HN Explorer

Ask HN: Any chance of monetizing this webapp(solarpower, price)?

4 points by schtog ↗ HN
As a sideproject a year ago to learn Python and learn more about solar-energy I created a webapp that compares prices of solar-energy equipment/parts.

I did the basic work and presentation but never made it into a "professional" one, meaning optimized, good-looking etc.

I now have some time over and I wonder if I should finish it.

There (obviously) already are services like this though, the best ones covering all kinds of green services.

None of them are that easy to find and to the point. There isn't a killer green energy price comparisment service nor a solar only one.

But is this monetizeable? Clearly someone going to such a site is probably looking to buy eventually but are they just comparing and then buying in the "real world" instead?

Can it generate enough traffic? It's not like solar energy is that big (yet) but since I'm not selling, just showing(or will show) ads from the whole world there might be a market?

On the other hand for most people ordering stuff from other countries isn't an alternative so I might have to do by country. Just that there perhaps isn't that many options for smaller countries...

Is this idea worth finishing? Do you believe it has any potential?

9 comments

[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 32.2 ms ] thread
trapper
Not sure, what are the search volumes & keyword prices like? Are there any big competitors using those keywords? A few hours of digging on adwords will tell you a lot.
speek
Go for it. You never know what will happen until you try.
DabAsteroid
There isn't a killer green energy price comparisment service nor a solar only one.

What about Solarbuzz?

http://www.solarbuzz.com

schtog
Yes it has stuff but it isn't that to the point/find what you need. And it doesn't seem to compare and link to prices/products. And it is ugly.
DabAsteroid
It's not like solar energy is that big (yet)

Why would solar energy get much bigger?

schtog
Decentralized and clean/green. Sure there are problems to solve before it will get anywhere though.
jacobscott
"Is X monetizeable", "can X generate enough traffic","does X have potential"

imho, the answer to these questions will probably take equal effort to the technical/development aspect. There are plenty of price comparison engines around... so if a domain expert in solar thought of this idea and did all the market research (to have the answer to your question), I suspect they would be developing a competitor.

bilbo0s
Make a website that you can order solar powered gear from. Not the stuff you need to assemble yourself, the stuff that is already complete. Start with solar generators like the SolarStik, or the one at KenSolar. Actually, both, be a reseller is my point.

Solar is a useful technology being handled by less than creative people right now. What they need are young, hungry young men to hawk their wares in a creative fashion. For example, it would be simple for an enterprising young man to fill a UHaul with SolarStiks and drive down to Houston an put a sign up on some well travelled intersections indicating the availability of solar generators. You would sell out in less than an hour, WITH the story on CNN about the fact that you did so. Free advertising. Everyone gets the point. The consumers are educated.

Every technology needs its Henry Ford, or Bill Gates . . .

Basically solar needs its Sylvester McMonkey McBean . . .

By the way, I live in Houston, and my neighbors think I'm pretty forward thinking right now since there is little gas for their generators.

ld50
turn it into a social network!