Verde Energy

If you haven't heard of Verde Energy, you should get to know them. Verde is solving one of the most difficult components of buying a renewable energy system - searching for a reliable, trustworthy installer.

Putting in a renewable energy system, from wind to PV to solar thermal, is like renovating a house - only worse. Like renovating a house, installing a renewable energy system involves finding a contractor who will do good work, on time, and at a fair price. This is never an easy task, but is even harder when with renewable energy projects because the purchaser:

• Is dealing with unfamiliar, emerging technologies.
• Does not know enough people who have installed an renewable energy system that they can ask for referrals - a very common way to find a contractor.
• Does not know where to turn for information (if there is anywhere).

Even Google is of little help. I searched for "Solar Power Installers in Massachusetts" and there was only one solar power installer in Massachusetts in the results. I did get links to the Sun Microsystems website, a non-profit providing solar power in Ethiopia, and an article on a recently installed solar power system in Cambridge, MA.

Verde Energy makes this process a whole lot simpler. The company uses the Lending Tree model to help you find a contractor - you fill out a form describing your project and they refer you to several prescreened, qualified contractors in your area. (For the record, they were also the top search result in my Google search).

In our recent study, What the Solar Industry can Learn from Google and Salesforce.com we identified lowering search costs as one of the key ways that the solar power industry can accelerate adoption. Verde Energy is a critical piece of making that a reality.