pv magazine USA spoke with installers who serve some solidly red states – Arkansas, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming – to see how they sell solar to different audiences, and what role, if any, political leanings play in convincing potential customers to go solar.
As Congress just approved a bill that ends the 30% tax credit on residential solar installations, the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) pointed to solar’s remarkable boom in Trump country. SEIA recently said, “Red state solar is surging because it is the fastest, most cost-effective option for new power — full stop.” The message: economics trumps politics, and legislators would be wise to do well by their own constituents by retaining the residential tax credit.
The cost-effectiveness of solar is most obvious in states like Texas and Florida, which rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively, for the lowest cost per watt of installing solar, according to SEIA. Their homeowners also rank 2nd and 3rd in terms of annual electricity costs, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This makes the switch to solar very attractive. But in other red states, how do solar installers market their products and services where the economic advantages of going solar are less obvious? What’s the message?
pv magazine USA spoke with installers who serve some solidly red states – Arkansas, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming – to see how they sell solar to different audiences, and what role, if any, political leanings play in convincing potential customers to go solar. In each of these four states, a combination of factors, low electricity use or cost, high cost of installation, and lack of state support for solar, among others, make solar a harder sell based solely on cost-effectiveness alone.
When pv magazine USA spoke with Dan Bennett, director of sales at Idaho-based EGT Solar, he noted that the company’s phones are still “ringing off the hook” despite political changes at the federal level, but not for any single dominant reason. In rural, more conservative parts of Idaho, “preparedness” is a large concern driving solar adoption, especially in more remote parts of the state, where it can take longer for power to be restored during an outage.
By contrast, in urban Boise, Idaho, with its relatively more liberal population, environmental concerns come up more often. Yet in both instances, Bennett said, potential customers are in general “more moderate” in their political views, and their interests in solar are not singular in nature.
We also spoke to Andy Barrett, owner of Perihelion Solar in Arkansas. Annual residential electricity costs in Arkansas are slightly below the annual average, while solar installation costs are the 11th lowest in the country at $2.48/watt, according to EnergySage. The state offers no tax incentives and reduced its net metering credits to the avoided cost rate, effective December 2024.
Barrett said that when Perihelion runs the numbers for potential customers, solar always looks favorable, but economics is not always what generates customer interest in the first place.
As in Idaho, reliability is a top issue for rural customers, and interest in battery backups and even off-grid solutions is high. In urban areas, the word-of-mouth influence of neighbors who have gone solar is strong. In both communities, being a local company that serves only Arkansas is also a selling point – a sentiment shared by all three installers we spoke with. Barrett says his company steers clear of politics, but when it does come up, it’s among potential customers eager to lock in the 30% federal tax credit before it disappears.
pv magazine USA also spoke with Scott Kane, co-owner of Creative Energies, with offices in both Utah and Wyoming. Both mountain states have electricity costs and usage among the lowest in the nation. According to estimates by EnergySage, Wyoming and Utah are the two states with the lowest 25-year savings by installing solar. Yet Kane was clear: “people never buy solar for one reason.” Economics is never the sole driver of interest. The company’s marketing strategy is to present “a stack of values” that potential customers can select from when they’re considering solar.
In the Salt Lake City area, where Creative Energies does most of its Utah business, they might lean a little more heavily on environmental concerns than in Wyoming, but generally they don’t tailor their sales message to particular zip codes or political leanings in either state. He stressed that even though Wyoming is among the most conservative states in the country, not everyone is conservative, and there is still a large addressable market of people interested in solar.
In states where solar is not the economic no-brainer like it is in states where solar is booming, a sales message needs to be nimble and multifaceted. As all three installers stressed there is no one reason for going solar stands out. Installers need to listen to their potential audience and offer solutions to the customers’ problems and interests, not offer one-size-fits-all solutions or stock sales pitches that fall on deaf or even hostile ears.
