Barry Cinnamon, CEO of Spice Solar is moderating the panel "Future Business Structures for Solar Installers." Joining Barry on the panel are Pam Cargill (Chaolysti), Gary Gerber (Sunlight and Power), Pete Wilking (A1A Solar) and Jeff Wolfe. The panel focuses on changes and profitability for solar installers.

At $10/watt installers were artistes. At $5/watt installers became finance experts. Now, with residential solar selling as low as $2.50/watt, how can solar installers continue to run a solar business and maintain profitability? Several big installers have exited the market due to profit pressures, while many local installers still enjoy profitability by staying below the radar. Lower installation prices may be a win for customers, but are fundamentally changing the landscape of the business from financing to customer acquisition processes, product distribution strategies, piecework operations, cash flow management, and even organization structure. This panel of solar experts will present their views on successful business structures for the PV installer of the near future...analyzing strategies on market scope (national vs. regional and local), sales vs. installation only, franchising, or maybe something we haven't even seen yet. Our panel will relate how these trends impact tasks performed by NABCEP certified installation and sales professionals and how these solar pros can help structure their business and operations to maintain profitability without sacrificing system quality.

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