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One thing that's saved me a lot of wasted canvassing time: doing a quick ROI sanity check on a ZIP before committing reps or ad budget to it. The difference between a $0.10/kWh market and a $0.15/kWh market can mean a $500–$700/yr gap in annual savings per home — which translates directly into how easy or hard the door-to-door conversation is going to be.
Here's a real sample I pulled for ZIP 85015 (Phoenix):
J. Anderson — 1,850 sqft home — $147/mo utility bill — $1,500/yr solar savings — 9.6 yr payback — 108% 20-yr ROI
R. Martinez — 2,400 sqft home — $169/mo utility bill — $1,751/yr solar savings — 9.6 yr payback — 108% 20-yr ROI
T. Williams — 2,800 sqft home — $181/mo utility bill — $1,880/yr solar savings — 9.8 yr payback — 105% 20-yr ROI
Phoenix isn't the highest-rate market, but the home sizes push most installs well past $1,500/yr in annual savings — which makes the value conversation workable. Compare that to a low-rate Midwest ZIP where you might see $900–$1,000/yr on a similar house — that's a completely different pitch.
My rough filter before I send anyone: if I can't build a $1,200+/yr savings case from a ZIP's average utility rate and typical home size, I look for better territory first.
If you want to pull a free 3-home sample for your own service area ZIPs — no signup, 5 seconds — I've been using (type any ZIP, see homeowner profiles with solar savings and payback pre-calculated). There's also a $29/mo option for full scored lead lists:
Curious what other installers here are seeing. What's the minimum annual savings case you need before you consider a territory viable?
Please do not include any links in your post
Here's a real sample I pulled for ZIP 85015 (Phoenix):
J. Anderson — 1,850 sqft home — $147/mo utility bill — $1,500/yr solar savings — 9.6 yr payback — 108% 20-yr ROI
R. Martinez — 2,400 sqft home — $169/mo utility bill — $1,751/yr solar savings — 9.6 yr payback — 108% 20-yr ROI
T. Williams — 2,800 sqft home — $181/mo utility bill — $1,880/yr solar savings — 9.8 yr payback — 105% 20-yr ROI
Phoenix isn't the highest-rate market, but the home sizes push most installs well past $1,500/yr in annual savings — which makes the value conversation workable. Compare that to a low-rate Midwest ZIP where you might see $900–$1,000/yr on a similar house — that's a completely different pitch.
My rough filter before I send anyone: if I can't build a $1,200+/yr savings case from a ZIP's average utility rate and typical home size, I look for better territory first.
If you want to pull a free 3-home sample for your own service area ZIPs — no signup, 5 seconds — I've been using (type any ZIP, see homeowner profiles with solar savings and payback pre-calculated). There's also a $29/mo option for full scored lead lists:
Curious what other installers here are seeing. What's the minimum annual savings case you need before you consider a territory viable?
Please do not include any links in your post