First you have to strip away the feel good gloss and see what the industry is really all about - making money in a Wall St. kind of way, with all the associated thrills, ills and obfuscations - Solar Leases, PPAs, Solar Loans.
So far SolarCity, Sunngevity and to a certain extent, SunPower have failed the "making money part".
So how do you make money in the solar industry if you're SolarCity or Sungevity, or Vernego, or Sungate, or RealGoods Solar or . . . the list goes on and on.
The only chance you have is to pay exceeding low wages for non sales positions, or dangle the carrot to those sales personnel who think they can make a six figure salary with relative ease (50 hr work week, which should be the minimum for any sales position that has potential).
Now, please note this does not include c-level executives because that's the way capitalism works!
And capitalism is about making money, and more money and more money. And Solar power is about being green, saving the planet and feeling good about one's lower monthly electric bill.
Unfortunately, when you put the two together, people get burned. You just have to read a few of Solarcity's GlassDoor reviews to feel the ill will towards the company.
After reading most of the SolarCity review, I found they fell into four categories:
1. A certain number of reviews just seems to be made up to compensate for the 1 star reviews. These reviews seem to be short, vague and generated by someone who needs to take a course in creative writing. If you're going to make up a review, put some meat into it!
Here's an example: I love working at Solarcity because I get to experience the interaction between high level finance, construction, logistics and public policy while helping to build America's clean tech infrastructure . . . one roof at a time!
Oh, sign me up!!
2. People who have just gotten their first job and are just elated to be employed, and even more elated to be saving the planet.
3. People who took the solar hook, bait line and sinker, and quickly found out they're working at a glorified roofing company cloaked in the veil of a feel good green company.
4. Sales folks who realized that selling solar in a tough business. And even tougher once you realize the touted offerings (no down solar leases/ppa) are typically the worst investment for the residential homeowner.
So as the title of my post states:
Don't Drink The Kool Aid Until You Know How It's Made!
And more importantly, do your due diligence before applying/accepting a job.
Best,
Big Volt
