BY STEVE BIGHAM REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN - June 4, 2023
MIDDLEBURY — In the competitive world of solar energy, one local company has emerged as an industry leader, and its recent move to a 7,800-square-foot office here is a result of its success in providing home solar solutions. Ion Solar Pros (iSP) is housed at 751 Straits Turnpike in Middlebury after moving from its previous home in Wolcott in April.
iSP CEO Bill Barrieau, a Wolcott resident, said his company has seen a tremendous increase in demand for its solar service, which, he says, allows customers to harness the sun to make, use, store and sell their own power.
“This new facility will allow us to continue to provide the highest level of service to our customers and support our growth as we continue to lead the way in the home solar industry,” said Barrieau, who ran a real estate office for many years before deciding to join the renewable energy market, which continues to expand as the price of electricity rises.
For iSP, everything revolves around the customer experience, Barrieau said, and is dedicated to changing the way the world is powered, while cleaning up the environment at the same time.
In just the last three months of 2022, iSP completed over 450 installations, predominantly in Connecticut, about 95% of them residential. It is expected later this year to be listed as one of the nation’s fastest-growing companies by Inc. Magazine.
According to iSP, a Cromwell customer reported a negative $222 net generation on his electric bill after having his system on for just 15 days. Another person, iSP reports, has received two consecutive electricity bills of negative $162, and one woman has a current bill of negative $360, which, ISP says, means she is overproducing what she is using. In turn, the power company is paying her to generate electricity for her neighbors.
Barrieau said pricing for solar panel installation varies depending on a customer’s total usage and the amount of sunlight a home receives.
iSP professionals will take a look at a home, review its electric bills from the past 12 months, then use the company’s specially designed software system, which uses Google Earth mapping and sun trajectories, to produce a quote within 10 minutes.
It’s all part of the company’s proprietary PowerLink platform which enables its sales staff to provide customers with precise numbers on their potential energy-production/savings, then design, build and “get glass to roof” within an average of 62 days.
“We’re built for speed. We’re built for scale,” Barrieau said. “We’re focused on the customer and we’re focused on the experience. It’s solar redefined.”
iSP handles all engineering, design and panel installations in-house, which, Barrieau said, is unusual, as most solar companies simply act as a middle man, causing delays and poor craftsmanship as the installers don’t actually work for the company.
Oftentimes, Barrieau said, customers are eligible for certain government tax credits; he said the savings are real. But, he adds, being able to produce your own energy goes far beyond that.
“It’s about taking control. It’s about having a choice and having options,” he said, likening it to auto insurance where customers, who may be unhappy with their current rates, have the power to shop around.
iSP offers several different financing options for customers to purchase their solar panels, but find that the majority of its customers choose to finance their system as opposed to leasing where the leasing company gets to collect any tax credits. In addition, Barrieau says, by financing a system, customers have a fixed payment that will not change, far different from the current volatility of the current energy world, in which prices can shift dramatically.
Barrieau acknowledges there is a certain amount of healthy skepticism when it comes to solar energy. That, he says, may be based on past years when less-efficient panels were installed. But today’s panels have advanced dramatically and iSP uses tier-1, high-end products, including its micro-inverters, which convert sunlight into energy, and which Barrieau calls the Intel of the solar industry: smart, intelligent systems built to outperform.
All systems have warranties for 25 years, but typically last longer than that, Barrieau said.
Ion Solar Panels can be reached at 1-866-582-0000.
Link to original article https://www.rep-am.com/featured/2023/06/04/barrieau-preaches-isp-advantages-its-solar-redefined/