Solar Developer, Investor, and Asset Owner (Confidential Client)
Comprehensive market and competitive analysis to inform the sales and marketing strategy of a Fortune 1000 solar energy developer, financier, and asset owner.
HIGHLIGHTS
ZIP code targeting
Delivered a ranked list of the most optimal ZIP code areas to target based on market conditions and client objectives, and provided marketing and sales recommendations for next steps.
Competitive analysis
Provided a competitive analysis of 10 competitors, including market share, pricing, and product offerings.
Heat map visualization
Created multiple market-driven choropleths (i.e. heat maps) visualizing overlays of solar suitability and market penetration, down to a ZIP code granularity.
TEAM
SERVICES
The client is a Fortune 1000 company that invests in, owns, and operates solar projects and provides residential and commercial customers with low-carbon energy solutions. Today, it is one of the largest owners and operators in the eastern U.S. with a total capacity of more than 400 megawatts (MW).
THE CHALLENGE
As the solar market becomes increasingly diffuse, developers face growing challenges to communicate their value and reach potential customers. The client works primarily with residential and small commercial operations, and its team needed to know where to focus its short- and long-term efforts.
However, the client’s team lacked the insight into demographics, trends, and market forces to inform its sales and marketing strategy. It also needed to better understand its competitors, their offerings, and market share in order to establish a strong position in its target markets.
The client chose to work with DG+ due to the team's technical and policy-based industry expertise, experience with imperfect datasets, and statistical analysis expertise.
SOLUTION
DG+ conducted an analysis of the client’s focal residential and commercial solar market, including key players, market demographics, trends, and policies. As the solar industry lacks cohesive and uniform data sources, DG+ employed a creative, multi-pronged approach to gather and assess information, including using surveys and other qualitative methods, as well as spatial analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) visualization. DG+ also aggregated and analyzed large sets of data from government bodies and heavy-hitting industry resources such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
DG+ refined the analysis to a granular, ZIP code-level scope, and developed a weighted scoring system using factors such as market size, existing client presence, and utility rates. The top 10 ZIP code areas were discussed in a 30-page final report and presented in an executive summary slide deck.
Also included in the report was a competitive analysis of the client’s competitors that contained market share, pricing, and product offerings, providing the client with crucial insight into its competitors’ strengths and weaknesses as well as recommendations for next steps.
