Article from Solar Power World

As the solar industry continues to grow and enter new markets and regions, the companies selling and installing solar systems are responsible for addressing changing client challenges and keeping pace with new technology.  Installers are taking on whole new services related to accessory technologies, system upkeep and worksite preparation as they determine what will be necessary to offer solar customers in the evolving market.

The company has been in business for a decade. While Domescik originally added O&M calls to his pile of daily responsibilities, he felt the need wasn’t being properly addressed. In any sales-related field, maintaining relationships is important and can result in referrals for future business.

“That’s why we organically had to grow, just to meet the demands of what we already had accomplished,” Domescik said.

To better serve clients, Renewvia added an O&M service that it offers to existing customers and those outside its network. The key to the new service was hiring a dedicated O&M program director to answer those calls.

Renewvia handles O&M with an in-house team led by program director John Thornburg, mostly in Southeast states, or what Domescik referred to as the company’s backyard. It subcontracts O&M to technicians in states outside of Renewvia’s proximity. But if there is enough demand in a certain territory, Renewvia will consider hiring an O&M technician for that region.

Integrating a new service can require involvement from existing teams at a company. In Renewvia’s case, the construction crew is talking to clients about O&M options and passing those newly installed projects to the O&M team.

“To add an O&M service, it is definitely a commitment that everybody in the company has to buy into,” Domescik said. “You are making bold claims that you’re going to respond within a certain amount of time and you’re going to have the wherewithal and the resources to perform the work that you promised.”

Expanding facilities

Adding a new service to a company can also mean workspace expansion. Building or leasing a new space is an investment that shouldn’t be taken lightly, but if services continue to grow, then the company’s footprint can grow, too. Miami, Florida-based turnkey solar company Origis Energy decided to build a new facility to accommodate a new solar service.

Solar O&M was offered from the start at Origis, but the company wanted to tap potential third-party clients. In 2019, it created Origis Services, a separate branch of the company that’s strictly focused on O&M. The company built a 10,000-sq.-ft facility called the Remote Operating Center (ROC) in Austin, Texas, that dispatches O&M technicians to a multi-gigawatt portfolio of solar projects across the country. The ROC is outfitted with project monitoring software and is dedicated entirely to Origis Services’ operations.

Like Renewvia, the key to Origis handing off and kickstarting the service was hiring the right person. Michael Eyman, managing director of Origis Services, spent 21 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve doing maintenance work on remote field operations and held O&M positions at MaxGen and SunPower.

Hiring the staff necessary to do the work is also crucial. Origis employs 70 personnel in the ROC and another 500 O&M technicians across the country. Eyman said Origis brings senior technicians to solar sites and hires new technicians from communities to service those arrays.

“The biggest challenge we have is the labor market, which is why we really fall back on hiring people that want a career,” he said. “Give them the training, give them longevity and since we have a long trajectory, we’re able to give those people more opportunities and really have a long-term career. We see ourselves as leaders in those communities.”