Interview with Adam Hook of SolarPod on Solar Installation and Design

Hello everyone. Welcome to today's episode. I'm Ian Peterman, host of Conscious Design Podcast. And with me today is Adam Hook, Director of Sales for SolarPod. They're a pretty amazing company and they are able to place their solar panels on top of instead of bolting them and screwing them into your roof, damaging it. And one of the things I love about what you guys have done is that you're, as we were just talking about before, is you are an engineer and design-first solar company rather than some of the other first things that come before other solar panels. So first, thank you for being on here and welcome to the show.

Yeah, thank you.

Perfect. So tell us a little bit more about being a design and engineering first. What is that? How does that differentiate you from the many solar companies that are sprouting up and servicing people all over the world now?

Yeah. So what happens here is if let's say you want to get solar on your house and there are some different ways that you can do that, but they're honestly primarily the same way. So The way that people tend to install solar is that they put leg bolts on 2x4s that are under the roof, and that's how they're able to secure them. And for mechanical strength, yeah, it works well. There's a small problem with that, and I'll show you here, is that as you're trying to install something on a roof— so this is a, you know, analog here— What happens here is that you're trying to secure it to a stud, and it's kind of hard to see where the studs are here. And so right here, that's the size what the stud is. I don't know if you can see that or not, but it's just a small little line there on the roof. That's what you're trying to hit. In reality, it's this big. And you're trying to take a bolt, a leg bolt, and then secure it. What happens here is you're not able to really see where that is as you're trying to secure secure that to the roof. And a lot of times what happens, you have old houses, it'll actually warp. So they won't be straight down. They will warp as they're going, as they're coming through here. And that's just how the wood is.

And then we talked about the stud finders don't work because you're trying to go through a really thick roof with all the shingles and everything on it. So it's not like you can detect it either really, really easily.

Oh yeah, absolutely. And so even yesterday we were talking to one of our customers. We asked them for a video recommendation. They have a roof that's— I don't know if this is the best way to explain it. It is like a cliché to a haunted house where it has a really steep slope, kind of scooping roof. And if you look at traditional ways of installing that, it just wouldn't work out. So what we're able to do is we're able to put some racking that then lays on top. And the way that that would work, at least in this analog, is you would just be able to place, place that on top. Now you're going to say, well, what about wind? And that's a consideration that we have. A lot of people ask that kind of question. Well, we've rated this for in excess of 130 miles an hour, and we've installed over 1,000 of these. One of the things that's interesting— I'll show you some pictures of our installs. One of the interesting things is that we have some installs in Florida, and Tampa, Florida is one of the examples. They've already sustained some hurricane periods. Now, if you're looking at 130 miles an hour, 129 miles an hour is Category 3. So anything in excess of that is Category 4. Now, again, if you're talking about 130-some miles an hour of wind, well, I'm gonna— I hate to break it to you, but the solar is not the biggest thing you should be worrying about. You should be worrying about stones and bicycles and trees floating in the air. So, we're far over the design wind speed, far over anything that is common.

Yeah.

The other part of it is snow. Some people think, well, are you just going to trap snow underneath? Stop here. There we go. Are you just going to trap snow underneath and then what's going to happen? Well, we have some installations in Truckee, California, which gets 240 inches of snow on average a year.

Wow.

That is 20 feet of snow and those systems are still operational. So again, you know, it's easy for somebody to look at something that is disruptive and say, well, it's not the same way that most people do a thing. But at the same point in time, there's people like myself and the other very capable people in the company here that look at it and say, we want something better. We want something better designed that services more people and does a better way of delivering value to our customers.

When I, I, when we were talking about this before, I, looking at your design, it's, it's able to go on roofs that you normally can't mount a solar panel to in the first place. So you're already like increasing the number of people who even have access to it, but it's also, The installation process is less damaging and quicker. It takes less, less time. You're on the roof for less, less time, and it's easier to swap out if something gets damaged, which, you know, if you're surviving 130-mile-an-hour winds, there might be some damage to the panel itself at that point. So talk about the— can you share a little bit about how, like, the serviceability and install Like the savings there? Because obviously there's, you know, it's just quicker. There's a little bit of less time, but there's more. I think there's a little bit more to why this installation process is better.

