eBay of Solar Coming September 9?

September 6th, 2013 by Zachary Shahan

I’ve already written about a couple of companies that are essentially aimed at being the Expedia or Orbitz of solar power (1BOG and EnergySage). But a new one is coming on to the scene that is modeled after another successful internet company, eBay. The company is SolarExchange.com.

SolarExchange.com (Solar Exchange) is officially launching on September 9. Solar Exchange’s founding members include a number of big-name solar players, such as Hanwha SolarOne, REC Solar, Conergy, ReneSolar, and many others.

“Founded in 2012, SolarExchange.com is the leading global solar marketplace facilitating B2B online auctions for direct materials and finished goods. SolarExchange.com is building a global community that promotes an organized way of doing business, where companies can collaborate with buyers and sellers, large and small, from anywhere in the world,” the About Us section of the website states.

“SolarExchange.com brings together a service portfolio that spans the solar supply chain, delivering procurement management, risk management, online auctions, price indexes, human resource sourcing and a knowledge base serving the solar industry.”

The company is based in Menlo Park, CA (one of my favorite cities in the world), but it also has offices in other parts of the US, China, India, and Germany.

Here’s a list of some purported benefits of Solar Exchange:

Connect with the global solar trading community
Reduce costs by automating solar procurement and sale activities
React rapidly to changing market conditions for greater competitive advantage
Extend your market reach through access to new trading partners and suppliers
Accelerate sales cycles and minimize inventory risk
Lower operating costs and improve margins
Promote your brand to increase awareness and drive commerce activities
Source global talent

I’m eager to see how things look after the official launch on September 9.

Here’s a screenshot from the How It Works page:

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: online solar auction, solar auction, Solar Exchange

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

disqus_l4zSoQqrpI

There are no jobs on the site. Where do I find jobs for installer apprenticeship?
Marion Meads

I like this, and I hope the prices will serve as third party market average that the DOE and the government uses when calculating subsidies to solar installers. Right now, solar installers can be in cahoots with a solar panel supplier that the board and executive members also own, and is so doing, they jack up the prices of the solar panels for use by their solar installers, so that 30% of the jacked up price already more than pay for the installation. IOW, they can theoretically game the government and fleece out the taxpayers. By having a neutral third party solar exchanges that establishes the average price, it should help prevent the practice of gaming the solar subsidies practiced by installers.

Not only the supplies, they should also market installation services in addition.