By Mikey Heinz, CEO of Bright Ops
In solar, growth is often measured in sales volume. But scaling a solar operation — going from a handful of installs per month to thousands — requires something else entirely: operational maturity.
At Bright Ops, scale wasn’t driven by flashy tech, aggressive hiring or shortcuts. It came from building systems that could handle complexity, support quality and adapt fast. Every process was designed with growth in mind, from partner management to field ops to internal promotion tracks.
Here are five lessons that helped drive growth from zero to over 2,000 installs a month, each rooted in structure, simplicity and process discipline.
1. Focus on the process, not software
Many solar companies prioritize sales first, treating operations as something to fix later. That’s a mistake. Sales might drive top-line growth, but ops is where scale either breaks or compounds.
The foundation at Bright Ops was built around process logic before any software stack was locked in. Early install tracking lived entirely in Smart Sheets, complete with internal ID systems, naming conventions and cross-referenced workflows. This allowed fast iteration before investing in expensive tools. No amount of automation can fix a messy process. Simpler tools were used not because they were ideal, but because they revealed inefficiencies quickly.
Even now, every software decision is evaluated against one question: does it enhance the system, or just replace manual effort?
Key insight: Start with structure. Avoid automating chaos.
2. Find and develop true partnerships
The term “partner” is often overused and underappreciated. True success comes from genuine alignment, when you view your partners’ wins as your own. Whether it’s our sales partners, without whom we wouldn’t have a business; our funding partners, who make our projects possible; or our equipment partners, who are critical to installation efficiency and quality, these relationships are essential. The focus on partnerships cannot be overstated. It’s this trust and shared commitment that allow each party to focus on what they do best, scale effectively and win together.
Key insight: Shared success drives scale. Aligning deeply with partners unlocks efficiency, trust and mutual growth.
3. Promote from within — and train for leadership, not just output
Internal promotions play a critical role in culture and scale, but frontline success doesn’t automatically translate to leadership readiness. Installers, coordinators and surveyors moving into management roles need support beyond new titles.
At Bright Ops, new leaders were trained to think in systems: not, “How do I fix this?” but, “How do I build a process that fixes this?” This process needs to be clear and intuitive for the team. And if mistakes arise, focus on how to fix the process, not correct the person.
Processes were built assuming no tribal knowledge. That approach removed the need to rely on memory, backchannels or one person’s expertise — key factors when teams double or triple in size.
Key insight: Promotions require enablement. Teach leaders to scale knowledge, not just apply it.
4. Design quality into the system
With high-volume installs, quality can’t rely on final checks or field heroics. It has to be designed into the system itself.
Standardization was a key strategy. From Day 1, the company committed to a single inverter platform, SolarEdge, not for brand loyalty, but to reduce complexity. One wiring diagram. One training path. One troubleshooting flow. This drove consistency across thousands of jobs and simplified support.
Incentives were structured to align with quality. All field roles were hourly or salaried, never paid per job. This removed speed-driven behavior that can lead to costly mistakes. The focus shifted from “how fast” to “how well.”
When problems did arise, the approach wasn’t to assign blame. Instead, the question became: what in the system allowed this to happen and how does it get fixed?
Key insight: Quality is a systems problem. Reduce complexity and design accountability into the workflow.
5. Use tech to strengthen the workflow — not just automate tasks
Technology is only useful when it strengthens the entire process, not just a single step. Bright Ops adopted drones for site surveys because they solved real workflow problems. They reduced roof time, improved measurement accuracy and gave downstream teams (design, permitting, install) a cleaner handoff.
Even small decisions like mobile interface design mattered. Since phones are the primary tool for most field crews, all data collection systems were built mobile-first. If it takes five clicks to complete a form, it won’t get filled out consistently. If it takes one, it will.
Every tech decision passed through one filter: does it improve the entire chain? If the answer was no, it didn’t get implemented.
Key insight: Field-ready tech should reduce friction, not just digitize steps.
Scaling to 2,000 installs per month was about getting more consistent, not about getting faster. Every process, every tool, every decision was mapped to that goal.
Growth at scale is a systems game. It rewards those who build clean handoffs, remove ambiguity and document what works. Speed matters, but durability matters more.
Build with structure. Train for clarity. Design for repeatability. That’s how operational scale becomes sustainable.
Mikey Heinz is the CEO of Bright Ops, leading a large-scale operations team supporting thousands of monthly installations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
