Looking for Investor for a Solar Panel Distributor/System Integrator

We are tied up with major manufacturers of LED, Induction Lighting and Solar Panels. Funding is needed for advertisement and office management to generate sales.

The company is focused on sales/distribution/Integration of solar energy systems. We are aiming to sell 200 units every month and we are targeting sale revenue with profit of 10 crores in 18 months.

The Tamil Nadu solar policy, announced in October 2012, makes it mandatory for all colleges, residential schools, government buildings and commercial establishments with a built-up area of 20,000sqm or more to buy 3% of the electricity they consume from solar power sources till December 2013 and 6% from January 2014.

The solar rooftop system is essentially an array of the solar photo-voltaic panels mounted on the roof of a building, which convert solar radiation to electricity. The panels are connected to an inverter which is hooked up to the main electricity supply line. Setting up a solar system involves a civil engineer who designs and customizes the system for the building, a mechanical engineer for the installation of the equipment, electrical and electronics engineers for power connections and skilled hands to set up the system and take care of its maintenance.

Technological advances mean solar installations that are now a practical and cost effective method of securing areas where conventional power generation is either unavailable or impractical.

With the factory implementation we will also become able to meet the demand for customized projects to industries and householders.

With the present project we will be able to compete in the area of sales, system integration, taking advantage of the current government fiscal incentives (already aligned), maximizing our operational margins in both customized and serial equipment.

We estimate the following MIX sales, according to the types of installations and market segments:
A) Smaller facilities: householders, consultants, schools and offices;
B) Midsize Facilities: Supermarkets, Shopping Centers, Colleges, Hospitals Farms, etc.;
C) Industries in general,
D) Public bids (campaign "Light for All" or similar);
E) Solar Centers (Controller + Inverter + Charger + Batteries).

Our products are carefully selected from the BEST manufacturers and will satisfy residential & business requirements. This allows for better cost-effectiveness because customers are getting all the components at one time. The need to configure the details has been simplified, and each system is optimized for maximum performance.

The project is at the stage of start-up towards gaining first revenues. This is simply where I am putting up strong advertisement packages all over to promote the sales of the products, organized by dedicated and selected sales team and office costs.

With power prices climbing and the cost of solar power falling, the outlook for solar energy is bright. Solar energy is fast closing the price gap with conventional power sources and is likely to drop to near even in cost in many regions in the next few years. Price declines for the clean energy have been driven by the ramp up in production of solar cells and panels and advances in technology that have increased the cells' efficiency.
Our products also can provide needed power strength and perform five times better and have a 25 years warranty compared to those in the markets. Products come with the following competition tip: New technologies such as thin film solar modules and the use of nanotechnology will further boost solar energy affordability.

• Improvement in the lifestyle of the middle class families
• Support from bankers interms of consumer loans to end users
• Availability of government subsidy to the end users
• Current and projected life style and power situation in India implies high demand for the products we are dealing with now and in the future
• Attractive pricing
• Government support
• Experience in the sector
• Technology provided by reputed manufacturers and hence high quality products
• Direct promotions by the Government
• Current agreement with manufacturers gives us the exclusive rights for India
• Opportunity to expand operations in Pan India.

I plan to rapidly develop marketing alliance with industry leaders and pursue new sales of renewable energy solutions. The market strategy is to capitalize on the business's innovative, information and sales experience, by expanding into new market areas. The sales process involves several steps, which include relationship building, customer requirements/needs, product presentation, demo, closure and implementations. This approach will be used because with our products and services it’s more effective than competitors’ single product approach. The following examples of marketing options can be given:

Lease & Rent-to-Own
Finance offer options will be considered so that some customers will enjoy the benefits of a solar energy system without having to purchase up front. Our sales representatives will look into a finance option that is tailored to customer's needs, including low to no down payment and low monthly installments.

Our products are giving customers complete system that has all the necessary components (PV panels, inverters, cables, brackets, batteries). Find below a view of profits to be made.

The analysis and estimate is based on 100 units a month.

• Import and duty taxes - Subsidized
- 100 Units - $1,000,000
- Shipping (2 containers) - $4,000

• Sales Team
- Operations - $10,000
- Advertising/Marketing - $10,000
- Commission - $10,000

• Installation
- $500 a unit - $50,000
- Total Cost - $1,084,000

• Retail Price of units: + $15,000.00, $1,500,000

• We are planning advertisement packages to promote high ordering and customer participation.
• We need training for more dedicated sales team to delivery on sales margins.
• We need training for the manpower to setup the solar units
• New office costs to maintain key sector customers and businesses.
• We need funding to import at least 100 units per month for installations.
• We need $50,000 for first installment; $1,00,000 second and $100,000 third installment.

We can look at an equity option where the investor gets about 25% stake with a lock in period of 3 years.
If the investor is interested in debt investment we can look at an ROI of 15-20% with an expected payback period of 5 years.
The total investment required will be around USD 250k.
Minimum investment would be USD 100k.