We were at a training for advanced driving techniques. The instructor suddenly turned back to the class and asked, “What is the most important component of the car?”
Engine? Drivetrain? Chassis? Gearbox?
We all failed. He replied, “Wheels.”
It was wheels because wheels were the only component that touches the ground, keeps you grounded and stable. If wheels fail, nothing else matters.
The ecosystem of solar software is also being divided into two seemingly similar but in fact vastly different areas: roofs and ground.
I believe that the companies, if ever, try to be the best at both; they will fail inevitably.
Those two systems have different dynamics, workforce requirements, and client bases. While one prioritizes deep engineering and values the time requirement that comes with it, the other one values simplicity, visualization, and rapid action.
Those dynamics cannot co-exist in the same tooling.
We can actually see this dynamic in web-based and CAD-based solar design software. They borrow some features of each other, but the people using the tool and the final beneficiary are widely different.
The urge to develop for the other platform is constantly pressured by the investors and sales teams. But this forced urge also reminds me of the day Steve Jobs came back to Apple as interim CEO and killed most products.
Being in every market, every product line, dilutes the value a company offers. And when you divert the engineering resources, your main product stalls.
And when all the hype, bells, and whistles are gone, people will be wondering what was actually wrong. Venture capitals, trying to capitalize on the whole solar market by addressing the whole possible client base will lead to tools that are not well designed. Most VCs don’t care about the market itself. They care about valuation of the moment.
I was inspired by one of the web-based solar design platforms when I decided to create PVX.AI, but the ground truth was, we were big power plant guys, not roof. I was at the crossroads of choosing web or CAD for our development. What made our engineering company, Solarian, a great player in the market was not visualization but our great engineering at its core. At that moment, I knew that a CAD-based engineering software would be the way to go.
When I look at the ecosystem, I notice the apps currently on the market carry the experience and view of their founders. One, coming from a software development company, has a stable software core but not the soul of solar engineering. Another has an engineering design office vibe that does very detailed engineering to a level that everything is massively complex. The software with a founder of financial background focuses on financial aspects, while the other one focuses solely on how to implement trackers since they are also a tracker company.
Our experience was hands-on in the field. We were the guys who went to the field, checked how things are done and suggested ways to fix it. From that pain point, we rolled back. Our clients are smart. We never underestimated their ability to instantly recognize the value proposed, if proposed.
Thus, we created PVX in a way to fix the issues; hence, we want to be the wheels that touch the ground.
There will always be distractions, yield analysis being one, but a lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them. I expect in 5 years’ time, the software domain for solar will effectively be divided into two: web for roofs and CAD for ground.
The one that sticks to first principles across time scales and ignores the noise will win.