Get ready to illuminate your understanding of solar energy as we sit down with Mitch Fraker of Empowered Solar Solutions. You're going to gain an abundance of knowledge as Mitch shares his transition from marketing to sales, and how he took the entrepreneurial leap into creating his own sales organization in the thriving solar sector. Get a grip on why people are opting for solar power, mainly for control over their bills and significant cost savings. Plus, Mitch is going to demystify the differences between a $30,000 and $40,000 solar setup and how financing or leasing can work in favor of consumers.
In the second half, we're powering up the discussion to delve into the efficiency of solar panels and the electrifying potential of battery storage technology. Ever wondered about the future of solar energy and the integration of innovative solutions like the Tesla roof? We've got you covered! Furthermore, in our real estate exploration segment, Mitch opens up about the challenges of forming partnerships with realtors, and offers his perspective on inflation, environmental concerns, and fixed bill issues. Be ready to explore how solar energy systems are determined based on the energy consumption of a household and how they provide a solution to sky-rocketing energy bills. Join us as we journey into the heart of the solar energy revolution that's transforming the way we power our lives.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, good afternoon.
I'll take you with.
Stoic Asia podcast Got a prettyunique guest here on.
We've had a real diversity ofguests from all different walks
of life.
I don't know anything aboutsolar and so, ultimately, mitch
and I have been we've been kindof friends on Facebook.
We've met each other in thesauna a couple of times, just
(00:22):
after workouts and so forth, andhe said, hey, man, I'd like to
come on and talk about solar.
I said, great, I know nothingabout solar energy.
So this is Mitch Fraker withEmpowered Solar Solutions, and
welcome to the pod man.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Thanks, man.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Appreciate you for having me on Awesome.
Thank you for being here.
So talk to us.
Just take us from the beginning.
What kind of led you to thepath of starting this company?
To do with solar energy andlet's dive in man?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, absolutely man.
So I spent about four, fiveyears really focused on
marketing when I was in my early20s and I got kind of tired of
sitting behind a desk all dayand staring at a screen and I
knew sales was a big forte ofmine.
I knew I was good withcommunications and so I saw
(01:13):
solar energy just booming Not asmuch here in Florida, but I got
a lot of really good friendsthat are out in California and
they were absolutely just makingit rain.
California's the leading stateas far as just solar coverage,
and so I knew Florida was gonnabe coming next.
Obviously it's the SunshineState.
(01:33):
So I literally up and I quit avery, very good job that I had
and I went out and startedknocking doors and it was brutal
.
The first couple of years I wasjust straight up doors, doors,
doors.
I knocked until my knucklesbled and there's a lot of
negative connotations arounddoor knockers.
I tried to be one of the nicerones, one of the more
(01:56):
professional ones, and I learnedvery quickly how solar works,
how to get a sale, how to getyour foot in the door.
And for my first year or so Ijoined another company.
I was with a very, very largesales org and I kind of started
seeing how simple the pieceswere to put together, realizing
that I could go off on my ownand get a lot of extra margin
(02:19):
and also build a team underneathme and create a comp plan for
them.
That was lucrative, and so Idecided to go out and jump out
on my own.
The solar world is veryfragmented.
You've got a lot of sales orgsand you've got a lot of
installers.
There's very few companies thatdo both not very few but a lot
(02:40):
of companies keep it separate,where they have a sales org that
sells and they've gotcontractors that install, and so
we had pretty goodrelationships with a couple of
different installers and Idecided to go ahead and start my
own sales org.
So we are just sales, we don'tdo the builds, we don't jump up
on the roof and do the work, wejust sell, sell, sell.
And then we've got installersthat fulfill on all the
(03:02):
contracts.
So that's kind of how mybusiness is set up Awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Walk us through.
I want to kind of really diginto the granularity of why
solar, you know what, what aresome of the benefits, I guess,
aside from the planet?
I guess we could dive into that, like, let's dive into that,
like just flat out, what's the Idon't want to say elevator
(03:28):
pitch, but what's like thefoundational piece of, like no
more fossil fuel type thing.
What's your take on that?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, I mean to be honest with you.
I don't do solar at all becauseof the environment.
I am not an environmentalist,I'm not a tree hugger, I don't
have a Tesla, so I don't do itfor the environment.
And, to be perfectly honestwith you, I've never had one
customer tell me I'm going solarbecause I want to help the
environment.
The reason people go solar is tohave control over their bills
(03:59):
and to own their power, and soyou live down here in Florida as
well.
We have FPL, and if you've seenyour FPL bill I don't really
pay attention to mine, but ifyou actually stack it up over
the last couple of years and thelast since 2021, it's gone up
about 35% for the cost of energy, and so when you go solar,
you're simply putting a systemon your house and you now
(04:23):
generate the power on site.
You don't have to buy thatpower from Florida Power and
Light or from whatever utilityyou have, and so what that
allows you to do is, if youfinance the system, you
obviously have a locked inmonthly loan payment that's
fixed, doesn't go up, and it canbe paid off.
There's also people that paycash and they take a chunk of
(04:43):
change out of their pocket.
They're going to get anywherefrom a seven to an eight year
ROI.
You expel that $30,000 or$40,000 on a system and then you
put that $300 a month you werespending on FPL back in your
pocket.
And then there's leasing as well, which is a very common way
that people are going solar, sothey don't own the system, they
lease it, similar to a car lease, and they pay a flat monthly
(05:05):
rate for that.
So really, at its whole, all itis and for the reason why I do
it is control Is control overyour bills, so that you don't.
Obviously you know how muchinflation is affecting the real
estate industry, the mortgageindustry, the same thing's
happening with utilities.
Inflation is just raging rightnow, and so anything you can do
to get control of your bills andcontrol of your monthly
(05:28):
payments is going to be a hugemoney saver for you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I love them, man.
So you mentioned 30 or 40,000for a setup.
Now, what would be thedifference between a 30 and a
$40,000 setup?
