 price of takeout
meals and monitor when it goes into the oven, when it goes into the supply
car and when it’s delivered to your entrance door,” Nguyen mentioned. “You purchase a
$30,000 solar system and you don’t have any concept when it’s going to be put in, and
what the subsequent steps are within the course of.”
That’s what occurred to Nguyen when
he put solar panels on his home in Austin. And it sparked the concept to create
Bodhi, which makes a buyer expertise software program platform for solar
set up firms.
Bodhi integrates with a solar firms’
buyer relationship administration software program to personalize the house owner’s solar set up.
And as soon as the system is working, Bodhi’s smartphone app sends owners
data on its efficiency.
Nguyen based Bodhi in 2018 and has gone via the Mass Challenge accelerator program. Bodhi has clients nationwide and has been rising steadily because the demand for solar installations has skyrocketed in the previous few years, Nguyen mentioned.
When the pandemic struck in March of 2020, Bodhi shut every part down and Nguyen didn’t know when the market would return. But it did return after about three months with a vengeance, he mentioned. Consumers, many caught at home, determined to go ahead with home enhancements like solar installations, and demand shot up nearly in a single day, Nguyen mentioned.
The Texas Blizzard in February of 2021
and the ensuing power outages statewide additionally contributed to a spike in demand
in Texas from customers wanting a home solar system with battery storage,
Nguyen mentioned.
To sustain with demand, Austin-based Bodhi final week introduced the closing of $4 million in financing led by Clean Energy Ventures, a enterprise capital agency funding early-stage local weather tech innovation.
With the brand new funding, Nguyen plans to rent extra engineers, gross sales and advertising and marketing, and operations employees. Bodhi at the moment has six full-time staff and two part-time staff. It plans to double by the top of the yr, Nguyen mentioned. Bodhi can also be growing new merchandise.
“Over the decades, hard costs facing the solar industry have dropped tremendously, but what we’ve noticed is that customers are still hesitant about making the leap to solar,” Daniel Goldman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Clean Energy Ventures, mentioned in a information launch. “Our investment in Bodhi is premised on the potential to make consumer solar purchases seamless, hassle-free, and end-to-end. Bodhi’s platform is designed to alleviate all customer pain points in the installation process and post-installation monitoring, removing the last remaining barriers to greater solar adoption.”
Texas ranks second in
put in solar capability, which makes up lower than 3 p.c of the energy
generated within the state, in response to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
California ranks first with almost 25 p.c of the state’s electrical energy
generated from solar.
“Texas
is poised to develop into a nationwide chief in solar energy, with greater than 4 GW of
capability anticipated to be put in over the subsequent 5 years, with acceptable state
coverage that removes market limitations and acknowledges solar’s advantages,”
in response to SEIA.
Texas has greater than 137,000 solar installations and solar funding has exceeded $14.4 billion, in response to SEIA. Its report reveals Texas has 86 solar producers, 201 installers and builders, and 225 different firms concerned within the solar trade.
Because
of the COVID-19 pandemic, some solar firms have skilled provide chain
issues significantly with solar batteries, Nguyen mentioned. Solar panels are nonetheless
out there and haven’t been largely impacted, he mentioned. Labor shortages are additionally
an issue for set up firms, he mentioned. Despite these points, pricing is coming down,
he mentioned.
Prices
for solar methods in Texas have fallen 11 p.c over the last 5 years,
in response to SEIA.
Nguyen says Bodhi’s work in solar is
simply the beginning. The firm plans to increase into different areas like homebuilding
and home shopping for.
