There’s a smell of rebellion in the air in Norfolk. In an unusual twist, this long-standing residential installer provides a candid view of the state of his business and it results in some unusual ‘tactics’ for him to control the “on-slaught of the public”.
“The climate war will be won when we end oil, kill coal and kick gas into the long grass"
- Kevin Holland, The Solar Shed
For long-term followers, you’ll likely know Kevin Holland and his business The Solar Shed. He’s the self-reclaimed “Gobby one” working down the garden path on his business from his “shed”. A business now turning over in excess of £2 million per year. We chose Kevin for this article because his experience is echoed by Solar PV installers across the country.
Like the vast majority, the last 12 months or so have been pivotal. The combined effects of Russia’s entrance into Ukraine, and the homegrown energy crisis that ensued has installers across the country reporting exponential growth in customer enquiries - reporting 500% increases in enquiries and high order conversion rates. The net result: people want solar. Now.
For Kevin (and many similar businesses) the levels of enquiries became overwhelming. “As a small business growing up in this industry, we have always maintained we wanted to grow. But it became almost impossible to keep up. We were very careful about our promises. We want to grow but we have a ceiling limit…”
It prompted Kevin to issue customer updates on his website, limit the enquiry-order flows. He continued “we had to use our time wisely and focus on only serious customers. We adjusted our processes, asked customers to complete detailed survey forms and communicated about long delays.” It slowed a few customers but the public were willing to wait for good installers. “Especially likeable ones.”
In the end, Kevin’s drive to be open and honest with his local customers forced him to close his contact options on his website and close his order book temporarily. “We were furiously working through the backlog and sadly had to stop the inbound flow of enquiries. We communicated that we will reopen in 2023 as the situation improves”.
What is curious is that customers were willing to wait for great installers. Kevin had been a local energy advocate for many years, including contributing to local newspaper columns. He seemingly has a great connection to his local area. His honest approach to the wider situation resulted in customers “pleading” to install a system for them, even receiving handwritten letters from local prospective customers in a bid to support them.
As we enter February 2023, Kevin reports that the situation is still the same. Product availability especially around mounting systems and storage devices has resulted in many challenges for installers. We applaud the way in which Kevin and many other installers have managed the challenges surrounding incoming enquiries last year.
Whilst Kevin has customers throwing themselves at him - as nice as this seems - it comes at a difficult moment in the Climate fight. Kevin wants to help as many as he can, but he’s acutely aware of his limitations. So, he’s doubled down on his calls to action and enlisted many other ‘battalions’ in the form of Solar Nation - a collection of installers across the UK who he feels add a similar weight to the climate fight. Kevin commented: “The climate war will be won when we end oil, kill coal and kick gas into the long grass. Solar is the universal solution. After all, we are all brothers and sisters under the same sun”. For more information on The Solar Nation, visit Kevin's site: The Solar Shed.
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