• 3 min read

Solar Leadership series: 5 questions with EagleView’s Peter Cleveland

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In our Solar Leadership series we try to get a pulse on the solar market, trends, and forward-looking thoughts from some of the best and brightest in the industry. Today’s guest is Peter Cleveland, Vice President Partner Strategy for EagleView. 

In our discussion he explains more about EagleView’s business and how it helps solar companies, before getting into what he looks for in transformative technology and where the solar market could use more innovation. 

Q: Can you give us a quick review of EagleView’s history and its impact on the construction/insurance industry? 

A: For 25 years, we have been capturing high-resolution aerial imagery and delivering property analytics to a number of different industries. For the construction and insurance industries, specifically, we have become the unbiased, 3rd-party source of truth for structural measurement data. Put it this way — roofers don’t measure roofs, they use EagleView. In insurance, when it comes to property damage and understanding how to more effectively resolve claims, 24 of the top 25 US insurance carriers trust our data to help inform their settlement amounts.

Q: Why are EagleView and Aurora such good partners for the solar industry?

A: EagleView is a leading provider of aerial imagery and property data, Aurora is the leading platform in solar servicing the entire project lifecycle. Great imagery and data are critical to creating accurate solar designs that can streamline processes, minimize changes, and ultimately help provide the homeowner with the best outcome possible. The partnership just makes sense and allows both organizations to really focus on our core competencies while delivering the best possible solution to the solar market.

Q: What EagleView features are generally most impressive to those seeing it for the first time?

A: Our vast imagery coverage: 94% of US population coverage. And the accuracy of our 3D structural models is also impressive. Our customers have reported that our 3D structural models and associated measurements are more accurate than a human with a tape measure and equal to what you would get with a drone, while never needing to leave your desk to get the data.

Click above to learn more about how EagleView Powered Models can help your business.

Q: Why is it important for customers to distinguish between EV imagery and EagleView Powered Models (EVPMs)?

A: EagleView imagery allows you to trace on a single top down image, and because almost all top down images have some level of skew, the accuracy of the traced roof is almost always compromised. EVPMs leverage our decades old, proven and proprietary technologies. This methodology references not only the single top down view, but also 4 oblique or angled views from all cardinal directions. This 5 image process allows for us to correct for image skew in any one perspective and obtain a great level of detail for features such as plumbing vents. As a result, the quality of EVPMs is far superior to that of even the most skilled designer limited by using a single top down image.

Q: What do you look for in a technology to see if it might be transformative for an industry?

A: Simple yet novel solutions, the tech you see for the first time and say “oh that makes sense”.  Oftentimes, there are advancements in technology which enable these otherwise obvious solutions to become a reality.

Q: What do you see as the next area of solar that needs reinvention?

A: Absolutely sales techniques and processes. And it begins even before the salesperson with good consumer education and awareness which help the homeowner overcome the current doubts and fears of our industry. This is then further supported by credible sales personnel equipped with the best technology to put forth dependable proposals that accurately demonstrate the value of going solar.  

Ready to learn more?