Namaste Solar
Remember when you saw that commercial on TV with some high-energy salesman yelling about the low, low prices offered by Namaste Solar? Or that super-pushing salesperson that knocked on your door telling you how bad you need a solar setup from Namaste Solar?
Us either. That’s because that’s not how they do things.
“Most of our leads at Namaste Solar come in the natural way,” said Anna Perry, Co-Owner and Director of Residential Sales. “They come in from people hearing good things from their friends and neighbors, or from looking up an online review.
“We take a very different approach to business compared to some of the larger operations.”
To make sure the pressure on the customer stays low, Namaste doesn’t offer a commission-based pay scale to its sales team.
“Our team is fully non-commissioned,” Perry said. “That’s basically unheard of in in the Colorado market. Almost everyone is fully commissioned. They are often paid based on how many solar panels they sell. It can, unfortunately, lead to misleading design tactics.”
At Namaste Solar, the employee-owned cooperative of 19 years, they are focused on the responsible use of solar energy and treating customers with respect.
“To us, we’re focused on reaching out in the most honest and trustworthy way possible,” Perry said. “We want to provide accurate estimates, set good expectations, and help you decide what is best based on your own goals.”
And Namaste Solar works to keep the pressure off the customer during the entire process. When someone reaches out to get their free home solar quote, Namaste Solar starts by gathering as much information at the beginning as possible in hopes of making the entire project pain free.
“Gathering that preliminary information is an important first step,” Perry said. “We see what style the home is, what type of roof is on it, what the electrical system looks like, and we ask about potential changes down the road – like, do they plan on getting an electric vehicle? – things like that.”
Next, the project moves on to the design specification team.
“That’s when they work to put together a customized pre-proposal for the home,” Perry said.
At this point, Namaste goes a little high tech. They are able to model, on average, how much sun will hit the panels during the course of a year.
Namaste Solar
Namaste Solar
“We have software that will build an accurate 3D model of the home,” Perry said. “It will take shading from all the nearby obstacles into account, like the height and dimensions of all trees around house. Then, it also takes all seasonality as well as average weather patterns into account.”
“The sun takes a different route through the sky depending on the time of year,” Perry said. “We can’t assume every day will include 10 hours of beautiful overhead sunshine. We want to make sure we don’t over-promise how much electricity we can produce on an annual basis.”
This shade analysis is not something that all companies do. Namaste Solar does its due diligence up front to provide realistic expectations for how much your solar will produce.
An additional factor that is taken into account when designing a home solar system is net-metering – something the utility companies are required to provide according to the Public Utilities Commission.
Perry said utility companies all have different ways of handling net-metering, but in general the concept is that homeowners can send the excess energy generated by their panels to the local grid in exchange for credits on their electricity bill.
If a home needs the energy its solar system is producing right at that time, the home uses it. If the home is producing more electricity than it needs at the time, however, that extra juice is sent back to the utility and the homeowner receives a credit that is used later, when the home may not be producing electricity but is still using it.
“That’s why we start with a home’s consumption when gathering information,” Perry said, “We’re really trying to see how average annual production is going to match with consumption.”
Then the team starts digging into hardware. Namaste offers options for different roof types and sizes and, of course, takes into account how much roof space is available.
“There aren’t many restrictions when it comes to the type of home we can provide service to,” Perry said. “And we do a full engineering review to make sure the roof and home are sound enough to support the added weight.”
Namaste Solar is a Certified B Corporation and 100% employee-owned. They have been in business since 2005 and install home and commercial solar throughout the Front Range, from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs.
For more information, visit www.namastesolar.com/transparent or call 720.386.2174.
Namaste Solar
6707 Winchester Circle, Ste 700
Boulder, CO 80301
