employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Direct Energy Solar

Is this your company?

Solar Sales Consultant - Solar Sales Consultant Direct Energy Solar Employee Review

1.0
31 Jan 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some flexability in the job; the end-user/customers were super. People want to save money and go solar, so the market for the product is strong.

Cons

I knew I was in trouble when the training was slimy, low brow and did NOT include the most important component - training on the proprietary software. Company refused to advertise; Company struggled to make it's software easy to use/learn; company failed to remit commissions/expenses/mileage in an appropriate fashion - frequently waiting more than 8 weeks; company had extensive rate of employee turnover; Solar consultants were promised a base of $42K annually; this was reduced to $28K and planned to be reduced further to $21K; Employees had to provide their own printers; their own leads; their own advertising materials. Not all involved on an install were employees -- they DO use subs. We were told that Consultants required 5 sales/month or they would be on a performance review. Generally, commissions were approximately 1-2% of total sale. Consultants needed to keep track of all commission due dates. Commissions paid in 3 parts - on signature; on install; on PTO. If you left, you were not paid on the remainder of the commissions owed. It was a new low. I left in approximately 6 months because there was no cohesive, established, functional business behind my efforts, and clearly no plan to resolve these issues.

Explore other reviews about Direct Energy Solar

5.0
31 May 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great pay and benefits for the employees

Cons

It was mismanaged so they went under.

4.0
9 Apr 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

My coworkers at the Columbia, MD HQ, and throughout our geographic footprint, are committed and resilient, and truly care about advancing the solar industry safely and profitably. They are also a fun bunch, with many who enjoy actively contributing to philanthropic efforts, and to frequently unwinding and enjoying their follow colleagues in non-working cultural events. It's a fun and smart group!

Cons

The geographic diversity of a good number of our core senior/executive management makes it difficult to establish that high degree of trust that's critical for overall cultural "buy in" for our solar company, which directly leads to high performance, as we've gone through the sometimes painful process of integration within our parent company. It would be ideal if they could all be based at the Columbia, MD office and be there most weeks out of the month. Remote leadership is a tough nut to crack. It would also be ideal if our shared services leadership, and parent company executive leadership, perhaps better understood/sympathized with the acute stresses of integrating at the pace we have. Despite a challenging and uber-competitive industry landscape, it would be ideal to see more of a commitment to work/life balance in our benefits and policies as we continue to grow and evolve dynamically.

4
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All