Let’s Cut the Costs. Let’s Own Our Future.

Let’s talk numbers. In Australia, the average 7kW solar system with a 7kWh battery costs just $14,000 AUD. That’s $2 per watt. You can sell it on Tuesday, install it on Wednesday.  No red tape, no permitting delays. Over 5,000 small local solar businesses are thriving, thanks to low overhead and strong community ties.

The result? Australians are slashing more than 50% off their household energy bills. In just ten years, solar adoption has skyrocketed, from 7% to over 30% nationally, and even over 50% in some areas.

Now, let’s talk about the U.S.

That same system in the U.S. averages $36,000 USD, that’s 2.5 times more expensive. Permitting alone can take 2 to 6 months, and bloated processes double your team and operational costs.

To make matters worse, net metering is vanishing. And now, with Trump’s latest move to gut the solar tax credit (while fossil fuel subsidies stay untouched, thanks to $450m in donations from big oil) the economics are stacked against us. Solar + storage ends up being 40% more expensive than grid power.

But here’s the thing: we don’t need to wait for policy to catch up.

We already have the roadmap. We can cut U.S. costs in half from over $5 per W to $2.50 per W, with four steps:

Step 1: Automate Permitting

Permitting in my experience is the biggest structural problem in the US market.  Why can’t we just sell and go install it, like everywhere else - with none of the opex and overhead?!  

That’s why I co-founded SolarAPP+. It’s already approved by the codes and standards agencies across the U.S. and aiming to cover 40% of the market this year.  With it, you can sell and install next-day — no red tape, no extra opex post sale.

Step 2: Cut Hardware Costs

Start with a smaller battery, keep it affordable now, scale later. Use efficient tools like OpenSolar (which are free to solar installers) to optimize every install and reduce rework and save another 5–10% on install costs.  And remember we have the mega-trend of hardware cost reduction on our side, as the global solar and storage industry continues to scale (it pays to have a global community of solar professionals!!)

Step 3: Lower Customer Acquisition Costs

With auto-permitting and sale to install in a few days vs months, you get almost no cancellations, which directly reduces your CAC.    And lower prices boost sales conversions which reduces the commission payments and leverages the same marketing dollars for more sales - all lowering CAC. 

And local businesses with real community roots are driving high-conversion, low-cost sales every day, without the need for expensive, high-commission sales teams, operating with inefficient door-to-door processes.  Think and act local - leveraging word of mouth and referrals to drive most of your sales.

Use automated designs and lead management and sales proposal generation for low cost to serve and fast turn around to increase sales conversions and lower CAC.  OpenSolar provides these tools that replace work with software to lower your sales and marketing costs, allowing you to scale while still offering customers low affordable prices.

Step 4: Slash Overhead

Automate payments and invoicing, hardware ordering, and project management with OpenSolar. Eliminate redundant software eating into your profits. 

As the tax credit phases out, financing will become simpler with lower expenses to be covered by the finance providers, and a lower cost of capital.  Simplicity lowers cost. 

The Net Result:

With this plan, local U.S. solar businesses can sell at $2.50 per watt including a 4.5kWh battery and still save homeowners over 30% on their energy bills, even without the tax credit or net metering.

And if tariffs are lifted in 2029?  We’re talking $1.67 per watt. That’s a 75% energy cost saving for homeowners!

It will spark a solar gold rush with penetration following the same trend of Australia rising to 33% in just 10 years.  That will be 35 million homes and over $300 billion in sales by these lean, efficient solar businesses over the coming decade.

That’s the future we need to create.

We Don’t Need Permission. Just Action.

The tools are here. The path is clear. We don’t need subsidies or bailouts…just smart execution.

Let’s cut the costs.

Let’s own our future, together.