Omnidian, a nationwide provider of comprehensive protection plans for investments in residential solar systems, is launching a third-party performance guarantee for the lifetime of a PV system. The performance guarantee is available for owners of individual home solar systems through Omnidian channel partners, such as lenders and installers. It is also available for financial institutions, such as funds and third-party owners, that manage large portfolios of residential solar assets.
“Residential PV systems are often backed by narrowly tailored warranties that cover defective equipment,” said Mark Liffmann, Omnidian’s CEO and founder. “But at the end of the day, owners of residential solar – whether it is an asset manager overseeing thousands of systems or an individual homeowner trying to save on electric bills – want the assurance that their investment will perform as promised. By shielding the owners of residential solar systems from the performance risk, Omnidian is providing the solution that gives owners true peace of mind.”
The firm’s service offering addresses one of the major pain points in the growth of residential solar. The residential solar market in the U.S. has grown substantially over the last decade. But competition and high customer acquisition costs have resulted in consolidation and exits by many large installation firms. This has often left distressed residential solar assets without active management for monitoring system health and ensuring optimal performance. Further, home owners have not broadly had the option for performance guarantees when they purchase a system with loan proceeds or cash.
“Transferring performance risk will allow solar businesses to free up vital capital for growing their business and give customers the assurance that their investment will perform as promised without having to personally monitor their solar system,” Liffmann added.
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How does it work?
Omnidian’s performance guarantee includes 24/7 continuous monitoring, proactive service alerts and 100-percent covered hardware and software through a nationwide network of field service professionals, as well as 100-percent guarantee of promised energy or plan owners will be reimbursed for energy loss.
Omnidian’s proprietary technology integrates with all major third-party monitoring platforms and quickly identifies underperforming assets requiring field service dispatch. The firm partners with a nationwide network of pre-certified field technicians. Omnidian’s 100-percent performance guarantee transfers solar energy production risk away from the asset owner. This risk transfer secures the solar energy investment, enhancing asset security and liberating capital.
Venture capital firms also see the market opportunity and value in the Omnidian team’s industry experience and unique service offering. The company recently closed an oversubscribed $5.1 million series seed round led by Congruent Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that backs companies in the sustainability ecosystem. Other participants include City Light Capital, Blue Bear Capital, Energy Foundry, Ekistic Ventures, and Avista Development, a wholly-owned, non-regulated subsidiary of Avista Corp.
“Performance guarantees for residential solar energy present a major opportunity to create value for asset owners and help drive the next wave of growth in the residential solar market,” said Abe Yokell, co-founder and managing partner of Congruent Ventures. “We see Omnidian as best positioned to seize this opportunity due to the extensive industry experience of the executive team as well as the state-of-the-art technology they’ve developed in a short period of time.”
The team at Omnidian has managed nearly half of the residential solar systems installed in the U.S. This industry background has allowed rapid expansion of their business objective to protect and accelerate capital investments in the residential solar sector. Today, Omnidian supports Fortune 1000 clients and other third-party owners of leased solar portfolios. The firm is currently managing tens of thousands of systems, having doubled its assets under management in September alone.
— Solar Builder magazine
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