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Is Solar Dead In California!!? NEM 3.0 Breakdown
115 Plays3 years ago
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Transcript
Introduction and Background
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solarpreneur you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Net Metering 3.0 Overview
00:00:41
Speaker
Is this the end of solar as we know it in California?
00:00:45
Speaker
Should we freak out?
00:00:46
Speaker
Should we lose our minds?
00:00:48
Speaker
If you haven't heard net metering 3.0 passed in California, we're going to be talking about what that means.
00:00:55
Speaker
And even if you're not selling in California, still some good things to know.
00:00:59
Speaker
and some applications for y'all selling in other states.
00:01:04
Speaker
So let's get into it.
00:01:05
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:01:06
Speaker
I'm here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and have a much better time in the solar industry.
00:01:13
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast.
00:01:16
Speaker
If you are new, it would be much appreciated if you would share the podcast.
00:01:21
Speaker
Of course, after you've received some value, if you would share the podcast, leave us a review.
00:01:26
Speaker
It would be greatly appreciated.
Impact on Solar Sales
00:01:29
Speaker
We're coming up on the Christmas season.
00:01:32
Speaker
At the time of this recording, we're like five days away from Christmas.
00:01:35
Speaker
And of course, the state of California gifts us all, California solar cells people, with the stunning announcement that net metering is going away, that it's moving to 3.0.
00:01:50
Speaker
And if you have not heard the news, just, I guess, a little recap of what that means.
00:01:56
Speaker
A lot of people have heard it.
00:01:57
Speaker
It's been going around social media like crazy.
00:02:00
Speaker
So you've probably heard of it.
00:02:01
Speaker
But in case you are under a rock or something like that.
00:02:05
Speaker
What it means for us out here in California is that they are changing the buyback of the rates.
00:02:10
Speaker
They're reducing it by 75%.
00:02:12
Speaker
They previously would buy back the rate at about 30 cents was the value of it.
00:02:19
Speaker
They're lowering that to about 8 cents, which is devastating.
00:02:24
Speaker
It sucks.
00:02:25
Speaker
Not going to lie.
00:02:27
Speaker
But what do we do about it?
00:02:28
Speaker
Do we freak out?
00:02:29
Speaker
Do we lose our minds?
00:02:30
Speaker
Do we all give up?
00:02:33
Speaker
I thought about all those things, but I'm going to tell you what my game plan is.
Adaptation Strategies for Sellers
00:02:37
Speaker
Even if you're not selling in California, I think there's some useful stuff here that you could apply to your specific market.
00:02:44
Speaker
And so here's what I'm going to do.
00:02:46
Speaker
That's what we're going to jam on in today's podcast.
00:02:49
Speaker
So here's the thing.
00:02:51
Speaker
In California, specifically San Diego where I sell, there are a lot of smaller systems.
00:02:58
Speaker
And what this Net Metering 3.0 is forcing us to do, since they decreased the buyback rate by so much, they are forcing us to sell more batteries in California.
00:03:10
Speaker
Previously, batteries were something that I didn't really push.
00:03:15
Speaker
I didn't know as much as I should about it.
00:03:18
Speaker
But now that all changes.
00:03:21
Speaker
I got to know how to sell them and should be a wake up call for everyone in the solar industry.
00:03:27
Speaker
Learn more about batteries.
00:03:29
Speaker
And guess what?
00:03:31
Speaker
If this type of thing can happen in California, where it's one of the most green states, probably can happen in any other state.
00:03:39
Speaker
So that is should be a wake up call for everybody.
00:03:43
Speaker
Learn what's going on, learn how to adapt, learn how to change as some of these regulations change.
00:03:50
Speaker
And that's going to separate, as one of my friends, Nick Finger said, that pretenders are from the contenders.
00:03:58
Speaker
So if you want to be a contender, you have to learn how to adapt and deal with some of these things.
00:04:05
Speaker
But batteries.
00:04:07
Speaker
So really in California,
00:04:11
Speaker
Batteries are super useful.
00:04:13
Speaker
You can sell a lot of savings with batteries if people have higher bills out here.
00:04:21
Speaker
And for example, I just sold a system out here.
00:04:25
Speaker
Battery still cut their bill by a hundred bucks even with a battery.
00:04:30
Speaker
And so those people, it's not a huge deal.
00:04:33
Speaker
I'm still going to save people $100 plus if they have a larger bill.
00:04:38
Speaker
But the ones that are affected more than anyone out here are the people with lower bills in California.
00:04:45
Speaker
So my game plan is this, and this is something that anyone selling in California should think about.
00:04:52
Speaker
focus on the ones that don't have the high bill.
00:04:54
Speaker
Okay, and I should preface this, if you didn't know, we have until April 15th to get people signed up, installed, and approved, and they're grandfathered into the old net metering, which is still the full buyback of the rate.
00:05:11
Speaker
Okay,
00:05:12
Speaker
So really, it's putting a gun to our heads.
00:05:14
Speaker
It's putting a gun to the homeowner's heads.
