For the past 10 years, Biggart has built Texas-based Freedom Solar from two to more than 500 employees in five states. We had the chance to sit down with CEO Bret Biggart to learn more about Freedom Solar’s humble beginnings to its current position as a leading solar energy company. Here’s our conversation.
TXSES: How did you come to solar? Was it an outgrowth of your business development experience?
BB: My background is in corporate finance. I was looking for something different to do when I moved back to Austin some 10 years ago, back when solar was really expensive. I called a couple of solar companies, neither of which returned my calls. The more research I did, the more I found the industry somewhat fragmented and complex, reasons which made sense to get into the business. I contacted Adrian Buck, a local PV installer and proposed that we start a solar company. We started in Sunset Valley which had a solar rebate. We reached out the old way by placing door hangers on every door in Sunset Valley. It worked. Our first customer was in Sunset Valley. We’ve not slowed down since.
TXSES: Freedom is in five states (TX, CO, FL, NC, VA) with your largest presence in Texas. That’s an impressive rate of growth in such a short time. Why did you target the other states?
BB: The driver for that has been finding nearby states in underserved markets with a profile similar to Texas. Both Virginia and North Carolina are very underserved markets. Our goal is for each of these markets is to generate $5M/month.
TXSES: Did you just say $5M/month?
Credit: Freedom Solar
BB: Ha…yes. We’re growing at a fast pace. Texas is currently the largest footprint for volume.
TXSES: Of the 500 Freedom Solar employees in five states, what skills are you most in need of now?
BB: Our needs range across everything: field technicians, installers, operations, sales.
TXSES: Sounds simultaneously demanding and exciting. Given the triple impacts of Texas’ pending explosive solar growth (according to EIA, Texas will see more solar generation come online this year than any other state), Winter Storm Uri and climate change, what are you doing to keep up with consumer demand? Have you had any supply chain issues?
BB: BB: We use SunPower panels and Tesla Powerwall batteries, and while we’ve seen some small issues around electrical components, supply for both panels and batteries has been solid. Residential solar makes up about 90% of our business, averaging about 8kW with a 60-75% load offset. On the commercial side, the average size of the installation is close to 225kW. Our company-wide installed revenue was $146M last year, and we expect to double that in 2022.
Credit: Freedom Solar
TXSES: Guess it goes without saying that customers are asking about batteries these days.
Definitely. We’ve seen a huge uptick in batteries driven by Uri. Last year, our attachment rate (customers who bought systems and batteries) was 37%, that’s up from 21% the
TXSES: What would you advise customers who are interested in going solar?
BB: There’s definitely been a shift in consumer mindset when it comes to solar and batteries. In the early days selling solar in Austin, there were two types of consumers: the environmentally-conscious and the investment-oriented. That was then. Today, our customers are very much focused on energy independence and climate change; they feel an obligation to make a difference by going solar. We’re finding consumers are very well informed. Also financing solutions have changed. Financing solar over 10, 15, 20 years has definitely made solar more prolific. That’s really opened the market. Last year we had some 100,000 inquiries about solar! These aren’t random leads. We’re very targeted. We gather leads through website traffic, Google ads, our Freedom Solar referral program. This year, we expect to generate nearly a quarter of a million leads.
TXSES: What’s been the biggest challenge?
BB: As CEO, the biggest challenge is creating an environment of shared beliefs of the people who work for us. As you grow a business and it gets bigger, culture becomes a harder thing to hold on to. We’ve had amazing success with our culture; our core values are intentional and we translate those core values and beliefs across the entire corporate family. We want our employees to love Freedom Solar as much as we do. Our employee retention is strong. Those who work here believe what we believe…to make as much of a dent in the world as we can by doing quality work. We put people first, shoot straight with a humble heart. We’re not just filling positions; we’re building careers.
Credit: Freedom Solar
TXSES: Who wouldn’t want to work at Freedom Solar? What’s surprised you the most?
BB: People who are interested in solar now come from so many backgrounds and political beliefs. When we started, it was narrowly focused on early adopters. That’s not the way it is today. Our customers are doctors, firefighters, teachers, plumbers. It’s so affirming that people have a high level of responsibility for this planet. We’re still in the first inning; it’s still early. The penetration rate is still in the single digits but there continue to be lots of opportunities. There’s still a lot of solar yet to be installed.
TXSES: We’ll let you get back to work! Thanks for the conversation, Bret. Keep up the great work. And thanks for being a TXSES Platinum Business Member.
To learn more about Freedom Solar, visit https://freedomsolarpower.com