Oh yeah, absolutely. So I'll just give you an example. And this is a real example. We have a customer that has this kind of siding and they gave us a sample because literally no one was able to install solar on their roof. And they said, are you able to install it on this stuff? This stuff right here, once it gets wet, it's very slippery. And so this one roof had a very steep slope. For anyone to install it is sort of a risky situation because you're now on top. What we're able to do is we're able to install that safely and we're able to install that quickly. This same customer was surprised, let's put it that way, on how they knew about us. They were referred by one of our direct competitors. who said we're not able to do this well. So you should be looking at SolarPod for the solution.

Oh.

And so when you're talking about this metal siding here, when you're putting these lag bolts in— and I'll show you what that is— when you're putting these lag bolts in, what you're going to do is you're going to warp that material quite a bit and it's not going to rest the same way. And if you have to put numerous holes in as you're trying to find this stud, It's just going to damage that. And in the end, some people say, well, some installers, they like to say, well, you know, we put silicone and we put different fillings in where the holes are. And, you know, that's fine. But all of the caulking that goes in, that's another petroleum product. So again, we're more sustainable in the fact that we don't have to use that. We're also more sustainable in the fact that those mounting brackets and fasteners, a lot of them are single use. So if they are trying to drill into things and let's say they make a mistake, that's just another piece of waste, another waste stream. In addition to that is, you know, what happens here is that if there was any sort of damage, now you're having to replace the sections of the roof. Now, what's interesting is because our product lays on top of it, we're able to disassemble it, move it around, replace sections of the roof instead of having to replace the whole thing or taking out a bunch of brackets that are only single use. Right.

I know you mentioned and you showed that metal roof piece. I imagine that most like tile roofs and there's a bunch of other kind of roofing that people use. It's not as common necessarily in most of the US, but Because you're laying on top of it, the actual roofing type isn't really a concern. Am I getting that correct?

Yeah, yeah, that's interesting that you say that. So there was an article that was published recently and we're gonna, we're gonna respond to it because it's, it's just, it's basically selling our product for us.

So nice, thank you, Hunter.

Yeah, yeah, so it's a, it's an article by ASCS, which is American Solar Energy Society or something. I forgot what the acronym is, but ASES has an article that said what roofing type is good for solar. And because they like to sell solar, that's part of what their organization is. They said, yeah, yeah, of course you can install solar on any roof. It doesn't matter what it is, there's a solution for it. And yes, there is. But quite frankly, we're the only one That is able to use the same solution for all roof types. So, you know, I dare say that there's not a roof type that we've not been able to install, and maybe we'll find that at some point. But the interesting thing is that, again, there's a lot of brainpower in our company. We have the owner of the company is a scientist. He has a PhD, material scientist, and he's a professional engineer. So again, we have a lot of capability here too in order to figure out problems and figure out the best way to solve those problems.

Yeah, and you mentioned, kind of segue as well, in everything that you're doing, so you're able to improve quite a few different areas from install to maintenance level. You're also kind of solar panel agnostic in that you can put Any solar panel you can mount any manufacturer of a solar panel on. So you can, you can choose whatever's gonna be best for a customer there. And then you, we talked a little bit about this before, before starting recording is the SolarPod Champion. Because people, you've, you've come up with that term because people are starting to expect more. And that's something kind of across the board. Every market is seeing it. Greenwashing doesn't count anymore. People are seeing through it.

Mm-hmm.

So there's this extra level of expectation. And you're seeing that and you're reacting to that. So tell us a little bit more about, you know, what that is and how you guys are adapting to that additional level of consumer awareness and desire for better things than just, it's green.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So again, just like right across the marketplace, what you're going to find is you're going to find that customers They don't want just a commoditized service. They don't want random guy solar running out of their garage to install. They want a company that they can trust. And that's definitely something that we're noticing. We've been in business for over 12 years, thousands of installations. So again, we're not just a run-of-the-mill company that does that. At the same point in time, we're trying to improve on the product. CQI is something that I think customers are becoming a lot more savvy about. CQI stands for continuous quality improvement. Again, you're going to find companies that maybe they rebrand something and they stick some name on top of something. But again, we stand by our product, and that's something, again, a high level of, high level of customer centricity and customer value. At the same point in time, we're looking for a challenge, quite frankly. So we're not just dealing with our— the product is Z-Rack, which is just on sloped roofs, residential. But we've recently, over the last year or two, came out with something called Z-Light. And that's a commercial value add. And what that does is it allows us to install large-scale flat roof installations, and those installations require far less concrete. And I believe it's something like— and I'll have to check and see it. It really depends on the application and the wind requirement, but it cuts down at least 50%.

