Solar installation business simulator
See what your solar installation business would turn over, how many customers you'd win and who you'd lose them to — month by month for two years — before you spend real money.
Roofs, permits, the utility's sign-off and a sales team on commission. This one opens as Sunward Solar: A local installer designing and fitting rooftop solar and batteries on homes and small businesses across a few towns. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own solar installation business and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady installer ends up with
Played steadily for all two years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady installer here ends its last year on $1m of revenue and $116k of profit, with 48 customers and 6.3% of the market (#5 of 5).
It starts from nothing: $70k in the bank and you, 55 hours a week, with no customers yet.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $1m
Profit in the last year: $116k
Customers at the end: 48
Share of the market: From nothing to 6.3%
Where it finishes: #5 of 5
Years and decisions: 2 years, monthly
What you'll decide each month
Each month you set your rates, how many people are on the books and how many customers each can look after, what you spend on being found, and which areas you cover.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your customers are
A local service is booked on trust and lost on a missed install. Every customer needs somebody's time, so the people you can put on the work are the limit, and word of mouth is the cheapest marketing there is.
2,600 customers in all, across your town, the next town over, the villages around, the county town and out by the ring road.
Homeowners going solar: A quote, a loan or the tax credit, and a neighbour's panels to compare. About 1,300 of them, worth $22k a year each.
Solar with a battery: Backup through the next outage, and a bigger bill for it. About 520 of them, worth $35k a year each.
Small businesses and farms: A barn roof or a warehouse, and an accountant doing the depreciation. About 260 of them, worth $66k a year each.
Repairs and add-ons: An inverter that died, a panel to move, a charger to fit. About 520 of them, worth $1.1k a year each.
Who you're up against
Three rivals are already in it, and they play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do. Most of the market is theirs on day one.
The national installer with door-to-door sales: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 25% of the market.
The electrician who does solar too: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 20% of the market.
The online quote marketplace: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 10% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of customer, three rivals and five areas.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your solar installation business in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady installer ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it month by month for two years.
Also for
solar installation · solar installers · solar panel installation · solar panels · install solar · rooftop solar · residential solar · home solar · solar company · battery installs · ev charger installation
How much does the solar installation business simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this solar installation business market, change anything in it and see what a steady installer ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own solar installation business?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the customers and what they pay, the rivals, the areas, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your solar installation business in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers, starting from where your business stands today.
Are the numbers realistic for a solar installation business?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year two turning over between $250k and $3m, with between 10 and 150 customers. This one's preview comes to about $1m and 48. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a solar installation business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward month by month, and see whether the money lasts, how many customers you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
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