The bankruptcy of Titan Solar, one of the largest privately held solar installers in the U.S.—and possibly the world—has sent shockwaves through the industry. This seismic event underscores major challenges and opportunities in solar, and its reverberations will be felt for years to come. Here are our five takeaways on Big Box Solar's collapse:

1. Big Box Solar Is Doomed

Have you ever bought HVAC, electrical, or plumbing services from a national company with the profile of Walmart? Probably not—and for good reason.

Generally, the best service in home trades is delivered by local contractors who know their communities, local codes and standards, the types of buildings, architecture, infrastructure, and their associated quirks.

So why would solar be any different? Well, it’s not.

While some poorly managed small installers have gone out of business, it’s the local companies—homegrown, having expanded incrementally and not tried to take over the world, with vertical integration and solid core values—that are still standing today and will continue to do so for years to come.

It’s the large Big Box solar installers, who aim to take over every state in the union, “blitz” neighborhoods with third-party door knockers they’ve hired on a whim and barely trained, who feel they have a duty to deploy millions of dollars in government incentives, and who think they have it all figured out with centralized overhead, that are doomed to fail.

Want to know what the irony of all this is? Solar energy—once a mass source of electricity—was built on the idea of decentralization. It was built on the idea of modularity and locally sourced energy. t’s the archaic forms of electricity generation, particularly fossil fuels, that are based on large centralization, inefficient distribution, and unsustainability.

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the irony of building massively coast-to-coast solar companies that centralize their administration while attempting to understand local communities the CEO has likely never set foot in?

That’s the exact opposite of the philosophy of distributed, local, renewable energy generation.

2. Local Solar Companies Must Capitalize

Now is the moment for local, homegrown, long-tenured solar businesses to capitalize on the fall of Big Box Solar and share their story.

Only local solar installers—those with deep knowledge of their communities, master electricians trained in local codes, and salespeople who actually live in the area—will ultimately grow and prosper. These companies, not coincidentally, also tend to be driven more by mission, vision, and values than by profit.

Solar installers should seize this opportunity to share their stories—highlighting their mission, vision, and values as proven local installers—through blog posts, social media, videos, and newsletters. Doing so will help rebuild confidence in the solar industry as a whole. Right now, millions of prospective solar homeowners feel uncertain and uneasy about an industry under siege, yet remain deeply interested in going solar with a company they can trust.

Many of these homeowners have read troubling stories or heard anecdotes about installations gone wrong. They’re looking for a way to go solar that feels right for them—with a company that will still answer the phone 10 years from now and reliably service their system with integrity.

There will never be a better time than now to share your story and earn the trust of these customers.

3. Solar Service Demand Is About To Skyrocket

Hang onto your hats, because solar service demand is about to explode.

Over the past 18 months, hundreds of solar businesses have shut down, and Big Box Solar's collapse might eclipse the combined impact of many of them.

Think of the tens of thousands of orphaned systems now in desperate need of honest, dependable, reliable, and knowledgeable solar service professionals. There is effectively infinite demand for anyone looking to start a solar service business—either within their existing company or as a separate entity. If you have experience in solar service and aren’t at least exploring this as a business opportunity, you’re leaving money on the table.

Integrating a solar service business into an existing installation-focused business can be challenging, especially when the majority of revenue comes from new installations. That’s why many solar professionals are starting separate entities solely dedicated to service, with a fiduciary responsibility to support orphaned systems that need ongoing care.

This is exactly what I’d recommend for local solar business owners.

By creating a separate solar service entity, you can avoid the temptation to pull resources from your service crews to support your installation teams—we’ve all been there.

4. There’s No Going Back

Think we’re going to see more national solar companies? There’s no way.

Most of the companies that have gone under flew too close to the sun (pun intended), grew too fast, and cut corners everywhere in the name of the almighty dollar rather than staying true to the mission of fighting climate change. Big Box Solar will be the first of many dominoes to fall for these reasons, and the solar industry will be far better served by having ten thousand local solar installation businesses each doing 1 MW of installs per year, rather than one company attempting 10,000 MW annually.

That’s what’s meant by “think local, act global”—the ethos that underpins virtually the entire home services industry. The climate movement will be better served by a little humility and fewer egos.

Those egos have already tarnished the reputation of our industry through unscrupulous door-knocking tactics, misleading and cheating homeowners (including the elderly), and misrepresenting the value of solar and its associated subsidies—all carried out by people with little training or actual knowledge.

Keep in mind: the faster a company grows, especially across vast territories, the more likely its training quality will degrade, its culture will weaken, and its reliance on outsourcing will lead to its ultimate decline.

5. We’ll Be Stronger Together

From our experience running, building, and selling a solar business, we learned one undeniable truth:** **it’s a team sport—you simply can’t do it alone.

You need a community, not just within your business but outside of it as well.

If it weren’t for the Amicus Solar Cooperative, it’s very unlikely our solar business would have grown as successfully and sustainably as it did—or have been marketable enough to sell. There are countless groups like this, ranging from CEO-led groups focused on the bottom line to trade organizations centered entirely on strategy and tactics. Then there’s Amicus, a buying cooperative that touches on all of these areas while also providing invaluable emotional and spiritual support from other solar business owners navigating similar challenges.

The solar industry will be stronger with local companies that deeply know their neighbors and communities, but also collaborate—sharing industry knowledge, business insights, buying power, and general support. This approach is far better than mass centralization, where a single office dictates operations to installers thousands of miles away.

Final Thoughts

That said, consolidation in the solar industry is happening and will bring economies of scale, which are absolutely crucial to lowering the cost of solar and making it accessible to everyone. To the extent that these “roll-ups” allow installers to retain their local brand, identity, culture, values, and ownership, they will succeed.

It’s when you fly too close to the sun that you lose your sight.