EnergySage, after a lot of anticipation, has officially launched its solar power online comparison shopping site (it actually allows for comparison shopping of some other energy technologies, too).
The EnergySage Solar Marketplace should make shopping for solar faster, easier, and more convenient than ever.
“Consumers solicit and receive multiple quotes from a pre-screened network of high-quality solar installation providers,” a press release from EnergySage stated. “The quotes, presented in a clear, apples-to-apples format, highlight key metrics and are supported by easy-to-use decision-making tools. The site also includes robust educational content; real-life case studies with pictures and financial details; and installer and product profiles with ratings and reviews. By reducing the soft costs associated with solar sales and marketing efforts, it delivers financial benefits to both consumers and solar installers and financiers, while expanding the market through increased demand for these systems.”
While the site is just for the Northeastern US initially, the company says that it “will roll out rapidly to additional markets.”
There have been similar sites out there for quite awhile, actually, such as One Block Off The Grid (which we promote here on our website — check out or even fill out the form under this post), but the presumption is that EnergySage has something special to offer or will scale quicker and connect to more people (or connect more people to solar). But, so far, it looks like essentially the same service to me.
Notably, EnergySage won a $500,000 SunShot Initiative grant from the US Department of Energy in 2012. I’m sure that’s going a long way to make the user experience as useful and pleasant as possible. Clean Power Finance also received $500,000 under this initiative to develop a similar solar comparison shopping experience for operation and maintenance contracts. We’ll see what comes of that.
To check out the new comparison shopping site, head on over to EnergySage.com.
