How Local Clean Energy Businesses Can Overcome Rising Market Costs
New York, Monday, 9 November 2026.
A new clean-energy alliance offers local solar installers critical tools to cut costs by twenty-five cents per watt, helping regional businesses effectively compete against massive national corporations.
A Strategic Alliance to Level the Playing Field
On Monday, 9 November 2026, a coalition of leading clean-energy companies launched the Strong Tail Solar Alliance, an initiative designed to reduce soft costs for independent residential and commercial solar installers across the United States. The alliance, spearheaded by Bodhi, Climate First Bank, Scanifly, JA Solar, Damaris Solutions, and Krannich Solar, and operated by OneEthos—a subsidiary of Climate First Bancorp—aims to provide member contractors with zero-dealer-fee financing, pooled hardware discounts, enterprise software access, and shared marketing infrastructure. By addressing high soft costs, the alliance seeks to help regional installers compete more effectively against national utility-scale developers and consolidated installation conglomerates [1].
Financial and Operational Benefits for Members
Qualified installers within the OneEthos network can achieve approximately $0.25 per watt or more in total savings through the Strong Tail Solar Alliance, encompassing reduced equipment prices, lower operating software costs, and marketing support [1]. This financial relief is critical in an evolving regulatory and macroeconomic climate where rising costs threaten the viability of smaller solar businesses [GPT]. Members also agree to the Strong Tail Compact, a commitment to long-term service, transparent pricing, warranty fulfillment, and equal quality standards for local installers [1].
Voices from the Coalition: Quality Over Scale
Scott Nguyen, founder of Bodhi and Head of Growth at OneEthos, emphasized the alliance’s mission to reward quality and service over sheer scale. ‘The market should reward companies for doing great work and standing behind it, not simply for being the biggest,’ Nguyen stated. ‘We want local installers to be able to compete on what actually matters: quality, service, and whether someone will still answer the phone years from now. That’s why we created the Alliance’ [1]. Jason Steinberg, CEO of Scanifly, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the importance of supporting small and medium-sized solar installers who have built trusted relationships with their communities. ‘Most solar installers in the U.S. are small and medium shops that have built trusted relationships with their communities. Their customers are homeowners who want the benefit of owning their system,’ Steinberg noted [1].
Founding Members and Industry Backdrop
The Strong Tail Solar Alliance was launched in Texas on 9 November 2026, marking a coordinated effort to defend distributed solar ownership models. Founding members include Bodhi, Climate First Bank (which opened in June 2021), Scanifly, JA Solar (founded in 2005 and having reached nearly 317 GW in cumulative cell and module shipments as of Q3 2025), Damaris Solutions, and Krannich Solar USA—a premier global photovoltaic (PV) distributor [1]. Damaris Solutions, for instance, provides comprehensive marketing and business consulting services tailored to solar and energy sectors, further bolstering the alliance’s shared infrastructure [1].