Brighter Days
Elevating Sun Tribe Solar’s web presence to the top of their field with a new brand and dynamic Solar Calculator.
In only four short years, Sun Tribe Solar has risen to become the largest commercial solar company in the state of Virginia.
When the company began the process of creating a new website, they sought a digital partner who would help them realize a trustworthy brand to match the quality of work they are renowned for in their industry.
“We felt like our former website was only adequate; it wasn’t necessarily holding us back, but it sure wasn’t bringing us opportunities,” says Seth Herman, project lead for Sun Tribe Solar.
With a new site, “We wanted to put something out into the industry that would set us apart from other national and international companies.”
The project began like all successful projects do: a thorough day of discovery with every key stakeholder represented. After a deep dive into the sustainable-energy world, our teams emerged energized to build a best-in-class website that would reflect Sun Tribe Solar’s authoritative position in the clean-energy market.
When we partner with our clients it’s important to us that we be able to make informed decisions on their behalf. It’s inevitable that as we do the engineering work for a project we’ll be making non-technical decisions that impact the final feel for the product. The better informed we are on the inner-workings of our clients’ business the better quality of choice we can make in those moments.
“The Braid team took the time to deeply learn about our industry and our position as a company, and they were really thoughtful in understanding that,” says Seth.
“Rather than just trying to get the project done, they were amazing listeners. They invested into us and what we were doing, so that whenever the Braid team was providing guidance, it was grounded in a deeper understanding of what we do.”
In order to provide the largest degree of future flexibility we created a modular content management system consisting of over a dozen discrete page components. Sun Tribe Solar could compose these page components together to quickly convey their process, present relevant news and case studies in visually compelling ways, and create custom landing pages to cater to specific audiences without the need for additional development support.
A key feature supporting the leadership position Sun Tribe Solar has established in their industry is the Solar Calculator. The Solar Calculator quickly shows potential customers the value Sun Tribe can bring, “in a way that empowers them to see the impact that deploying solar could have on their businesses,” says Seth. It’s a tool that has no match, and “It does a good job of conveying that we as a company are at the forefront of our industry.”
Users are presented with a familiar map interface and are instructed to locate their property, draw shapes on the map to represent the areas they would like to place a solar installation (either roof or field), and are then given a quick estimate of the amount of solar power they can expect to generate along with what that could represent in annual savings.
One of the largest challenges we faced was how to direct the many different types of customers Sun Tribe Solar serves — from schools and private residences, to breweries, car dealerships and more — to where they needed to be, as quickly and clearly as possible.
To create a frictionless navigation experience, a Solutions tab in the main navigation was created which functions as a “Mega Menu” allowing users to drill down into their specific industries within two clicks. The menu also functions as a sales piece, quickly communicating the breadth of Sun Tribe Solar’s experience across a vast array of industries in a visual manner.
The result of our partnership is “a platform to tell our story in a way that is complementary to the work that we do,” says Seth. “This is the face of what we do outside of our office and our project sites around the state, and there’s a huge amount of pride in it.”
Best of all, because the site is built using a flexible content management system, the Sun Tribe Solar team has the power to continue reimagining and expanding on the site as the company continues to produce industry-leading work.