The Conversations That Started It All
Before The Solar Coaster book. Before the podcast took off. There were foundational conversations with solar industry veterans that revealed uncomfortable truths, challenged assumptions, and ultimately shaped everything that followed.
Welcome to Solar Coaster Origins—a special series showcasing these early interviews that started it all.
In this first Origins episode, James Meringer, owner of EVX Solar, tackles one of the industry’s most uncomfortable topics: the wage crisis in residential solar and whether we’re racing to the bottom at the expense of workers, quality, and the industry’s future.
The Residential Solar Crash Created Opportunity
James begins with an unexpected silver lining to industry turmoil:
“We have a lot of people that we’ve grown our crews, they’ve gone up and down. And I think if you talk to residential solar companies, a lot of people are out there looking for work because of the residential market. It’s moving, but it’s still moving very slowly.”
The Talent Pool
“And I think the capacity for people that have been in the solar business, they’re out there. So we are always looking to hire and we’re able to get really good quality personnel right now.”
The Numbers
“We get a lot of resumes. We’ll turn it on for a week, we’ll get 50 resumes, honestly. And then we’ll be able to look at those and just take the cream of the crop.”
The residential solar crash that devastated companies like SunPower created a paradox: massive unemployment for experienced solar workers, but opportunity for companies like EVX Solar operating in commercial and utility-scale markets to hire top talent at competitive wages.
From Payroll to Piecework: The Transformation
James describes a fundamental shift in how residential solar companies operate:
“You know, it started out where the market was, you paid your employees a decent wage, you kept them on, you grew your company and you had a lot of people on staff. And that’s how you were in the solar business and you just keep scheduling work and we all kept moving along.”
The Crash
“Well, when this crash, I’ll call it that, in the residential solar came about, a lot of people, a lot of companies, SunPower, all these people from the suppliers to the companies out there doing the work, some big companies lost—they were insolvent. So we had a lot of people out there on the streets.”
The New Model
“Well, what’s come now for residential solar? Well, it’s become just a race to the bottom and you’re paying guys 10 cents a watt to get it done.”
The 10 Cents Per Watt Reality
James breaks down what this pricing model means for workers:
“And that means they’re going to spend 14 hours out there with a crew. And they’re going to get that house done. Cause that’s how they can make money. It’s basically become a piecework thing.”
The Subcontractor Shift
“There’s a lot less companies that have people on the payroll. They’re just subbing these guys out with 10 cents a watt. That’s the way they get paid. So in order for them to make money, they got to hustle and they got to be off that roof in a day and get the thing done.”
The Complication
“And batteries, that’s stretching things out.”
This creates pressure: installers paid by the watt need to work fast to make decent money, but adding batteries (increasingly common) extends installation time, reducing their effective hourly rate even further.
California’s $64/Hour Reality
James explains California’s DIR (Department of Industrial Relations) public works requirements:
“You’re in California, and you are subject to the DIR, which is their industrial arm of the government that monitors what you’re paying people.”
The Wage Floor
“If you look at the wages you have to pay in California, if you’re on a public works project, there is no classification for solar. There is only a classification for a laborer, but a laborer in California makes 64 bucks an hour. And that’s a journeyman, but that’s what the baseline is.”
The Adjustment
“So you have to pay your people $64 an hour. So what you have to do is you have to adjust your numbers and you have to make sure that you are able to bid your projects with that kind of money.”
This creates stark contrast: Arizona residential installers making pennies per watt in brutal heat, while California public works laborers earn $64/hour for similar work.
The Level Playing Field Argument
James addresses criticism of high California wages:
“A lot of people will argue saying, oh, this public works. Why does a guy have to get paid $64 an hour who’s an entry level or who’s just a laborer?”
His Perspective
“Well, I look at it from the fact that, look, it’s a living wage, it’s California, and you’ve got to pay those wages. That’s just the way that the thing is. And you have to pay people what they’re worth.”
The Competition Reality
“And if we just bid the project, everybody’s gonna be subject to that. You can’t cheat it, they’re on you to know what you’re paying everybody. It is a level playing field, you just have to be efficient, you have to make sure your bids are good, and that you’re able to pay the people.”
The Cost Differential
James quantifies the actual impact:
“But I don’t see if I do a project in Arizona versus a project in California, it’s not a huge amount more than you have to pay. It’s certainly an increase. You’re probably looking at $0.25 a watt or something like that that you’re going to have to add on just because it’s in California.”
His Value Judgment
“But in my mind, that’s what we should be paying people anyways. I don’t like the idea of us racing to the bottom of paying people $0.10 a watt to be out in hot Arizona sun installing a solar system. So that’s just me.”
