Solar software developers integrate with financiers

       To streamline the PV project commissioning process, solar design and sales software providers are increasingly integrating with financing services.

　　Only last year, Energy Toolbase added commercial solar financing service Luminia to its developer platform; Aurora Solar integrated with Dividend, Sungage Financial, Mosaic, and GoodLeap for residential solar financing; and Solaria merged with California residential sales platform Complete Solar to form Complete Solaria.

　　"I think what's driving the consolidation is that a lot of these companies are startups in a startup industry — ourselves included," said Aurora's chief revenue officer, Sam Adeyemo. "It's not uncommon for there to be a flood of activity when a new operation or industry emerges. Interested participants believe they have a solution for that industry, and over time, a few clear winners emerge."

　　Solar salespeople use services like Aurora to pitch projects to potential customers. The sales process begins with determining the customer's motivation for going solar, followed by a review of their electrical costs and determining how many panels can fit on their roof, and finally, how this will affect their energy costs. Then there's the matter of funding the project.

　　According to Adeyemo, the majority of residential projects initiated by Aurora require some form of financing. Customers no longer need to leave the sales software platform to see what loan options are available to them thanks to integration with solar financiers.

　　"The whole idea is that you should be able to use Aurora from the start of the process for the entire lifecycle of the solar installation," Adeyemo explained. "We had to provide financing integrations so that people didn't have to go into a separate application to pull relevant interest rates, financing terms, or even apply for credit."

　　A client could get a model of a solar project on their home, an idea of how PV would affect their energy costs, and several loan options for the array all in one session thanks to the consolidated sales software.

　　"I think what you're seeing and what's driving that is just the natural evolution of a fast-growing, maturing industry," Adeyemo explained.

　　However, with the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act, the push for consolidation in the financing space may slow. As the rules for qualifying for specific tax credits in the IRA are worked out, Adeyemo believes that other standalone financiers will see an opportunity to enter the solar market.

　　While tax breaks will encourage more solar development, they will not cover the entire cost of projects, so financing services will still be required.