Doors
The idea that we have to get the homeowner’s attention before we tell them about solar is called ________.
Breaking Preoccupation
You have a great pitch with a homeowner. They give you their utility bill and all their contact info. They tell you they can meet tomorrow but aren’t sure what time, so they ask you to call them in the morning to pin it down.
No. An AC requires a firm set appointment
Your first response to EVERY QUESTION, no matter what they ask, is ______.
Great question, thanks for asking!
I’m not interested.
No worries, I understand! If you can give me 30 seconds, I can scratch you off my list so I don’t have to come back tomorrow.
True / False. On very cloudy days, you should conserve your power because you might run out.
FALSE - you are always connected to the grid and can draw power from the lines if you need more than your solar is making
True / False - when knocking, it is best to wear slacks and dress shoes so you look very professional.
FALSE. Do not look like a salesperson. It is best to dress like a utility worker.
You get a bill and set an appointment with the person whose name is on the utility bill. Technically he’s not on-title for the home because his parents bought it for him, but he lives there and makes the decisions.
No! An on-title homeowner is required for an AC … NO EXCEPTIONS
Are you guys with SDGE?
Actually, net metering is a statewide program, so we work with all the utilities throughout California. SDGE is our utility partner down here.
My current panels are working fine and I get credits back at the end of the year. (2 acceptable answers.)
2- Glad to hear it’s working great! Who else in the neighborhood should we talk to?
After it is generated, solar power passes through a _______ which converts it from DC to AC power.
Inverter
The laminated visual aids we use on the doors are called ______ and can be found on SD Basecamp.
Slicks
You get a referral to a condo and set the appointment + get the bill. The person owns the condo, but, the roof is owned by the HOA and shared with other units. There is only 1 electrical panel for the whole building and it has 4 different electrical meters on it, one for each unit.
Yes! We can do condos as long as they own it :-)
SEP? Who’s that?
We do enrollment for the CA Net Metering Program.
Please leave me your business card and we’ll call you.
Why don’t older solar systems have batteries?
They are grandfathered in to be able to use the grid as their “battery” by exchanging power at a retail rate.
When you’re pitching at a door and there are barking dogs, it is best to…
1- Ask the homeowner to quiet the animals
2- Continue to talk in the same voice, as if the dogs weren’t there.
3- Come back later
4- Talk a bit louder so the H/O can hear you
2- if you continue to speak in a low confident tone, the H/O will usually come all the way outside so they can hear you
You set an appointment with a landlord who owns a rental property. You have the utility bill but it is in the tenant’s name. The tenant is not available to join the meeting.
Yes! We don’t need the tenants to sit for a rental property - just the owner and the power bill
If it’s no-cost, then how do you guys make money? (2 acceptable answers.)
1- We get paid for the job the same way we would if you bought your system with cash, but it’s the program that pays us, not the homeowner!
2- We make money the same way that SDGE does - we sell you power. The big difference is that we don’t need a $500M power plant, or hundreds of miles of power lines, so we can sell it a lot cheaper because we have a lot less overhead
I don’t want anything on my house that I don’t own. (2 acceptable answers.)
2- I understand! We also do solar the old-fashioned way. Actually the tax credits for buying solar are expiring this year due to funding cuts. Let’s go ahead and get you guys some numbers to see what a purchase would look like, and you can decide whether it makes sense or not.
How much does SDGE pay you for each kWh of extra solar power?
It depends on what time of day and what month of the year - there is no set price
List at least 3 different ways you can tell that an existing solar system is very old.
Silver trim on the panels
Looks light gray on the satellite
Red sticker on electrical panel is faded
Inverter is Sunny Boy
Inverter is Solar City
You set an appointment with Mrs. Walker. She is in her 80’s. The title to the home is listed as “Walker Trust”. She says that her adult son helps with the house, but he isn’t available to sit down because he lives in Nevada.
Trick question! It is “technically” an AC because you have a bill + appointment with the homeowner. But the best answer is NO because it has zero chance of installing without an OK from the adult son who is the primary decision maker since he will soon be taking over the home.
I’m assuming the battery will help me when the power goes out?
Actually, not all batteries provide backup. But it’s something we can add for you though if you’re concerned about outages! We’ll go over all of that with you when we drop by.
We don’t use a lot of power and our bill is only like $90 so it doesn’t make sense for us.
Sounds like you’re pretty conservative with your power! In a perfect world if power were free, is there anything else you would use it for? If we could get you a WHOLE LOT more power for about the same price, is that something that would help you guys be more comfortable in the home?
In permit applications, solar is referred to as PV + ESS. What do these acronyms stand for?
Photovoltaic + Energy Storage System