Okay.

of the concrete that's needed in order to ballast those materials. The concrete is a CO2 emitter. The other thing that we're doing is the racking is readily recyclable. So we're using steel racking instead of aluminum. Steel has a lower melting temperature. So again, it's a lot easier to recycle. Again, we're, we're using materials that can be reused and not single-use. So Again, we're a green company, but it's not just a greenwashing company, as you were saying. We're actually delivering value and we're trying to— again, if there's a better way to do things, we're going to find that out. Again, if it's— you're adding solar on your roof, but then let's say you're having to replace your roof to deal with the solar. Well, I mean, is that the best way to go? Or if you're wanting to get solar on and now you're having to wait because you're waiting to do other repairs on your house or renovations, well, again, what we can do is we can assemble it and we can piecemeal it apart and we can install it right back how it was. So again, you're not having to have any extra waste stream there. Right.

Well, you mentioned concrete. We think about, you know, industrial and commercial using huge amounts of concrete, but also I think we talked about ballasts, concrete ballasts, and how minimizing that, there's just reducing the amount of concrete and other CO2-emitting processes and materials. So like your material choice, not having to use caulk, not having to use petroleum-based products as much, recyclable products. You know, is there— as far as you're selecting materials, are you developing custom materials? Are you kind of with your— with that material science background that your founder has, are you trying to develop new materials that are a little bit more customized or just looking for the easiest, most recyclable existing materials to just put into the product?

Yeah, I mean, I'd like to be able to tell you that, uh, you know, there's some, there's some opportunity in the future of things that we're developing, um, and, and be able to release a really cool, innovative, uh, very complex alien technology right now. But in the end, there's not a whole lot that I can tell you right now just because not everything is public-facing. But at the same point in time, Yeah, I mean, at this stage in our company, we're looking at really using what's existing that already has a very established supply chain. Because again, what we're trying to do is we're trying to install things quickly and of high value and accessible. And we have some installer networks outside of our state. We're based in Minnesota, but we have other installers that are coming Coming and approaching us and saying, we see the value and there's a lot of value in your product.

Mm-hmm.

Again, when you're talking about the ballast material, which was earlier in the question, we're talking about pallets full of concrete that we can reduce and we can just not have in that installation. There is other installations that we're doing that we're coming in and, and I hate to say this, but an installer doesn't install things very well, whether it's they don't have enough securing on a slope ballast or whether it has to do with having water damage and now they're replacing sections of roof, what we're able to do is we're able to get a solution. And sometimes we're saving our competitors in this respect.

Which is always good, saving things. Well, this is— I love the technology. I think it's great that you're here. Is there any expansion or future direction for the company and your products that you can— and totally, I work in product development, so no secrets, but is there anything you can share that you guys are, like, even just a long-term vision of where you want the product to eventually lead to and Go.

Yeah, so we have the do-it-yourself product, which is something that we have brought out, and you can buy it at Lowe's and you can buy it at Menards. Some of these stores are not, you know, don't go everywhere, but Menards, for instance, is mostly Midwest. But we're always looking at finding more partners so that people can have do-it-yourself solar and they can have an off-grid solution. Now these solutions, they're 1 to 4 kilowatt systems. They're not the largest systems, mind you, but again, if you have an ice house, which is more of a Minnesota thing, or if you have a cabin or a fishing house, a hunting house, that kind of thing, and what are the alternatives? Well, you know, you have a generator running or you have— having to call up the electric company to draw Electricity to you, and sometimes they might charge you for a per-foot sort of installation. Well, you know, you can do the right thing and you can have an off-grid system. Again, those systems, we don't promote them as heavily as maybe we could, but at the same point in time, they're very easy to install and they're very popular. Again, we'd like to sell more of those out of the Minnesota Are you finding—

I'm just kind of curious about this because, you know, solar is good and there's some people that are like, ah, it's just too expensive to install. Are you seeing like your DIY— because I haven't seen too many DIY kits for installing solar on your roof other than like, you know, really small ones. Are you seeing— is there a trend? Like, are people really receiving it well? Are you— Kind of, are you selling faster than you expected? Like, how's that comparing to like your real install, full install?

