Solar Industry Digital and Data Leaders OpenSolar and UtilityAPI Team Up to Jump-Start the COVID-19 Economic Recovery by Offering Free Services

Today, OpenSolar and UtilityAPI are stepping up to help the solar industry survive and emerge stronger once the COVID19 lockdown eases. OpenSolar, from the co-founder of Sungevity, offers free remote solar design and sales software. UtilityAPI lets users request and securely download their customer's utility bill data. Both companies are mission-driven — we really care about fighting climate change to save our planet.

OAKLAND, CA, May 6, 2020 - With most of the country in economic lockdown, fewer people are spending their socially-distanced work-from-home moments thinking about going solar. The solar industry is struggling with 40-60% reductions in sales and installations.


Today, OpenSolar and UtilityAPI are stepping up to help the solar industry survive and emerge stronger once the COVID19 lockdown eases. OpenSolar, from the co-founder of Sungevity, offers free remote solar design and sales software. UtilityAPI lets users request and securely download their customer's utility bill data. Both companies are mission-driven — we really care about fighting climate change to save our planet.

"Now, while we're in the middle of this, we often ask ourselves how else we can contribute, do something bigger than our individual companies," says Devin Hampton, UtilityAPI Chief Executive Officer. "That's why we're working with OpenSolar to speed our entire industry's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. We're throwing our weight behind collaborative decarbonization, for the good of our industry, local economies and the planet. We (all) need the solar industry to survive."

OpenSolar, fresh from its successful launch in Australia, where 20% of the homes run on solar energy, just made its full cloud-based tool available to users in the United States. When users sign up with OpenSolar, UtilityAPI will give them three months of free utility data access through the app.

"With the COVID-19 crisis, the need to be able to sell and design systems remotely is more important than ever," says Andrew 'Birchy' Birch, co-founder of both Sungevity and 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."

UtilityAPI has noticed that the era of 'kitchen table sales' — or face-to-face sales meetings with customers, sitting together at the proverbial kitchen table — has come to an abrupt halt. But solar installers are searching for the thing that will replace it. "People who used to do door-to-door sales are finding us now," notes Lynne Wander, Chief Operating Officer of UtilityAPI.

In order for solar providers to propose projects to their customers, they need to answer a series of common questions. How much will a proposed improvement cost? How much energy will I save? UtilityAPI gives them the data they need in order to answer those questions accurately and quickly. And they can do it all without having to meet with the client in person. Now, when providers sign up with OpenSolar, UtilityAPI will give them free unlimited access to that kind of data for three months via their OpenSolar account.

Ultimately, the recovery of the solar industry will depend on its ability to quickly adapt to the new conditions under which they'll be able to do business but still be able to delight their clients.

"Our 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 free, cloud-based OpenSolar app is available now at OpenSolar.com. It 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.
For more information, contact Cara Emard (cara@opensolar.com) at OpenSolar, or Rob Zakim (rob@utilityapi.com) Sales Director at UtilityAPI.

About UtilityAPI
UtilityAPI provides the fast, easy, secure energy data that everyone in the new energy economy needs. Our customers — utilities, clean energy companies, and other technology providers — use us every day to exchange energy usage data. Customers rely on UtilityAPI data for feasibility analyses, quote generation, asset management, and measurement and verification. UtilityAPI is building the data network for a cleaner, more resilient energy sector. UtilityAPI.com.

About OpenSolar
OpenSolar is a mission-driven business that provides the world's leading software platform for solar professionals. The OpenSolar product brings together remote solar design, digital sales proposals and an enterprise management tool into a single white-label application, made available to installers at no cost. A growing list of service and product providers leverage the OpenSolar platform to better serve solar professionals and grow their solar businesses. The combination of high-quality software and services enables solar sales and installation businesses to efficiently grow. OpenSolar's goal is to accelerate the transition to clean energy globally. www.opensolar.com


Contact: Doug Levy Doug@douglevy.com

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