09/24/2022
I wanted to address the situation for SWE. First, I would like to thank all those who worked with us and to all of our clients. In just under 7 years we have helped over a 1000 families achieve a better carbon footprint as well as helped homeowners in nearly a dozen states save millions in electrical bills, earned rebates and credits received. We have had the pleasure of working with some of the greatest companies and people, donated tens of thousands to local charities and helped save lives with blood drives. Sadly, nobody seems to write about these things.
The financial constraints that we incurred in part of the solarize campaign were due to the highest inflation since the early 80s. Fill up your truck and head to the grocery store. Now compound this with expenditures of running a business. Regardless, we continued to make sacrifices to hold true to soldier on for as long as we could. I personally sold multiple investment properties, investing those funds back into the company to offset rising costs. I was willing to and did, sacrifice my retirement for my business. I believe that is what any good entrepreneur does for his employees and his clients.
On June 17th 2021, SWE had sent a request to the Mass CEC for a modest price increase citing media articles via Bloomberg and national price charting that costs nationally were substantially higher. Our initial contracted price was to install a super-premium panel at $2.43 per watt. We were in fact chosen in large part due to the panel choice we had provided. Our requested increase was a mere .26 per watt. We were denied this request and countered with nearly half at 2.59 per watt. 16 cents per wat realized. Clearly, we were not looking to gouge prospective clients at this price point as is so common within solar by so many. We found this counter from the MA CEC rather odd considering that were already nearly a dollar a watt less than the then, current market rate for that area with the specific contracted materials. Even the manufacture of the panels we were selling -Sunpower, sold directly to a resident in Yarmouth (during the solarize event) at over $4.15 per watt. So, although we did not agree with the price increase, we continued on. As the price of diesel was approaching six dollars a gallon, unprecedented material shortages that were widely reported nationally, the chip shortage that plagued every industry from solar to the auto industry and commodities pricing (Copper, aluminum) skyrocketing since late March of 21’ that we could not charge accordingly. We verbally asked if we could reconsider our previous ask of the full .26 and were again denied because “prices should be coming down soon”. This was in the summer of 21 and it is safe to say that prices have done nothing but gone up on everything.
Price aside, simple materials like code required disconnects, copper wire, and items as simple as meter sockets were not just scarce but unavailable, for weeks. Larger, publicly traded companies had even contacted our local suppliers to accumulate their entire inventory of these products. SWE had hired a 10 year USAF veteran that was an inventory specialist strictly for inventory and to hunt down materials to attempt to keep work flow as fluid as possible. Direct discussions to the solarize community and MA CEC show our manufacture began shipping orders to us with partial materials and yet, I made the decision to continue and absorb the then added cost to have go back and finish those installs. I did this due to my team and I having the foresight to have additional revenue streams at SWE of installing for manufacturers and other publicly traded installation firms. We supplied the licensure, labor, transportation, and insurances. We also did warranty work. We took the profits from those ex*****ons and applied those to where our business and clients needed it, as it needed it, and planned to do for as long as needed. All that aside, I made the decision to continue in the best interest of our clients and our team members.
If that was the only headwind, this would have without a doubt been overcome. Around Q3 of 21 we noticed our supplier was running ads on Facebook to sell directly to homeowners. Having noticed that our sole supplier of solar panels was now a direct competitor naturally, I became displeased and asked for an explanation. During April of 2021 our supplier had replaced their CEO and had replaced our MA representative that signed us on. I will now mention that the agreed upon price with the old rep was not honored. Sunpower had increase the price, not keeping their word. Inciting that new management and new local reps would be great for Sunpower and SWE. The way they described and bad-mouthed our previous reps performance and blamed their low numbers on this well-respected, long tenured individual was highly unprofessional. If he was truly so terrible, why did they keep him for so long? Regardless, their new administration had brought in new management that were aggressively focused on increasing revenue. One of the ways their new CEO wanted to make a splash was to sell directly to homeowners apparently. Knowing full well this would financially burden their existing partners like SWE and many others. However, as all large publicly traded companies must do, they are required to perform for their shareholders and that often means sacrificing the little guy. In hindsight this is now what is very clear.