This is crucial: paying living wages adds only about 25 cents per watt—a manageable increase that James believes represents fair compensation for demanding work.
The Balance of System Reality
James explains why labor isn’t the dominant cost:
“But even with that being said, when you look at these big solar projects, most of your stuff is still your hard balance of system, your panels, and your inverters. And then when you talk about canopies, it’s a lot of steel, structural steel.”
This perspective challenges the assumption that higher wages kill profitability. In large projects, equipment costs dwarf labor, making fair wages more achievable.
The Uber-ification of Solar
James draws a parallel to other industries:
“We can get into the whole complication of pushing people off your payroll and turning them into—just like what people try to do with Uber and all those things. That’s kind of what happened to the solar market, residential solar market.”
The Race to the Bottom
“We had this race to the bottom where people are getting paid by per watt. And that puts a lot of things on to them as it does for a company to be able to take those costs and be fair about it.”
This transformation—from employees with benefits, steady work, and career paths to independent contractors hustling for piecework—mirrors what happened in ride-sharing, delivery services, and other gig economy sectors.
Hiring Quality in a Down Market
Despite industry turmoil, James sees opportunity:
“And we have guys who have led crews, and maybe they led a crew in a residential area. But that person can be taught, or very quickly upgraded to the ability to run a big project.”
The Skills Transfer
“You know, they know how to interact with people. And then we’ve just got to be able to organize it in such a way that those people can succeed and be out there doing the work for us.”
The Timing
“So that’s kind of what I think our timing was just really good right now, to where the people are floating around out there that are looking for work. So we can capture some pretty good people at a competitive wage.”
Key Takeaways from James’s Wage Crisis Perspective
1. The residential crash created a talent pool. 50+ qualified resumes in a week from experienced workers.
2. Piecework replaced payroll. The shift from salaried employees to 10¢/watt contractors transformed the industry.
3. 14-hour days to make money. Workers hustle through installations to earn decent pay under piecework models.
4. California pays $64/hour. Public works requirements create stark wage contrast with residential markets.
5. Level playing field works. When everyone must pay fair wages, efficiency and quality win, not wage exploitation.
6. 25 cents per watt difference. Fair wages add modest costs to projects—manageable and justified.
7. Labor isn’t the dominant cost. Equipment and materials dwarf labor in total project costs.
8. Race to the bottom hurts everyone. Workers, companies, and industry reputation all suffer.
9. Quality people want stability. Commercial/utility projects offer career paths, not just gigs.
10. Ethics and profit can coexist. Paying living wages doesn’t kill profitability in well-run companies.
Why This Origins Episode Matters
James Meringer’s perspective on solar wages represents one of the foundational insights that shaped The Solar Coaster book: the industry’s treatment of workers reveals its values, priorities, and long-term sustainability.
The transformation from stable employment to piecework contractors didn’t just change how people get paid—it changed the nature of solar work, the quality of installations, the career prospects for workers, and the industry’s reputation.
James challenges a core assumption in competitive markets: that cutting labor costs is necessary for profitability. His experience suggests the opposite—that paying fair wages on level playing fields actually improves efficiency, quality, and competitiveness.
For solar companies navigating competitive pressures, James offers a roadmap: focus on commercial and utility-scale projects where fair wages are required and quality matters more than speed, hire displaced residential talent looking for stability, and compete on efficiency and execution rather than wage exploitation.
For the industry as a whole, James’s perspective raises uncomfortable questions: Can residential solar sustain itself on a piecework model? What happens to quality when installers must rush through 14-hour days? Does the race to the bottom serve anyone’s long-term interests?
These are the questions that inspired The Solar Coaster book—and this Origins conversation represents where those questions first emerged with clarity.
Listen to the Full Origins Episode
Ready to hear this foundational conversation? Listen to Solar Coaster Origins Episode 1:
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The conversations in Origins inspired the stories and insights in The Solar Coaster. Get your copy on Amazon.
About Solar Coaster Origins
This special series features interviews conducted before The Solar Coaster book was published—the foundational conversations with solar industry veterans that revealed the stories, challenges, and insights that inspired the book and podcast. These are the conversations that started it all.
About The Solar Coaster Podcast
The Solar Coaster is a podcast that takes you on the wild ride through the solar industry, told by the people who live it every day. Hosted by Anna Covert—author, digital marketing expert, and founder of Covert Communication—each episode features candid conversations with solar professionals sharing their journeys, challenges, and victories.
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