Because we're going to diveinto the financing and the lease
, so we can kind of get granularwith some numbers.
What would a $30,000 setup be?
How much power would thatcreate, in order to say power of
(05:53):
2,000 square foot home?
Just in general terms?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Great question, yeah, so right now I would say, for a
$30,000 setup, you're lookingat anywhere between a 10 and 12
kilowatt system size, which isgoing to produce you anywhere
between 10 and 15,000 kilowatthours of energy per year.
So really, what we do to figureout how many panels someone
needs is we just take a look attheir utility bill.
(06:17):
On everybody's FPL bill it hasa little graph that shows them
your last 12 months of usage andthat's what we use to determine
how many panels you're going toneed to offset.
We call it offsetting your bill.
So our goal is to get you 100%coverage and every home is
different.
Like you said, if you've got anaverage 2,000 square foot home,
(06:37):
you're probably looking at 15 to17,000 kilowatt hours of energy
that you're using every year.
But every home is different.
People's habits are different.
We've seen homes that arereally small, homes that have
super high bills.
We've seen big homes that havelow bills.
So it really just depends onhow much energy you're using.
It could go anywhere.
It could go all the way down toa 10 or a $15,000 system.
(07:00):
All depends on the power thatyou're using in the home.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Interesting, Okay, so we're looking at 12 months.
I got a little cross-eyed therewith the kilowatt hours but
basically you're able to tellsomebody this is how many panels
you'll need, based on what yourpast consumption of energy was.
So when we're doing thefinancing, let's say that my
electric bill is on average.
(07:24):
On average because over Florida, your winter and your summer,
let's say, an amalgam of thatwas $270 a month.
What is financing a $30,000,$40,000 set up?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah.
So we've got a couple ofdifferent banks that we work
with and so realistically, itcomes down to what the long-term
goals of the homeowner are.
Most people, when they finance,want to achieve a lower monthly
payment than what they'recurrently paying, and so we
usually go over a 20 or a25-year term for the loan which
is going to save you.
Probably with the interestrates nowadays you're looking at
(08:04):
anywhere from $20 to $50 amonth, and I would tell a lot of
people too, interest rates arepretty high.
It's like, hey, if your bill's$270 today, in a couple of years
it's going to be $300.
Couple years after that it'sgoing to be $330, $340.
So even if you're paying acouple bucks more a month for
the financing, it's locked inand it's fixed.
(08:26):
So every home is truly different, and that's kind of the
elevator pitch that I tellhomeowners is listen, we don't
know if your home's going to bea good fit or not.
It's our job just to go aheadand take a look and see if it's
going to make financial sensefor you or not.
If it is great, it'll be veryclear in the numbers.
If it's not, no worries, youcan keep paying your utility and
call us when that bill gets toohigh.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Awesome, and then I guess leasing is similar, right,
yeah, yeah.
So what are all of these adsthat I see out there?
Is this a clickbait of thegovernment rebates and all that?
Let's unpack that a little bitso the people that see these
coming across their screen candiscern between reality and
(09:08):
clickbait.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, I'm so glad you brought that up, and the
reality of it is that those adsmake my job a lot harder.
Yes, there is a federal taxcredit.
It's a 30% tax credit.
Okay, so if you buy your systemlet's just say for easy numbers
and it cost you $50,000, you'vegot a $15,000 tax credit that
(09:30):
you're able to file with thefederal government.
But no, nobody's given away afree lunch.
The government's not going topay for your solar system.
There's no programs that offerfree solar.
This is a major home upgrade,so it's not going to be free.
But yes, the government doeshave a 30% credit.
So if you've got tax liability,you have a chance to go ahead
and claim that credit.
And the government does giveyou 10 years to chunk that
(09:52):
credit out.
Not everybody can claim thatbig of a tax credit in one year,
so the government gives you anice 10 years to to chunk it out
and claim it over time.
Okay, yeah, the reality is allthose ads that people are seeing
are they're made to bring incheap leads, and then the more
leads you can get, the morepeople you have to talk to.
So it don't make my job anyeasier.
(10:14):
I've always got to fightthrough that objection every
time I get in a home.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah, well, the more people you have to talk to, yet
the more disgruntled people thatyou create as well within that.
So, anyways, that's anotherstory for another day, right?
So, circling back around, I'mcurious about have you seen?
So how long have you been ascollectively in the solar
industry?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
So I'm coming up on five years.
Okay, about two and a half onmy own, and the first two were
with another company.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Have you seen the technology exponentially grow
over that five years, about thestorage and what these panels
are creating as far as thesekilowatt hours?
Talk to us a little bit aboutthe growth of the technology and
how it's getting better andbetter, if it is.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yeah, no, it's a great point.
Of course, there's a lot ofpeople that say, oh, I'm going
to wait and do this in thefuture, it'll get better.
The reality of it is the panelsright now that are being
produced are about 90% efficientafter 25 years.
So you're looking at like ahalf a percent of degradation
per year, which is absolutelyamazing, and so I don't
(11:26):
truthfully, I don't think we'regoing to see much growth on the
solar panel side.
I mean, the only way to makethem produce more right now is
to make them bigger.
However, you mentioned on thestorage side, absolutely, I do
not sell a lot of batteries, butthe reason for that is because
I truly believe that here in thenext five, 10, 15 years, the
battery storage technology isgoing to make leaps and bounds.
(11:49):
So I do definitely guide people.
I say, hey, if you want to do abackup, I usually guide people
towards a generator because I dofeel like the battery
technology will be better in thefuture.
But as far as the solar panels,they're about as good as they
can get.
It's really efficienttechnology.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
So what about the Tesla ones where they're like
really super thin?
What's your take on what he'sdoing?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yeah, I mean.
So.
I think that Elon Musk isalways a you know, he's a big
pioneer into the future, and Ithink that the whole Tesla roof
thing is great.
It will be in the future.