00:05:16
Speaker
If they want solar, now is the best time to do it.
00:05:19
Speaker
And anyone listening to this podcast, if you want to take advantage of this giant bazooka that's all pointed at us right now in California, hit me up.
00:05:30
Speaker
Let's do some blitzes.
00:05:32
Speaker
Come out here.
00:05:33
Speaker
Shoot me an email, taylor at solarpreneurs.com.
00:05:36
Speaker
We can hook you up with a blitz opportunity so you can take advantage of some of these deadlines coming up.
00:05:43
Speaker
But what a great time to come out in Blitz, California.
00:05:45
Speaker
Let's blow this place up with solar.
00:05:48
Speaker
Let's hit these people so hard that they are begging us for mercy to stop knocking on their doors if they're not already.
00:05:55
Speaker
That's what we're going to do.
00:05:56
Speaker
Hit me up if you want to come do a Blitz out here and get as many cells as we can to help homeowners take advantage of the good net metering before all this stuff goes down April 15th.
00:06:10
Speaker
But anyway, my plan is this.
00:06:11
Speaker
I'm going to focus on the homes with the smaller bills because they are going to lose out on the benefits.
00:06:16
Speaker
Previously in San Diego, I have sold just lots of smaller systems, 3 kilowatt, 4 kilowatt, tiny systems, and they still save money.
00:06:26
Speaker
But that all changes once this goes through.
00:06:29
Speaker
Unfortunately, the people with small bills are going to be affected the most by net metering 3.0.
00:06:36
Speaker
So I'm starting with the smaller bills.
00:06:38
Speaker
I'm starting beginning in January with the people who take the longest to get approved.
00:06:44
Speaker
So I'm going to focus on maybe it's people that need extra roof work.
00:06:48
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not going to like seek him out necessarily, but I'm going to look for people.
00:06:53
Speaker
That maybe would take longer because they have HOAs or other circumstances that's going to take longer because remember, they have to get approved and installed before April 15th.
00:07:05
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So the homes that I'm working with that are, I don't know, condos, townhomes, HOAs, strict HOAs, they all take a lot longer.
00:07:12
Speaker
So those are going to be my focus in the beginning.
00:07:15
Speaker
And as we get close to this deadline, I'm moving to cities where they have quicker permit times.
00:07:21
Speaker
And this is something to think about for anyone selling
Market Viability and Future Outlook
00:07:24
Speaker
in other markets.
00:07:24
Speaker
Do you know how long the permits take in the specific cities you're selling in?
00:07:30
Speaker
A great piece of knowledge to know because it's going to make you look like an expert if you can tell the homeowner how long it usually takes for a permit.
00:07:38
Speaker
And then maybe you're in a competition.
00:07:40
Speaker
Maybe you're trying to hit a goal of installs.
00:07:42
Speaker
Maybe you're trying to get paid quicker.
00:07:43
Speaker
It's a good thing to know, okay, this city has quick permit times.
00:07:46
Speaker
This city has over-the-counter permits because every city is different, at least out here in California.
00:07:53
Speaker
I assume it's the same in other markets.
00:07:56
Speaker
So as this deadline starts coming up, I'm going to move.
00:08:00
Speaker
I'm going to go from cities with a longer permit time
00:08:04
Speaker
As we get closer to the April 15 deadline, I'm going to slowly move up to the cities to have the quickest permit time and take advantage of that.
00:08:12
Speaker
Okay, so that's number one.
00:08:15
Speaker
Number two, in order to help people know about some of these deadlines,
00:08:20
Speaker
We should be showing them proof of all these things.
00:08:23
Speaker
I talk about in the show a lot, showing people proof of what's going on.
00:08:27
Speaker
Anything you claim, you need proof to back it up.
00:08:30
Speaker
So one of the best ways to do this is print off slicks, laminate sheets you can use.
00:08:36
Speaker
And this, again, applies in any market you're in.
00:08:39
Speaker
Maybe there's stuff going on in energy rates going up.
00:08:43
Speaker
Maybe there's things going on with shutting down, I don't know, coal...
00:08:49
Speaker
electric plants or
00:08:51
Speaker
whatever, power plants where they're burning coal.
00:08:56
Speaker
Sorry, I fumbled my words here or anything that's related to energy.
00:09:01
Speaker
Think of printing that off, using it as a slick, very powerful.
00:09:05
Speaker
And I'm going to do the same thing with some of these things going on in California with net metering 3.0.
00:09:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:09:12
Speaker
And if you have not read my friend, Michael Donald's new book, I would highly recommend it.
00:09:21
Speaker
His book, No Matter What.
00:09:23
Speaker
Great book.
00:09:24
Speaker
But Michael O'Donnell, if you have not read it, he talks about, I'm going to spoil this for you.
00:09:27
Speaker
He talks about how he used the deadlines in Arizona with solar in every single close.
00:09:35
Speaker
And that was how he closed.
00:09:37
Speaker
I think he hit like a megawatt in four months that year or something.
