Despite COVID-19 pandemic, NM solar industry grew in 2020

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The COVID-19 pandemic impacted New Mexico’s solar companies in different ways, slowing growth for some while creating new opportunities for others.

Most emerged from the pandemic stronger than before. But now, with a new solar boom underway, companies are facing new challenges that reflect the growing pains of an industry on the rise.

Nearly all local solar firms felt the pinch of COVID when the economy virtually shut down in April and May. But by summer, the industry got an unexpected boost from quarantined homeowners who plowed extra savings and stimulus dollars into home-improvement projects.

“With cooped up families blasting their air conditioners, appliances and electronic devices, many homeowners took a fresh look at going solar to offset escalating electric bills,” said Jim DesJardins, executive director of New Mexico’s Renewable Energy Industry Association.

“When COVID hit, I thought ‘there goes the industry for awhile,’ but the pandemic had almost an adverse effect,” DesJardins said. “The impact was unpredictable, with winners and losers. But in general, I believe the solar industry benefitted in its own way, much like the home-improvement and construction industries did.”

New Mexico Solar Group president and CEO Nick Kadlec said it was “wild year,” but a good one.

“We weren’t sure when the coronavirus hit in March and April how much it would affect us,” Kadlec said. “But most of our business is focused on the residential market, and it ended up being a record year for us.”

Solar Group revenue climbed by 34%, from $19.4 million in 2019 to $26 million in 2020. And the company grew its workforce from about 70 in 2019 to 116 now, Kadlec said.

Positive Energy Solar, a long-time residential installer that launched in 1997, experienced a brief slowdown at the start of the pandemic that lasted a month or two, said company co-founder and President Taiyoko Sadewic.

“We came right back and we’ve been going as strong as ever since then,” Sadewic told the Journal. “We barely missed a beat, and we see a trend of good, strong, steady growth now,” Sadewic said.

Source: Albuquerque Journals