It will be roof and solartogether.
I mean, that's the way that thefuture is going.
However, right now, with theTesla roof specifically, it's
just not as efficient.
(12:35):
So you could put an entireTesla roof on your house and
it's not going to produce what anormal solar system would
produce.
It's also astronomically higherin cost, and so I've had
countless amount of deals wherepeople have said you know, I
bought a Tesla roof over a yearago.
It's still not on my house, Ispent 80 grand on it and it's
(12:58):
not going to offset 100% of mybill.
And so the reality is thattechnology is just not here yet,
but I do believe that 10, 15,maybe 20 years down the line,
the roofing and the solarsystems will absolutely end up
inevitably getting tied together, whether it's a solar roof, a
solar shingle.
It will happen in the future.
We're just not quite there yet.
(13:19):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So when I see that, when I'm cruising around it
because I'm considering buying aTesla, I've been considering it
for a couple of years, so it'snot like it's going to be
tomorrow, I see that solar site,so okay.
So that's what kind of thebacklog is that we're looking at
?
I paid the money a year ago andI still not on my roof.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, and I'll be honest.
If you look up Tesla Energy andthey have absolutely terrible
reviews.
Tesla is trying to do it alland they can't do it all well.
They do their cars very, very,very well, but their solar side
of their business is atrocious,and I don't say that to put any.
I love solar.
(13:57):
I always want to bring everycompany up, but Tesla.
They need to just focus on cars.
Let's just put it that way.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
There's an inside thing.
I like it.
Not many people could actuallyrip on Elon's productivity, so I
love it, man.
So where do you see so youalready kind of went there that
you see this being integratedinto the roofs?
Do you see that this technologybeing integrated into cars,
into kind of like so much more?
(14:26):
Do you see solar reallyultimately taking off?
Is this the solution?
I know you're not caring asmuch about nothing.
You don't care about theenvironment.
You're not doing it for that.
You're doing it to help peoplefix their costs, which creates a
great environment in thehousehold because you have less
struggle with bills, so we cango there.
With just that, you're makingthe world a better place because
(14:48):
there's going to be lessarguments over money.
So I like that.
Where do you think this is allgoing?
Do you see solar kind of in aconjunction with wind and
geothermal?
Where are your thoughts onthese kind of non-fossil fuel
energy sources?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
You know it's an interesting question because I'm
traditionally very like.
I said, I do solar because Ilike to help people have control
.
I'm traditionally veryconservative.
But what you see is you seethis government pushing
everything away from fossilfuels, and so I think you're
absolutely right.
I think solar, wind, geothermal, I think all that stuff is
going to get more prevalent.
(15:27):
I've studied the Green New Deala good bit and our federal
government is pushing 90% carbonemission reductions by 2030.
And that's an almost I mean,it's an impossible goal.
There's no way that can happen.
But what you're seeing isyou're seeing major utility
companies that are literallytearing down their coal burning
(15:50):
plants and that are buildingsolar fields.
And so when you noticelarge-scale utility companies
doing this, right, they're doingit for a reason.
One, they're doing it becauseit works, but two, the federal
government is pushing them very,very, very hard to get away
from fossil fuels.
And so I think, whether we likeit or not, solar technology I'm
not as big of a proponent forthe whole windmill thing.
(16:13):
I think they're pretty useless.
But I think solar technology isgoing to grow very, very vastly
and, like I mentioned earlier,california is kind of laying the
groundwork for that.
California's got about 40 to45% of residential homes that
have solar.
Really.
So, yeah, and if you take atrip out there, you drive
through a neighborhood and it'severywhere.
(16:34):
There's a lot more Teslas outthere, there's a lot more
charging stations, and so that'skind of the layout that our
federal government is pushingkind of across the country, and
some states are going to befaster to adopt than others, but
, yes, I think that's inevitablythe way our world is absolutely
going.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Hmm, and so the technology is catching up to
that.
You think that the roofintegration with the tiles and
so forth is.
You would project that to be 10to 20 years.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, I think we're still 10, 20 years out.
There's a very popular roofingroofing shingle company.
It's called GAF or Gaff roofing.
They make some of the top ofthe line solar I'm sorry, some
of the top of the line shinglesthat almost every roofing
company that I know uses, andthey've got these solar shingles
that they're putting out andthe same thing there.
They're just a little bitexpensive and they're not quite
(17:22):
as efficient, but like we'reseeing the technology start to
form and so I think that, yeah,I think we're probably 10 or 15
years off.
You know, and down here inFlorida too, we obviously know
that we got hurricanes so yougot to make sure you have a roof
that's gonna last through that.
So I think they've got someleaps and bounds to go before
it's actually durable enough tobe an actual roofing system for
(17:44):
sure.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And so how does it work?
I kind of want to circle backaround.
So if you don't have a batterywhen the power is going to, it's
dark out at night, where isthat power coming from?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Fantastic question, absolutely so.
Utility companies offersomething called net metering,
and so what net metering is isthe.
The utility actually comes andputs a net meter on your house
Before you can turn your systemon, and so example Florida power
and light they have a fullretail rate on the buyback For
(18:18):
the net metering.
So what happens is during theday we get so much sun that the
system is actually going toproduce a lot more than what the
homeowner can use in the home,and that extra power actually
flows through that net meter andthe utility companies actually
credit you for it.
And so if you think about it ona day night kind of schedule,
during the day You're sending alot back to the grid and then at
(18:39):
night, when the sun goes down,you're pulling from those
credits that you, that you savedup during the day, instead of
having to buy that power fromthe utility.
So net metering is very, very,very key to solar and most
utility companies offer it.
Some don't.
Down here in Florida All themajor utilities do, and they
have a very good buyback.
But that's another thing aboutyou know, california too Is
(19:01):
they've had so much solarcapacity that they've had to cut
back the buyback rates becausethey won't now pay as much for
that power because the grid isgetting so much solar pushed
into it, and so you know we'rein a very good era right now for
, for the net metering, fpl hasa 20 year grandfather at the
(19:21):
retail rate.
