Uncovering Opportunities Within Solar Through User Research

On our journey to refining Product-Market Fit, we found that the residential solar market is plagued by distrust, confusion, and fragmented information (i.e. fertile product ground). To understand the landscape, I conducted in-depth research with recent solar buyers. We used the insights to prioritize solutions, including the creation of Sunny, an AI-powered solar advisor.

Methodology

I conducted user interviews with 10 single family homeowners across the United States who had signed a solar contract within the last 3 months. The interview consisted of two parts:

Contextual Inquiry

Asking homeowners about their solar journey and motivations, challenges, needs and decisions in going solar.

See interview guide

Concept Testing

I introduced four tools, including an AI advisor and contract analyzer, and gathered feedback on their clarity, usefulness, and impact.

See concept slides

Insights

With insights from this research, we were able the solar journey and the struggles within it. At a high level, the issues can be grouped and summarized as:

Trust Issues

A scammy industry run by biased sales people leaves customers wanting trustworthy, third-party sources of info.

Unknown Unknowns

The solar industry feels foreign to most, leaving them unsure what questions to ask when researching.

Wild West of Irrelevant Info

Solar costs vary widely by state and individual usage, making relevant information hard to find.

Summary reel I created to summarize research for text-averse leadership and teammates to understand our users and subsequent product focus:

Impact

This research delivered significant outcomes, including a deep understanding of the solar journey, a clarified PMF and prioritized product ideas, and the creation of Sunny, an AI-powered advisor.

Thanks to this research, we were able to:

Map the solar adoption journey and pain points from initial interest to installation

See journey map doc

Design Sunny, an AI solution targeting research-validated user pain points

See case study

Refine our Product-Market Fit statement

For the first time, I was able to articulate a concise, actionable, unique vision backed by user research:

WattBuy is a one-stop shop for solar, empowering (single family) homeowners with trustworthy, personalized, actionable information and tools to enable their switch to solar energy.

In a world of disorganized, irrelevant information and scammy sources, WattBuy is the first platform to give homeowners everything they need to make the best decision for them, in one place.