Groundbreaking Interactive Platform Empowers Solar Professionals with Outstanding Data, Mapping and Design for Remote Sales and End-to-End Customer and Business Management

SACRAMENTO, APRIL 22, 2020 - The team that started the first remote solar sales business, Sungevity, more than a dozen years ago is launching a comprehensive suite of new, free tools to fully digitize the solar installer business, from phone or other remote sales to design, finance and customer relationship management. An early user says the OpenSolar toolkit makes putting designs together "really easy."

"With the COVID19 crisis, the need to be able to sell and design systems remotely is more important than ever," says Andrew 'Birchy' Birch, co-founder of Sungevity and co-founder of the new company, OpenSolar. "The OpenSolar software is an incredibly powerful toolkit that lets users design systems interactively with their customers, integrating the best data and mapping tools to create beautiful and powerful designs and manage their entire business."

After ramping up the service across the Australian solar market, where 20% of homes now have solar, the platform is now fully functional in the United States. It supports the end to end customer journey with digital tools - and will have additional features, such as full three-dimensional design and automated shading capabilities, this spring.

The free cloud-based OpenSolar app is available now at OpenSolar.com and works on both mobile and desktop platforms. An overview video demonstration of the OpenSolar platform and a preview of the 3D virtual world design tool are also available. Signed users will have access to the new virtual world 3D design technology when it is released this spring.

"The tools automate the design process and enable users to amaze their customers online and over the phone," says Birch. "During this COVID crisis, this is a powerful addition to the solar community."

The OpenSolar app gives users access to the cloud-based toolkit that includes:

-A full end-to-end business management toolkit, not just design and sales. It includes CRM to drive business efficiencies, scale and profitability

-Fast and accurate design technology to create beautiful, white-labelled proposals in seconds

-A modern, digital experience for your customers, with multiple system and finance options, online sales tools and digital product content, plus beautiful, configurable PDF proposals

-Residential & commercial, solar and battery capability

-'Solar Touch' design technology, soon to include painting panels directly onto 3D virtual world imagery.

"We've been using it for the last couple months, and it's really easy to put designs together for customers," says Jim Wilber of Green Muscle Solar in Phoenix. "I love that on the mobile app, you can actually email or call customers while you're out in the field, which is very helpful in an industry like this. I'm very happy with OpenSolar and glad that we found them." (Video clip available.)

Birch and colleagues will host a webinar on selling methods during and after the COVID-19 stay home shutdown on Apr 28, 2020, at 12 noon EDT/09:00 AM PDT. During the webinar, Birch will also share his five ideas on how the solar industry can emerge from COVID-19 stronger. Registration is free.

The free OpenSolar platform can save installers thousands of dollars per year in software expenses - a further valuable element of their launch at this delicate moment for the industry. Details are available at OpenSolar.com.

OpenSolar, co-led by Birch and Adam Pryor, provides the world's leading software platform for solar professionals: a complete digital tool kit to scale solar sales. OpenSolar brings together remote solar design, digital sales proposals and an enterprise management tool. A growing list of independent service and product providers - including Nearmap, Solar Outlet, LG Electronics, REC Group, Fronius, Enphase, Solar Analytics - also leverage the OpenSolar platform to better serve solar professionals.


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Contact: Doug Levy Doug@douglevy.com 415 533-1041