So if you get in now, even ifthey change their laws in the
future, your grandfathered intothat retail rate, you know, for
20 years.
So that's what allows people togo solar and not have to buy a
battery.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Got it.
I've heard that before.
About now I love I know theterm now the net meter.
Awesome man, where do you?
You know, as we, as we kind ofsegue here Settling down into
the end of the of the pod, wheredo you, where do you want your
company to go?
(19:55):
I'll kind of get personal here,like what are your big visions
for what you want to do?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yeah, I love that man .
So I mean, right now we'rechasing down 100 deals a month.
That's our major kind of goalline that we're chasing down
right now.
We're getting close some monthsout of the year and we fall
back some months out of the year.
Traditionally, solar is veryhot in the summer, but over the
last almost two years we've doneabout 12 million in sales,
(20:22):
which is a good number, but it'snowhere close to where I know
we can be.
So that's my goal is to grow to100 deals a month, and I'd like
to do that with a fairly smallteam of kind of high efficiency
reps.
There's a lot of people in thesolar industry that come in and
you can make good money, sothey'll do one or two deals a
month.
They'll make their money andthey'll chill.
(20:43):
I'm looking to find, you know,eight to 10 guys that are doing
10 deals a month plus.
That's my real goal, and so I'mfocused right now on really
building a couple key leadersthat I have in my business and
taking them from a couple ofdeals a month up to 10, 10 plus,
and so that's kind of where mysites are set right now, and I'm
(21:04):
also not ignoring the roofingside of things.
We have a really big partnershipwith a roofing company and I've
got a couple of my guys thatare also doing some roof sales
as well.
Consequently, you know, beingin solar, we get a lot of people
that contact us that want solarand they don't even know that
they need a new roof first.
So we've had to kind of getinto the roofing sales side of
things as well.
So I'd like to grow that kindof simultaneously.
(21:27):
That's the goal that I'mchasing down right now.
I'd like to say we'll be thereby the end of the year.
We're coming out of the kind ofthe hot season, so I think that
goal is probably gonna be metin 2024.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Man, that's awesome.
Well, I love seeing peoplesucceed.
I love seeing people grow.
I've noticed you on social andyou really.
You know you got a good mindset, man, and you're obviously a
little bit younger than me and Ialways like to see people with
a good head on their shoulders,no matter what the age.
(21:58):
You got a really good head onyour shoulders, especially given
your age, and that's no knockon you at all, obviously with
your age I appreciate that.
Yeah, man.
So if there's anything I canever do for you, let me know.
You know I appreciate youtaking the time to come in here
and educate me and educate ouraudience.
You know they say knowledge ispower and is understanding this
(22:20):
stuff a lot more, understandingthat there's financing out there
, there's leasing out there,there's the rebates that are out
there.
We covered a lot of that.
And the longevity I like toknow you know we're looking at
90% effective after 20 years.
Those are great numbers.
So we know that these you know,I guess.
One last question, and youmentioned hurricanes what is the
(22:46):
, what is the efficacy of thesethings staying on the roof,
given certain wind speeds?
I'd like to be curious aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, absolutely so.
We've got anywhere from ahundred and seventy five mile an
hour up to about 220 mile anhour.
Wind rated panels, you know,and so we go down here to
Florida.
There is building code that youhave to abide by when you're,
you know, when you're doing homeimprovements, and so the wind,
the wind ratings in Florida aresignificantly higher than then
the rest of the country.
So these things are not comingoff your roof.
(23:16):
We, you know, we bolt them tothe trusses of the home, and so
it would literally need to takethe entire roof with it.
Every single panel has betweentwo and four points of contact,
you know, into into a roof truss, so I can confidently say that
they are not going anywhere.
It's always a question thatcomes up, of course, being in
Florida, but yeah, they areExtremely durable panels.
(23:39):
You can run them over with atruck and they still work.
It's, it's actually veryincredible.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, maybe on that maybe it.
I was just saying I wanted tomention one thing too.
You know I I do.
I do appreciate you having meon and I'd love to you know kind
of, at some point in the future, unpack Kind of the real estate
world was solar.
You know, I'll be honest with.
We've had a tough time crackingthe realtor code.
We have a really really goodpartnerships with alarm
companies.
We have really goodpartnerships with the roofing
(24:07):
companies.
We have yet to been able tofind formidable partnerships
with realtors and traditionally,I think, just being transparent
, a lot of realtors are againstit Because it makes the.
It can make the sale of a home alittle bit tougher, depending
on how it was financed and howmuch left is owed in the system.
But you know one way or another.
You know you sell a house andthen your homeowners are going
(24:29):
to buy solar in the future.
So I'd love to you know, atsome point in the future, kind
of unpack what that looks likeof kind of merging the solar and
the realtor, the real estateworld, because I do think that
again it is coming in the in thefuture.
I think what people willprobably be doing when they buy
their homes is is wrapping thesolar, in with their mortgage
and wiping out that electricbill.
You know altogether right fromthe start.
(24:49):
So I do that being a thing inthe future, let's continue the
discussion.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah.
So let's have some coffee onthat and then you know, kind of
getting an idea.
So I'm clear on what exactly itis that the realtors would even
be saying to somebody, right,of course.
So that's a.
That's a conversation anotherday.
I appreciate you bringing it upin here and let's continue the
conversation.
That's what I'm all about here.
Just, let's have goodconversations.
We all need to come together andand say you know, realtors are
(25:17):
against.
I've never been against, I justhave been uneducated, and
that's so much of what you know.
Not to get extreme with it, butwars are fought over just
people not understanding thingsfrom other people's perspectives
, and and even that someone canhelp someone else.
So just more dialogue, moreconversations, more discussions
(25:38):
and more listening To wherepeople are coming from.
And I think you come from agenuine place.
