Vivint Solar expands with Marlborough office
Courtesy of Vivint Solar
Vivint Solar, a Utah-based solar energy company, is expanding to Marlborough, Taunton and Holyoke. The company expects to add 80 new jobs in Marlborough this year.
The MetroWest solar industry has a new competitor in Vivint Solar, a Utah-based company that already has the lion’s share of the residential solar market in Massachusetts.
A subsidiary of Vivint Inc., Vivint Solar opened its new office at 53 Brigham St. in Marlborough earlier this month.
Vivint to add 80 employees in Marlborough
With plans to grow Marlborough operations from 20 to 100 employees in the next six to eight months, Vivint executives are optimistic about building new business using their power-purchase agreement model that charges the customer for solar power but not for the cost of installing the solar PV system.
Vivint Solar came to the Bay State in May 2012, when it opened its office in Woburn, and now leads the state in residential solar installations, according to Boston-based Greentech Media Research. Between the end of 2012 and the third quarter of 2013,Vivint installed 4,473 kilowatts (kW) of solar power here, followed by California-based SolarCity with 3,508 kW, and Maryland-based Astrum Solar, with 1,905 kW.
Nationwide, Vivint has an 8.9-percent market share, making it the second-largest provider behind SolarCity.
“We feel like the (power purchase agreement) is the best way to do it, because it makes it so easy for the consumer,” said Chance Allred, senior vice president of sales at Vivint Solar.
According to Allred, Vivint’s rooftop solar PV installations, which it owns and operates, generate electricity that’s sold back to the consumer at 10.5 cents per kWh, while utility company prices start in the area of 17 cents per kWh.
In Marlborough, the company is hiring a variety of staff to manage those systems, from the design phase to permitting and installation and maintenance. So far, Vivint has hired 20 sales employees and will continue to hire sales staff, electricians, technicians, installers, surveyors, operations managers and administrative staff in the coming months, according to Kady Cooper, director of public relations at Vivint Solar.
In addition to its new Marlborough office, Vivint has added locations in Taunton and Holyoke to support its Bay State expansion. All told, 240 jobs will be created at the three offices, according to the company.
Solar industry ahead of Gov. Patrick's goal
With Massachusetts poised for rapid growth in solar energy adoption, it’s no wonder Vivint is investing here. Cooper said the state has always been on the forefront of the solar energy industry, initiating its first solar incentive program in 2001. The program provides rebates to solar energy users by including a surcharge on all utility bills to support the program.
The program was beefed up in 2007 when Gov. Deval Patrick announced a goal of installing 250 megawatts (MW) of solar power by 2017, to be supported by the Commonwealth Solar Rebate Program.
Since then, the number of solar installers in Massachusetts increased from 50 to 270, according to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The state has already exceeded Patrick’s goal, with 464 MW of solar energy installed as of 2013, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a national trade group.
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