Innovation

Energias Renovables offers sustainable electricity savings using renewable energy in the northern region of Coahuila and the metropolitan area of Monterrey. The company is specialized in the installation of solar panels in the residential sector and has expertise in commercial and industrial buildings.

The main innovation that the company provides against its competitors is the fact that Energías Renovables has an intense consumer-centric approach in which they visit and interview their customers to identify the needs and wants of the service and therefore establish the right number of solar panels to be installed and other recommendations to optimize the energy savings of the customer.

After a few interviews and the proper due diligence about the number of panels to be installed, the company provides its quotation which in most cases is 23% below most of its competitors, which means that the customer is paying for exactly what it needs and could save more money in its investment.

Inspiration

At a first glance, the inspiration for Alberto came from a personal desire to install a photovoltaic system, first on a small house outside the suburbs, and later on their own house in order to reduce electricity expenditure and have more control on the consumption of energy. Before the panel installation service begun, customers asked them if they had more options than the use of LED's, polyurethane and other accessories to reduce energy consumption in their bills.

In that moment, Alberto and Raul identified a business opportunity to offer a new service to their clients and went to prepare and learn the know-how in Oaxaca to have the certification as solar panel installers. Also, an important development for the company and the industry as whole, was the Energy Reform Bill approved in 2013 which helped to accelerate the solar panel market in Mexico.

Another important driver to continue their innovation was the fact that by installing solar panels to their clients they were contributing to the environment by reducing the CO2 emissions as well as their electricity bills were now lower.

Overall impact

At first, customers and prospects where skeptical because there weren't many accessories such as photovoltaic cells and appliances available to establish a benchmark to the service offered and another problem was that at the beginning, lead times where longer than usual, but as Energias Renovables got more projects and demonstrated to their clients the immediate and long-term benefits not only on money and electricity saved, but also with their ecological contribution that gave us some leverage to develop the business.

Another important competitive advantage against most of their competitors is that they do not apply the industry practice for quoting and installing solar panels of just reviewing the energy bill of the prospect to determine the number of panels to install, which is an inaccurate practice at best. Meanwhile, Energias Renovables goes further than the average company and determined as a company practice that to offer an optimal service, they required an interview with the prospect to get to know the customer plans regarding their future energy consumption, their energy bill, and a visual inspection to evaluate the exact needs of their customers regarding the installation of panels.

Also, Energias Renovables has an advantage in the acquisition of panel components such as the conductors, diodes, panels, and switchboard which, on average, they acquire those components at a discount an add up to most of the 23% average discount against its competitors who acquire original (and not generic) components. As a result of the approach that Energías Renovables has, the customers where having faster investment recovery time which are around a year or year and a half recovery time compared to the industry which is around 3 to 4 years.

Business benefit

Throughout the years, the company has acquired more consciousness on sustainable energies when quoting new projects and now we have more options to offer to potential and current customers regarding the scope and budget of new projects.

Even though that by the solution the company offers to fit the customer’s needs it could be sacrificing profitability due to potentially installing fewer solar panels compared to its competition, Energías Renovables consider that by offering a personalized solution to its clients, it could develop to longer relationships with its clients as well as a way to market their business organically.

For the next couple of years, the company expects to grow by offering new solutions such as the recycling of solar panels which are possible to recycle up to 88% and offer photovoltaic stained glass to its customers in order to benefit more of the solar energy.

Social and environmental benefit

Even though the company is not as big as some of its competitors, the customers choose Energias Renovables over other companies because of the tailor-made service they offer and because it fits the needs the customer demands with money savings since the start of the installation due to the correct pricing at the moment of the installation and further energy savings once the panels are in operation.

The increasing demand for solar panels in the residential sector has also increased the competition for Energias Renovables, but by leveraging their strengths in their customer-centric approach they will continue to have more satisfied customers.

Another benefit is the reduction of CO2 emissions due to electricity generation with photo-voltaic systems. Just to make an ecological analogy for each panel installed that generates 1,000 kWh equals to plant 2.73 trees. In this case with the 186 panels already installed they have generated until January of 2019 50,000 kWh of green energy in 4 years, avoiding 54 tons of CO2.

Interview

Alberto San Jose Arellano Gonzalez, CEO