You're not just, you know.
I really like the part about,hey, the environments, a
byproduct of this.
You're here to help peoplesolve their, their, their fixed
bill problem, right, yeah, sothat, and adding, and again back
to your point about inflationand so forth, that's a, that's
an attractive thing to peopleand that, if a byproduct of that
(26:00):
, you make the world a betterplace, great.
So, man, I again.
Mitch.
I appreciate you taking thetime to come on the pod and I
learned a lot here and I knowyou delivered some value to the
audience that's out there andwe'll keep the discussion going.
All right, good afternoon.
I'll take you with.
Stoic Asia podcast Got a prettyunique guest here on.
We've had a real diversity ofguests from all different walks
of life.
I don't know anything aboutsolar and so, ultimately, mitch
and I have been we've been kindof friends on Facebook.
We've met each other in thesauna a couple of times, just
(00:22):
after workouts and so forth, andhe said, hey, man, I'd like to
come on and talk about solar.
I said, great, I know nothingabout solar energy.
So this is Mitch Fraker withEmpowered Solar Solutions, and
welcome to the pod man.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Thanks, man.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Appreciate you for having me on Awesome.
Thank you for being here.
So talk to us.
Just take us from the beginning.
What kind of led you to thepath of starting this company?
To do with solar energy andlet's dive in man?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, absolutely man.
So I spent about four, fiveyears really focused on
marketing when I was in my early20s and I got kind of tired of
sitting behind a desk all dayand staring at a screen and I
knew sales was a big forte ofmine.
I knew I was good withcommunications and so I saw
(01:13):
solar energy just booming Not asmuch here in Florida, but I got
a lot of really good friendsthat are out in California and
they were absolutely just makingit rain.
California's the leading stateas far as just solar coverage,
and so I knew Florida was gonnabe coming next.
Obviously it's the SunshineState.
(01:33):
So I literally up and I quit avery, very good job that I had
and I went out and startedknocking doors and it was brutal
.
The first couple of years I wasjust straight up doors, doors,
doors.
I knocked until my knucklesbled and there's a lot of
negative connotations arounddoor knockers.
I tried to be one of the nicerones, one of the more
(01:56):
professional ones, and I learnedvery quickly how solar works,
how to get a sale, how to getyour foot in the door.
And for my first year or so Ijoined another company.
I was with a very, very largesales org and I kind of started
seeing how simple the pieceswere to put together, realizing
that I could go off on my ownand get a lot of extra margin
(02:19):
and also build a team underneathme and create a comp plan for
them.
That was lucrative, and so Idecided to go out and jump out
on my own.
The solar world is veryfragmented.
You've got a lot of sales orgsand you've got a lot of
installers.
There's very few companies thatdo both not very few but a lot
(02:40):
of companies keep it separate,where they have a sales org that
sells and they've gotcontractors that install, and so
we had pretty goodrelationships with a couple of
different installers and Idecided to go ahead and start my
own sales org.
So we are just sales, we don'tdo the builds, we don't jump up
on the roof and do the work, wejust sell, sell, sell.
And then we've got installersthat fulfill on all the
(03:02):
contracts.
So that's kind of how mybusiness is set up Awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Walk us through.
I want to kind of really diginto the granularity of why
solar, you know what, what aresome of the benefits, I guess,
aside from the planet?
I guess we could dive into that, like, let's dive into that,
like just flat out, what's the Idon't want to say elevator
(03:28):
pitch, but what's like thefoundational piece of, like no
more fossil fuel type thing.
What's your take on that?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, I mean to be honest with you.
I don't do solar at all becauseof the environment.
I am not an environmentalist,I'm not a tree hugger, I don't
have a Tesla, so I don't do itfor the environment.
And, to be perfectly honestwith you, I've never had one
customer tell me I'm going solarbecause I want to help the
environment.
The reason people go solar is tohave control over their bills
(03:59):
and to own their power, and soyou live down here in Florida as
well.
We have FPL, and if you've seenyour FPL bill I don't really
pay attention to mine, but ifyou actually stack it up over
the last couple of years and thelast since 2021, it's gone up
about 35% for the cost of energy, and so when you go solar,
you're simply putting a systemon your house and you now
(04:23):
generate the power on site.
You don't have to buy thatpower from Florida Power and
Light or from whatever utilityyou have, and so what that
allows you to do is, if youfinance the system, you
obviously have a locked inmonthly loan payment that's
fixed, doesn't go up, and it canbe paid off.
There's also people that paycash and they take a chunk of
(04:43):
change out of their pocket.
They're going to get anywherefrom a seven to an eight year
ROI.
You expel that $30,000 or$40,000 on a system and then you
put that $300 a month you werespending on FPL back in your
pocket.
And then there's leasing as well, which is a very common way
that people are going solar, sothey don't own the system, they
lease it, similar to a car lease, and they pay a flat monthly
(05:05):
rate for that.
So really, at its whole, all itis and for the reason why I do
it is control Is control overyour bills, so that you don't.
Obviously you know how muchinflation is affecting the real
estate industry, the mortgageindustry, the same thing's
happening with utilities.
Inflation is just raging rightnow, and so anything you can do
to get control of your bills andcontrol of your monthly
(05:28):
payments is going to be a hugemoney saver for you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I love them, man.
So you mentioned 30 or 40,000for a setup.
Now, what would be thedifference between a 30 and a
$40,000 setup?
Because we're going to diveinto the financing and the lease
, so we can kind of get granularwith some numbers.
What would a $30,000 setup be?
How much power would thatcreate, in order to say power of
(05:53):
2,000 square foot home?
Just in general terms?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Great question, yeah, so right now I would say, for a
$30,000 setup, you're lookingat anywhere between a 10 and 12
kilowatt system size, which isgoing to produce you anywhere
between 10 and 15,000 kilowatthours of energy per year.
So really, what we do to figureout how many panels someone
needs is we just take a look attheir utility bill.
