O&M services: a business opportunity to boost sales

Report published in the 16th edition of the Magazine Canal Solar

The dynamics of sales of photovoltaic systems in the solar energy market have been facing a complicated scenario in the first months of 2023, with companies experiencing difficulties in selling products due to a series of factors.

Among them are issues that range from the uncertainties generated by the market itself with the new regulations for the distributed generation segment to the lack of bank credit for financing technology among consumers.

In the midst of this scenario, professionals interviewed by the Canal Solar highlight that working in O&M (Operation and Maintenance) can be a important revenue alternative for solar energy companies.

O&M operations involve the sale of services, such as panel cleaning, checking connections, inspection of structures and remote monitoring.

Luiz Claudio Rosa, Managing Director of Viridian Ecoenergia, explains that unlike the sale of products and installation services, O&M is a recurring revenue opportunity for integrator companies, as they are necessary throughout the useful life of the systems.

The professional even highlights that today the majority of customers who hire O&M services are not even those who initially purchased the photovoltaic systems offered by the company.

“We receive many demands from customers who purchased systems from other integrator companies that are no longer operating in the market. We call them orphan systems that we chose to adopt and offer their owners the security of keeping their systems clean, generating their full potential and with the electrical part reviewed and certified”, he commented.

Elvis Almeida, business director at Mysol, informs that O&M services currently represent more than 20% of the company's revenue and that the company expects to exceed 50% in the next two years, as more people install photovoltaic systems in their properties, facades or land.

According to him, every integrator that works only with solar energy needs to have a diversified portfolio to reduce its dependence on the sale of new projects, as well as a team prepared to meet customer expectations.

“At Mysol we invested in an entire engineering and field team, because working on diagnostics and corrections of a solar plant requires a lot of knowledge and technical skills than the installation activity”, stated Elvis.

Do you want to know how the procedures are carried out, how frequent they are and how prices are formed? Download for free 16nd edition of the Magazine Canal Solar.