Yeah, yeah, that's an interesting question. I might get in trouble with the boss for advocating this just because it was a big headache for him with customs, but we do have an install, a do-it-yourself rough install that was purchased and it's installed in Japan and it's functioning and it's— people love it. We, you know, love to push solar, but I wish the customs situation was a little bit easier for us. We also have interests in Europe. There is a Polish company or advocate for— representative of a company that sent out an email, is again hugely interested, but— Again, if we're not having to, uh, we're just sending a couple pieces, it just is so prohibitive. It takes so much time. International law is just difficult. So again, not to get, not to get too far on that channel, but the point here is, um, if you're talking do-it-yourself, yeah, we do see a lot of interest in that on the small side of things. People are, are wanting to go and downsize and have a More of a small home, I believe that's what they're called, little home.

Oh yeah, tiny home.

Tiny home, there you go.

Oh, there's other ones. There's ones made of container homes, things like that.

So if they're looking at having that and they're looking at having that, let's say, a little bit further away from urban area, yeah, these systems are very well sized. And again, If you're not really sure what your needs are, we're more than willing to help you out.

Amazing. Perfect. Well, this has been great having you on and be able to talk and have you share about this. I love the option, the fact that there's an option for people with roofs that aren't your standard, just normal tar roofs. You know, tile and metal roofs that you can't really do properly. So this is great that you guys have a solution for that. It really opens up the market and the ability for more people to have solar, which we need more and more of, of being able to have more sustainable power options. And you've, you've done it in a way that's even more sustainable, which is always impressive when you can jump over technology and then make it more accessible. So yeah, I really, really appreciate you being on here. And for everyone who's listening, where can people find you? What's the best way to get ahold of you guys?

Yeah, absolutely. So our website is mysolarpod.com. And for those of us that like to pause the video and use a QR code, here's a QR code. As you can go and check out with your phone. But just 2 other bits I just want to mention here is that the do-it-yourself kits are actually really popular for schools to get students excited about solar.

Oh, that's cool.

So we've noticed that, you know, it's as a training kit that that becomes very popular. And so we're more than willing to help out schools. We love education here. Again, a lot of brainpower, a lot of engineering backgrounds that we have. So we love that partnership. The other thing is that sometimes people approach solar and they say, well, oh, this is going to be $5,000 or $50,000 or somewhere in between that to get solar on their roof. And that seems expensive. And I get it. But at the same point in time, as we like to reiterate, over and over again is that if you're already gonna spend a certain amount on electricity for 6 years or 10 years or 12 years, again, depending upon your situation, how big of an installation you're gonna do, you're already gonna spend that money over that period in time. Why not have something that's gonna be a performing asset? So again, if you're living there for 20 years and it pays for itself in 10 years, you have 10 years where it's adding value and And all the components are guaranteed for 25 years except for the inverter. But the inverter is an easy— it's an easy serviceability situation there. If it's a string inverter, it's just swapping out a panel, electric panel. One other thing I just wanted to mention as well is I came from process engineering background, so I dealt with critical electronics manufacturing. We're talking implantable medical devices. We're talking about stuff that goes to aerospace. So believe me, I'm not going to risk a professional career change for something that I don't believe in wholeheartedly. So again, if I help support stuff that gets shot up to Mars, you can guarantee, or you can be assured, let's put it that way, that this is going to perform very well.

Indeed.

And so last thing I just want to mention, and I'm drawing it a little long for you, but again, I want to make these points. The owner of the company is a professional engineer. So again, we have a very high level of professional ethics. If we didn't, you wouldn't have professional engineer credentials. That's a serious A serious thing. So again, we're, um, we try to have high standards, we try to support our community, we try to make the society better and the world better, and we just love to, we love to help out our customers everywhere we can.

Amazing. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time, Adam.

I appreciate your time. Thank you.