(06:17):
On everybody's FPL bill it hasa little graph that shows them
your last 12 months of usage andthat's what we use to determine
how many panels you're going toneed to offset.
We call it offsetting your bill.
So our goal is to get you 100%coverage and every home is
different.
Like you said, if you've got anaverage 2,000 square foot home,
(06:37):
you're probably looking at 15 to17,000 kilowatt hours of energy
that you're using every year.
But every home is different.
People's habits are different.
We've seen homes that arereally small, homes that have
super high bills.
We've seen big homes that havelow bills.
So it really just depends onhow much energy you're using.
It could go anywhere.
It could go all the way down toa 10 or a $15,000 system.
(07:00):
All depends on the power thatyou're using in the home.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Interesting, Okay, so we're looking at 12 months.
I got a little cross-eyed therewith the kilowatt hours but
basically you're able to tellsomebody this is how many panels
you'll need, based on what yourpast consumption of energy was.
So when we're doing thefinancing, let's say that my
electric bill is on average.
(07:24):
On average because over Florida, your winter and your summer,
let's say, an amalgam of thatwas $270 a month.
What is financing a $30,000,$40,000 set up?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah.
So we've got a couple ofdifferent banks that we work
with and so realistically, itcomes down to what the long-term
goals of the homeowner are.
Most people, when they finance,want to achieve a lower monthly
payment than what they'recurrently paying, and so we
usually go over a 20 or a25-year term for the loan which
is going to save you.
Probably with the interestrates nowadays you're looking at
(08:04):
anywhere from $20 to $50 amonth, and I would tell a lot of
people too, interest rates arepretty high.
It's like, hey, if your bill's$270 today, in a couple of years
it's going to be $300.
Couple years after that it'sgoing to be $330, $340.
So even if you're paying acouple bucks more a month for
the financing, it's locked inand it's fixed.
(08:26):
So every home is truly different, and that's kind of the
elevator pitch that I tellhomeowners is listen, we don't
know if your home's going to bea good fit or not.
It's our job just to go aheadand take a look and see if it's
going to make financial sensefor you or not.
If it is great, it'll be veryclear in the numbers.
If it's not, no worries, youcan keep paying your utility and
call us when that bill gets toohigh.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Awesome, and then I guess leasing is similar, right,
yeah, yeah.
So what are all of these adsthat I see out there?
Is this a clickbait of thegovernment rebates and all that?
Let's unpack that a little bitso the people that see these
coming across their screen candiscern between reality and
(09:08):
clickbait.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, I'm so glad you brought that up, and the
reality of it is that those adsmake my job a lot harder.
Yes, there is a federal taxcredit.
It's a 30% tax credit.
Okay, so if you buy your systemlet's just say for easy numbers
and it cost you $50,000, you'vegot a $15,000 tax credit that
(09:30):
you're able to file with thefederal government.
But no, nobody's given away afree lunch.
The government's not going topay for your solar system.
There's no programs that offerfree solar.
This is a major home upgrade,so it's not going to be free.
But yes, the government doeshave a 30% credit.
So if you've got tax liability,you have a chance to go ahead
and claim that credit.
And the government does giveyou 10 years to chunk that
(09:52):
credit out.
Not everybody can claim thatbig of a tax credit in one year,
so the government gives you anice 10 years to to chunk it out
and claim it over time.
Okay, yeah, the reality is allthose ads that people are seeing
are they're made to bring incheap leads, and then the more
leads you can get, the morepeople you have to talk to.
So it don't make my job anyeasier.
(10:14):
I've always got to fightthrough that objection every
time I get in a home.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah, well, the more people you have to talk to, yet
the more disgruntled people thatyou create as well within that.
So, anyways, that's anotherstory for another day, right?
So, circling back around, I'mcurious about have you seen?
So how long have you been ascollectively in the solar
industry?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
So I'm coming up on five years.
Okay, about two and a half onmy own, and the first two were
with another company.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Have you seen the technology exponentially grow
over that five years, about thestorage and what these panels
are creating as far as thesekilowatt hours?
Talk to us a little bit aboutthe growth of the technology and
how it's getting better andbetter, if it is.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yeah, no, it's a great point.
Of course, there's a lot ofpeople that say, oh, I'm going
to wait and do this in thefuture, it'll get better.
The reality of it is the panelsright now that are being
produced are about 90% efficientafter 25 years.
So you're looking at like ahalf a percent of degradation
per year, which is absolutelyamazing, and so I don't
(11:26):
truthfully, I don't think we'regoing to see much growth on the
solar panel side.
I mean, the only way to makethem produce more right now is
to make them bigger.
However, you mentioned on thestorage side, absolutely, I do
not sell a lot of batteries, butthe reason for that is because
I truly believe that here in thenext five, 10, 15 years, the
battery storage technology isgoing to make leaps and bounds.
(11:49):
So I do definitely guide people.
I say, hey, if you want to do abackup, I usually guide people
towards a generator because I dofeel like the battery
technology will be better in thefuture.
But as far as the solar panels,they're about as good as they
can get.
It's really efficienttechnology.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
So what about the Tesla ones where they're like
really super thin?
What's your take on what he'sdoing?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yeah, I mean.
So.
I think that Elon Musk isalways a you know, he's a big
pioneer into the future, and Ithink that the whole Tesla roof
thing is great.
It will be in the future.
It will be roof and solartogether.
I mean, that's the way that thefuture is going.
However, right now, with theTesla roof specifically, it's
just not as efficient.
(12:35):
So you could put an entireTesla roof on your house and
it's not going to produce what anormal solar system would
produce.
It's also astronomically higherin cost, and so I've had
countless amount of deals wherepeople have said you know, I
bought a Tesla roof over a yearago.
It's still not on my house, Ispent 80 grand on it and it's
(12:58):
not going to offset 100% of mybill.
