I left my phone in the living room last night, and awoke in panic when I saw my charging cord dangling on my nightstand. Being without my phone makes me feel naked. Alone. Rendered useless.
Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but I do have a bit of an iPhone addiction.
It got me thinking… Could I do my job without my phone? Could my employees do theirs? What would solar energy sales and contracting look like without our phones?
The phone has long become “not a phone” at this point. Calling people still happens, of course. Of the time I spend “on my phone,” I would guess about 5% is actually spent communicating verbally with someone. Just off the top of my head, I can say that solar contractors use their phones for:
- Taking presales and post installation photographs
- Measuring roof angles
- Recording roof measurements
- Reviewing equipment data sheets
- Studying equipment manuals and troubleshooting guides
- Going over commissioning and post installation checklists
- Checking the weather
- Accessing site service records
- Preparing quotations
- Accessing property ownership data
- Checking status of permits
- Researching building code issues
- Calculating wire and conduit sizes
- Performing site shade analyses
- Estimating system performance using computer models
- Setting up solar energy monitoring systems
- Monitoring system performance
- Mapping prospective solar installation locations
- Administering company website and social media presence
- Writing this blog (I’m doing it now!)
… and probably 100 other things that I’m not thinking about right now.
Our phones have become indispensable, and that is no different for the solar contractor. Hopefully I will remember to plug in my phone tonight. Fortunately, I do not rely on my phone as an alarm clock.
Signing off – battery at 7%.