Getting a single PPA deal moving is simple – a name, a site, and interval data is all you need. Building a pipeline that keeps producing deals month after month is a different question, and it determines how much a PPA offering adds to your business over time. Here’s both what’s needed to move a deal forward today, and how to set up a habit that keeps new ones coming.
For a full overview of how the consultant partnership model works and what makes solar a strong addition to an energy proposition, see How Energy Brokers Add a Solar PPA to Their Proposition.
What we need to progress a single deal
There are three things get an opportunity started, and none of them require much from you.
The client’s latest electricity bill and 12 months of half-hourly consumption data are the inputs that matter most. From those two, UrbanVolt can produce a desktop proposal with a real PPA rate and savings figure attached. Not an estimate built on assumptions, but a number based on how the site actually consumes electricity. If the client hasn’t got the half-hourly data to hand, it’s worth getting that request in with their supplier as early as possible, since it’s usually the one thing that takes longer than expected to arrive.
Beyond that, a basic sense of the roof really helps, and is worth being part of your qualification process — size, roof type, and whether the client owns or leases. If you’re not sure, that’s fine. The partner portal will give you an indicative estimate off rough figures alone, and UrbanVolt can advise if a roof is suitable or not.
Building a repeatable PPA pipeline
A single deal is worth having. A pipeline is worth a lot more, because it turns solar into a recurring part of how you do business rather than something you occasionally remember to mention.
The starting point is your existing portfolio. A meaningful share of most energy consultants’ commercial clients will fit the profile UrbanVolt looks for – daytime electricity consumption above 250,000 kWh, a decent roof, and ownership or a long lease. For a consultant with a book weighted toward manufacturing, food and beverage, logistics, or retail, it’s often a larger proportion of the portfolio.
The practical way to build a pipeline is to treat qualification as a five-minute step you run on every client conversation, rather than a separate project you get around to eventually. When you’re renewing a supply contract or reviewing a client’s energy spend, that’s the natural moment to check whether solar fits too. You’re already looking at their consumption data, so the extra step is minimal.
Making it a habit rather than a one-off effort
The consultants who get the most out of this tend to build it into a routine rather than treating each referral as a standalone task. A few things make that easier:
Run every renewal conversation through the qualification check as a matter of course, so it becomes automatic rather than something you have to remember.
Use the partner portal live, in front of the client. It turns solar from a pitch into a part of the conversation you’re already having. And, it’s available on mobile and tablet.
Keep a simple list of clients who qualify but aren’t ready yet. Not every client wants to move immediately, and a client who says no today is often a client who says yes at their next renewal, particularly once grid prices have moved again in the meantime.
What this builds toward
None of this requires a big shift in how you work. It’s the same client relationships, the same renewal conversations, with one additional question folded in. Over a year, that one additional question – asked consistently – is what turns a single solar deal into a pipeline that keeps paying out well after the initial introduction.
Interested in partnering with UrbanVolt? Take a look at our partner page, or contact us to talk through the process.