And so the reality is thattechnology is just not here yet,
but I do believe that 10, 15,maybe 20 years down the line,
the roofing and the solarsystems will absolutely end up
inevitably getting tied together, whether it's a solar roof, a
solar shingle.
It will happen in the future.
We're just not quite there yet.
(13:19):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So when I see that, when I'm cruising around it
because I'm considering buying aTesla, I've been considering it
for a couple of years, so it'snot like it's going to be
tomorrow, I see that solar site,so okay.
So that's what kind of thebacklog is that we're looking at
?
I paid the money a year ago andI still not on my roof.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, and I'll be honest.
If you look up Tesla Energy andthey have absolutely terrible
reviews.
Tesla is trying to do it alland they can't do it all well.
They do their cars very, very,very well, but their solar side
of their business is atrocious,and I don't say that to put any.
I love solar.
(13:57):
I always want to bring everycompany up, but Tesla.
They need to just focus on cars.
Let's just put it that way.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
There's an inside thing.
I like it.
Not many people could actuallyrip on Elon's productivity, so I
love it, man.
So where do you see so youalready kind of went there that
you see this being integratedinto the roofs?
Do you see that this technologybeing integrated into cars,
into kind of like so much more?
(14:26):
Do you see solar reallyultimately taking off?
Is this the solution?
I know you're not caring asmuch about nothing.
You don't care about theenvironment.
You're not doing it for that.
You're doing it to help peoplefix their costs, which creates a
great environment in thehousehold because you have less
struggle with bills, so we cango there.
With just that, you're makingthe world a better place because
(14:48):
there's going to be lessarguments over money.
So I like that.
Where do you think this is allgoing?
Do you see solar kind of in aconjunction with wind and
geothermal?
Where are your thoughts onthese kind of non-fossil fuel
energy sources?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
You know it's an interesting question because I'm
traditionally very like.
I said, I do solar because Ilike to help people have control
.
I'm traditionally veryconservative.
But what you see is you seethis government pushing
everything away from fossilfuels, and so I think you're
absolutely right.
I think solar, wind, geothermal, I think all that stuff is
going to get more prevalent.
(15:27):
I've studied the Green New Deala good bit and our federal
government is pushing 90% carbonemission reductions by 2030.
And that's an almost I mean,it's an impossible goal.
There's no way that can happen.
But what you're seeing isyou're seeing major utility
companies that are literallytearing down their coal burning
(15:50):
plants and that are buildingsolar fields.
And so when you noticelarge-scale utility companies
doing this, right, they're doingit for a reason.
One, they're doing it becauseit works, but two, the federal
government is pushing them very,very, very hard to get away
from fossil fuels.
And so I think, whether we likeit or not, solar technology I'm
not as big of a proponent forthe whole windmill thing.
(16:13):
I think they're pretty useless.
But I think solar technology isgoing to grow very, very vastly
and, like I mentioned earlier,california is kind of laying the
groundwork for that.
California's got about 40 to45% of residential homes that
have solar.
Really.
So, yeah, and if you take atrip out there, you drive
through a neighborhood and it'severywhere.
(16:34):
There's a lot more Teslas outthere, there's a lot more
charging stations, and so that'skind of the layout that our
federal government is pushingkind of across the country, and
some states are going to befaster to adopt than others, but
, yes, I think that's inevitablythe way our world is absolutely
going.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Hmm, and so the technology is catching up to
that.
You think that the roofintegration with the tiles and
so forth is.
You would project that to be 10to 20 years.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, I think we're still 10, 20 years out.
There's a very popular roofingroofing shingle company.
It's called GAF or Gaff roofing.
They make some of the top ofthe line solar I'm sorry, some
of the top of the line shinglesthat almost every roofing
company that I know uses, andthey've got these solar shingles
that they're putting out andthe same thing there.
They're just a little bitexpensive and they're not quite
(17:22):
as efficient, but like we'reseeing the technology start to
form and so I think that, yeah,I think we're probably 10 or 15
years off.
You know, and down here inFlorida too, we obviously know
that we got hurricanes so yougot to make sure you have a roof
that's gonna last through that.
So I think they've got someleaps and bounds to go before
it's actually durable enough tobe an actual roofing system for
(17:44):
sure.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And so how does it work?
I kind of want to circle backaround.
So if you don't have a batterywhen the power is going to, it's
dark out at night, where isthat power coming from?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Fantastic question, absolutely so.
Utility companies offersomething called net metering,
and so what net metering is isthe.
The utility actually comes andputs a net meter on your house
Before you can turn your systemon, and so example Florida power
and light they have a fullretail rate on the buyback For
(18:18):
the net metering.
So what happens is during theday we get so much sun that the
system is actually going toproduce a lot more than what the
homeowner can use in the home,and that extra power actually
flows through that net meter andthe utility companies actually
credit you for it.
And so if you think about it ona day night kind of schedule,
during the day You're sending alot back to the grid and then at
(18:39):
night, when the sun goes down,you're pulling from those
credits that you, that you savedup during the day, instead of
having to buy that power fromthe utility.
So net metering is very, very,very key to solar and most
utility companies offer it.
Some don't.
Down here in Florida All themajor utilities do, and they
have a very good buyback.
But that's another thing aboutyou know, california too Is
(19:01):
they've had so much solarcapacity that they've had to cut
back the buyback rates becausethey won't now pay as much for
that power because the grid isgetting so much solar pushed
into it, and so you know we'rein a very good era right now for
, for the net metering, fpl hasa 20 year grandfather at the
(19:21):
retail rate.
So if you get in now, even ifthey change their laws in the
future, your grandfathered intothat retail rate, you know, for
20 years.
So that's what allows people togo solar and not have to buy a
battery.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Got it.
I've heard that before.
About now I love I know theterm now the net meter.
Awesome man, where do you?
You know, as we, as we kind ofsegue here Settling down into
the end of the of the pod, wheredo you, where do you want your
company to go?