In short, from the tail end of 21 and all of 22 our manufacturing partner not only became a competitor in sales, but they did something malicious in December sending us an email asking us to become a warehouse for their sold systems. Telling us in a conference call that they loved our central location and they found it a terrific fit for a warehouse distribution for not only our installs but also for other Sunpower dealers to allocate their materials. On this call we were told that Sunpower at that time had no plans to directly install but would continue to hire partners like SWE and others locally. No mention of needing to re-sign at this time and at the time of this call, or that other partners had already re-signed. Shortly after we had been told by outside sources, they were hiring licensed electricians for the sole purpose of installing their direct sales and their sales only partner companies. During all this, our manufacture somehow forgot to make an appointment with SWE to “re-sign” our contract with them. Strange, because their automated systems had no issues telling us when our company insurances or licenses were expiring months out. Our contract had to be exclusive in that we were not allowed to sell or install other manufacturers. Toward the end of March we were asked to host our manufacture’s regional representative. We obliged. At this very meeting our representative had informed us that Sunpower had cancelled other partners in the area due to them providing solar services by other companies. We had informed our rep that shortly before our meeting, we had dropped everyone else and were “all in”. Holding true to not selling any of their competitors. Our sales receipts prove this. In a nonchalant way our rep stated to both SWE officers in a meeting on March 22nd with said rep, that they had re-signed all other partners in the area except us. Due to us having to re-sign a quarter after other partners, our pricing had shot up higher due to rising costs. Again, this was odd due to our previous rep stating that the modules SWE was selling for Solarize Yarmouth were already made, pre-existing and they had more than we could handle. At this meeting the pricing was discussed in a manner that both officers were not completely certain of what the Solarize panel pricing would be but got the inclination that it would remain the same. The rep had asked how many solar panels SWE would need to complete existing contracts. This led us to believe that the pricing under previous agreement between Sunpower and SWE for Solarize Yarmouth would be honored. Why else ask how many panels we would need? However, when we put an order in for existing contracts, we were presented with the nearly 50% increased price. Unacceptable, I explained. I also explained that they, of all companies, knew full well how the Solarize campaigns worked with pricing and were kept abreast of not only the process but also were looped into videos that SWE had paid to make for marketing purposes strictly for Solarize Yarmouth. They shared them around their staff per email response and approved usage.
Lastly at this meeting I had stated that my wife would be having life sustaining surgery on April 27th due to a rare blood disease and that I would be out for the last few weeks of April and early May. Her and I had significant struggles beforehand with the speed of raising 4 young children, running a business, and me losing multiple members of my family recently. This was a high-risk surgery and precautions were taken before and during surgery. I would need time away to take care of our children and help her as she would not be physically able to do anything. He wished me well and I walked him out.
On April 25th 2022 while I was out, SWE had received a cease order to sell, install, or finance Sunpower products. Barely a month after our signature meeting. Stating that we had “refuse or neglect to supply a sufficiency of skilled workers or materials of the proper quality and quantity within five (5) days . . . of SunPower’s request for work to be performed in accordance with this Agreement” Odd in that they were the ones sending us the materials, for their own installations that were “missing sufficient materials” they were suppose to supply. Hard to tell if a Sunpower lease will pass their 3 day operation without a Sunpower supplied PV6 monitoring device. However, the order stated we were 5 days past their agreed install time. This year’s winter was a hardship as it is every year for those that work outside, on roofs. It had snowed as late as April 17th this year and while materials were hard to readily come by, and, while there were 10,000,000 more jobs available nationally than people to fulfill them. I now have certainty that they have allowed other installers to go beyond their 5 days. -It wasn’t about the 5 days. Couldn’t be about the materials as materials have to pass National Electrical Code.
Even after receiving this order, I had written upper management stating my concern for clients and requested that we be allowed to install what we had under contract. Their response?
Thank you for your message.
SunPower made the decision to terminate this agreement after we became aware of circumstances indicating that Solar Wolf had defaulted on its obligations under the Dealer Participation Agreement, for the reasons stated in the letter below.
Thank you for your business. We wish you well in your future endeavors.
It became crystal clear what the play was. Shortly thereafter Sunpower had contacted our clients and attempted to sell them solar. I only became aware of this after our company’s bankruptcy attorney had been contacted by a former SWE client. It is clear now that our manufacturing partner had used our company as a central beta to test their improved direct sales and install model to increase their margins and using us. The funds they owed us for installing their sales? They took over 6 months to pay. Again, by design. Asking us for tax forms, when they have all of our tax information along with taking weeks to reply to messages is the definition of irony.
Since this has happened, I have been threatened, as has my wife. Messages sent to my wife and the news reports from this were the cause her having to be rushed via ambulance back to the hospital more than once after her surgery and due to her blood disease losing over 40% of her blood within minutes hospital records show. Within minutes of her receiving messages, she was on her way to the hospital, bleeding out. I have spent months in therapy, going to the brink of my sanity and contemplating ending it all. Losing your business is similar to losing a child. I have been trying to understand all of this and to work though the trauma this has caused me and my family. I was so proud to have my children watch us build this company from the ground up, starting with a laptop and building it into an INC 500 company. I was so proud of my team and my partner, Taylor. A world class partner that one dreams of having in business. For it to be taken away when there is more than enough clients to go around for renewable energy, and not at least allow us to finish installing our clients illustrates just how uncaring and non-forward thinking Sunpower really is. We had multiple trucks of their materials in our warehouse and we did the right thing and returned them. Sunpower will likely attempt to sue me for stating all this or perhaps release a statement stating otherwise. However, with emails, texts, and company officers as witnesses and everything saved, they can try to sue me…but the truth is, I have lost absolutely everything already.
To the homeowners who have been affected: I want you to know I did try to negotiate and was willing to take any concessions to make this right. I gave up my retirement, my time with my children, nearly lost my wife, bankruptcy, and suffered a breakdown of irreversible measures. I know many are angry with me. I am broke, in therapy, cannot sleep, and haven’t been able to even seriously consider the idea of working for nearly 6 months. I understand and I am sorry this happened to all of us.
