COVID-19 & Looking Ahead to 2021 and Beyond, Insights from SMA America Q&A with Brad Dore Director of Marketing | SMA America Tell us about yourself and your company. SMA is a global solar, storage and energy management technology leader and offers a diversified portfolio of solutions for residential, commercial, and utility power. The company is present in every major PV market and boasts more than 100 GW of installed capacity worldwide.
How has COVID-19 changed the way your company does business? As a manufacturer, SMA was very fortunate. Our facilities are located in Germany and were never forced to close. Europe’s strong initial response and subsequent management of the situation allowed our production site in Germany to continue, while additional safety measures were implemented to protect employees. Downstream, office personnel were transitioned to a remote (i.e. at-home) model. Travel restrictions as well as the cancellation of most in-person industry events meant most face-to-face interactions had to become virtual. In some ways, this brought us closer to our customers. SMA aggressively ramped its digital support, increasing the frequency of online trainings and launching an Online Service Center in several key markets, including the U.S. The pandemic incentivized us to get more creative in how we interacted with project stakeholders and customers. As a testament to the resiliency of the solar market, the industry’s performance – not just SMA’s -- was truly remarkable in 2020.