(19:55):
I'll kind of get personal here,like what are your big visions
for what you want to do?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yeah, I love that man .
So I mean, right now we'rechasing down 100 deals a month.
That's our major kind of goalline that we're chasing down
right now.
We're getting close some monthsout of the year and we fall
back some months out of the year.
Traditionally, solar is veryhot in the summer, but over the
last almost two years we've doneabout 12 million in sales,
(20:22):
which is a good number, but it'snowhere close to where I know
we can be.
So that's my goal is to grow to100 deals a month, and I'd like
to do that with a fairly smallteam of kind of high efficiency
reps.
There's a lot of people in thesolar industry that come in and
you can make good money, sothey'll do one or two deals a
month.
They'll make their money andthey'll chill.
(20:43):
I'm looking to find, you know,eight to 10 guys that are doing
10 deals a month plus.
That's my real goal, and so I'mfocused right now on really
building a couple key leadersthat I have in my business and
taking them from a couple ofdeals a month up to 10, 10 plus,
and so that's kind of where mysites are set right now, and I'm
(21:04):
also not ignoring the roofingside of things.
We have a really big partnershipwith a roofing company and I've
got a couple of my guys thatare also doing some roof sales
as well.
Consequently, you know, beingin solar, we get a lot of people
that contact us that want solarand they don't even know that
they need a new roof first.
So we've had to kind of getinto the roofing sales side of
things as well.
So I'd like to grow that kindof simultaneously.
(21:27):
That's the goal that I'mchasing down right now.
I'd like to say we'll be thereby the end of the year.
We're coming out of the kind ofthe hot season, so I think that
goal is probably gonna be metin 2024.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Man, that's awesome.
Well, I love seeing peoplesucceed.
I love seeing people grow.
I've noticed you on social andyou really.
You know you got a good mindset, man, and you're obviously a
little bit younger than me and Ialways like to see people with
a good head on their shoulders,no matter what the age.
(21:58):
You got a really good head onyour shoulders, especially given
your age, and that's no knockon you at all, obviously with
your age I appreciate that.
Yeah, man.
So if there's anything I canever do for you, let me know.
You know I appreciate youtaking the time to come in here
and educate me and educate ouraudience.
You know they say knowledge ispower and is understanding this
(22:20):
stuff a lot more, understandingthat there's financing out there
, there's leasing out there,there's the rebates that are out
there.
We covered a lot of that.
And the longevity I like toknow you know we're looking at
90% effective after 20 years.
Those are great numbers.
So we know that these you know,I guess.
One last question, and youmentioned hurricanes what is the
(22:46):
, what is the efficacy of thesethings staying on the roof,
given certain wind speeds?
I'd like to be curious aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, absolutely so.
We've got anywhere from ahundred and seventy five mile an
hour up to about 220 mile anhour.
Wind rated panels, you know,and so we go down here to
Florida.
There is building code that youhave to abide by when you're,
you know, when you're doing homeimprovements, and so the wind,
the wind ratings in Florida aresignificantly higher than then
the rest of the country.
So these things are not comingoff your roof.
(23:16):
We, you know, we bolt them tothe trusses of the home, and so
it would literally need to takethe entire roof with it.
Every single panel has betweentwo and four points of contact,
you know, into into a roof truss, so I can confidently say that
they are not going anywhere.
It's always a question thatcomes up, of course, being in
Florida, but yeah, they areExtremely durable panels.
(23:39):
You can run them over with atruck and they still work.
It's, it's actually veryincredible.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, maybe on that maybe it.
I was just saying I wanted tomention one thing too.
You know I I do.
I do appreciate you having meon and I'd love to you know kind
of, at some point in the future, unpack Kind of the real estate
world was solar.
You know, I'll be honest with.
We've had a tough time crackingthe realtor code.
We have a really really goodpartnerships with alarm
companies.
We have really goodpartnerships with the roofing
(24:07):
companies.
We have yet to been able tofind formidable partnerships
with realtors and traditionally,I think, just being transparent
, a lot of realtors are againstit Because it makes the.
It can make the sale of a home alittle bit tougher, depending
on how it was financed and howmuch left is owed in the system.
But you know one way or another.
You know you sell a house andthen your homeowners are going
(24:29):
to buy solar in the future.
So I'd love to you know, atsome point in the future, kind
of unpack what that looks likeof kind of merging the solar and
the realtor, the real estateworld, because I do think that
again it is coming in the in thefuture.
I think what people willprobably be doing when they buy
their homes is is wrapping thesolar, in with their mortgage
and wiping out that electricbill.
You know altogether right fromthe start.
(24:49):
So I do that being a thing inthe future, let's continue the
discussion.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah.
So let's have some coffee onthat and then you know, kind of
getting an idea.
So I'm clear on what exactly itis that the realtors would even
be saying to somebody, right,of course.
So that's a.
That's a conversation anotherday.
I appreciate you bringing it upin here and let's continue the
conversation.
That's what I'm all about here.
Just, let's have goodconversations.
We all need to come together andand say you know, realtors are
(25:17):
against.
I've never been against, I justhave been uneducated, and
that's so much of what you know.
Not to get extreme with it, butwars are fought over just
people not understanding thingsfrom other people's perspectives
, and and even that someone canhelp someone else.
So just more dialogue, moreconversations, more discussions
(25:38):
and more listening To wherepeople are coming from.
And I think you come from agenuine place.
You're not just, you know.
I really like the part about,hey, the environments, a
byproduct of this.
You're here to help peoplesolve their, their, their fixed
bill problem, right, yeah, sothat, and adding, and again back
to your point about inflationand so forth, that's a, that's
an attractive thing to peopleand that, if a byproduct of that
(26:00):
, you make the world a betterplace, great.
So, man, I again.
Mitch.
I appreciate you taking thetime to come on the pod and I
learned a lot here and I knowyou delivered some value to the
audience that's out there andwe'll keep the discussion going.
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