00:09:42
Speaker
So he just blasted the crap out of these deadlines, used it in every single close, put the metaphorical gun to the homeowner's heads he was helping, and just closed a ton of deals.
00:09:54
Speaker
So if you are selling in California, you better be taking advantage of this.
00:09:57
Speaker
Sell as many deals as you can.
00:10:00
Speaker
Go all out blitz for the next three, four months because...
00:10:05
Speaker
Two things are going to happen.
00:10:06
Speaker
We're going to have to sell batteries and commissions are probably going to go down a lot just because we got to adjust.
00:10:12
Speaker
And you're probably not going to be able to sell the systems as high as you are now, not only with interest rates going up and, you know, the buyback program changing net meeting 3.0.
00:10:24
Speaker
So take advantage.
00:10:26
Speaker
And again, come do a blitz.
00:10:27
Speaker
Hit me up if you want to take advantage of this.
00:10:30
Speaker
Okay, and the last thing you got to consider here, for all the people trying to recruit us out of California, I would say this, even in California, when this stuff goes down and we have to sell batteries, we're still going to be saving people probably the same, if not more, than what's going on in other states.
00:10:53
Speaker
So don't come at me with California is going to be the worst market for solar now.
00:10:57
Speaker
It's not going to be the worst market.
00:10:59
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not going to say it's going to be the best market.
00:11:02
Speaker
Hey, I know there's some solar managers out here in California saying, oh, California is still going to be the greatest of all time.
00:11:09
Speaker
We're still going to sell way more solar than anybody.
00:11:12
Speaker
We're going to sell a lot of solar.
00:11:13
Speaker
Maybe it's not going to be the world's greatest market anymore, but even with batteries, people's rates out here are through the roof.
00:11:21
Speaker
San Diego, we're talking they're paying 35 cents plus per kilowatt of energy.
00:11:26
Speaker
So even with a battery, people are still going to save money out here.
00:11:30
Speaker
Again, the ones with lower bills are going to be affected more, but the ones with higher bills, not as much.
00:11:37
Speaker
So to me, it just becomes similar to other markets now.
00:11:41
Speaker
So our systems with a battery is going to be equal as just a solar, a regular solar system and all the, a lot of these other markets.
00:11:51
Speaker
So for all you people in Texas, Florida, take that, suck it.
00:11:55
Speaker
California is still going to be a great market.
00:11:57
Speaker
Okay.
00:11:58
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens.
00:12:01
Speaker
Maybe I'll go sell in other places.
00:12:03
Speaker
I'll probably go do blitzes in other markets because I get it.
00:12:07
Speaker
We're going to have to adapt.
00:12:09
Speaker
Things are going to change.
00:12:10
Speaker
It's probably going to be tougher to sell, but it's not the end of the world.
00:12:14
Speaker
So those are my thoughts on net metering at 3.0.
00:12:17
Speaker
Would love to hear what everyone thinks of this.
00:12:20
Speaker
If you are in another market, let me know what you think of this.
00:12:24
Speaker
And again,
00:12:25
Speaker
Use this as an example.
00:12:27
Speaker
What's happening here is probably going to happen in every market eventually.
00:12:31
Speaker
So learn to adapt.
00:12:33
Speaker
Learn to use these deadlines to your advantage like Michael O'Donnell teaches us.
00:12:40
Speaker
And hope you're having a great holiday season and selling lots of solar.
00:12:45
Speaker
So it is 1141 here.
00:12:47
Speaker
Just got done with a late night close.
00:12:50
Speaker
So hopefully some of that made sense.
00:12:52
Speaker
But we're going to be coming with some heat on the next podcast.
00:12:55
Speaker
We've got some guys that are talking about net metering 3.0.
00:13:00
Speaker
talking about batteries, talking about how we can adapt.
00:13:04
Speaker
So I'm not going to spoil the surprises, but tune in.
00:13:06
Speaker
We've got some incredible interviews coming up on the podcast.
00:13:10
Speaker
So like, share, subscribe.
00:13:12
Speaker
Appreciate you guys.
00:13:14
Speaker
Happy holidays and go sell some solar.
00:13:17
Speaker
We'll see you on the next podcast.
00:13:20
Speaker
Hey, solarpreneurs, are you sick and tired of spinning your wheels every month and not seeing your cells increase?
00:13:26
Speaker
Well, so was I, and the truth is I was never able to improve it until I figured out what was going wrong.
00:13:32
Speaker
So that's why I'm excited to announce for a limited time, we are doing a free cells diagnostic.
00:13:37
Speaker
We'll break down your cells process.
00:13:40
Speaker
Figure out the holes in your business and see how we can help you improve So act now we have six bucks for this month.
00:13:48
Speaker
So book a call now don't miss out What you're gonna do is send an email to Taylor at solarpreneurs.com That's Taylor at solarpreneurs with an s.com I'll send you out a calendar link and we will figure out the time that works best So shoot that email and let's increase your sales