Dr. Sarah Müller On Implementing And Scaling Renewable Energy Solutions

Dr. Sarah Müller is an expert in exponential growth phases and has been responsible for scaling marketing and sales of the Berlin-based climate tech start-up zolar since 2021.

Dr. Sarah Müller brings expertise in data-driven marketing, go-to-market optimization, including lead and conversion optimisation, and the development and expansion of new business areas. Müller manages brand positioning and the expansion of strategic partnerships to solidify zolar as the leading consumer brand of the new generation of sustainable energy providers.

Dr. Sarah Müller holds a doctorate in business administration in the field of market research with a focus on sustainable consumer behavior from the University of Hamburg. As Managing Director of Kununu, she was able to expand the market leadership in the DACH region and expand the company to four international locations. She has been a member of the Advisory Board of Accenture Strategy & Consulting since September 2021.

Dr. Müller discusses how to effectively scale a start-up creating sustainable technology and Opportunities for entrepreneurs to engage with innovative renewable energy solutions.

Highlights from the interview (listen to the podcast for full details)

[Indio Myles] - To start off, could you please share a bit about your background and then what led to your work in social enterprise?

[Dr. Sarah Müller] - I have always been in B2C, consumer focused digital business models. At the beginning of my career, I did a lot of E-Commerce work, and I started to realise how important purpose is to me. My first purpose driven engagement was with Kununu, where we were out to help people find the right place to work. It was a very purpose driven company creating transparency in the workplace. I dd my PhD on sustainable consumption and really looked into how you can actually nudge consumers to do the right thing. I then had the chance to join zolar and see how we can support people transitioning into green energy.

As the Chief Commercial Officer of zolar, can you please share a bit more about this green enterprise and some of the key lessons you've learned on your journey?

Zolar is one of the leading online platforms for residential solar in the German speaking market. We really help homeowners switch to green energy, and how we are doing it is we have created a transparent and convenient process to get solar energy. Since it's a quite complex topic (usually consumers are buying it for the very first time), people buy panels, and they sit on their roof for 30 years.

What we are trying to do is take out the friction, confusion and help homeowners to fuel their green energy needs with solar from their own roof. I've learned since joining what is strong and powerful about the solar industry is consumers can do the right thing.

People are independent from the grid and getting green energy from their own roof. At the same time, it's beneficial for them. If you compare energy costs (especially in the current times) of what you get from the grid compared to what you produce on your own roof powered by the sun, it's much cheaper than relying on energy companies. It's really great that you can have an impact and do the right thing, but it's also helpful for you as a consumer. The second lesson I learned here at zolar is that people actually want to do the right thing, but in order to trigger them, you really need to support them. Our purpose is making green energy incredibly easy for everyone and making sure we nudge people to do the right thing, but really help them through this transition. I would say my third lesson is that external events which might not always be good can sometimes foster behaviour change. If you look into what has happened since the start of this year here in Europe, energy prices have risen, then it's becoming much more important for consumers to become energy independent away from the grid. That has really triggered our demand, which has grown times six since the beginning of this year.

Where do the areas of innovation and environmental sustainability commonly overlap, and how can entrepreneurs break into this space?

I think it's a super interesting and evolving market. If you ask me where entrepreneurs can have an impact, it's really in three areas of the market. One is fostering new technologies, so while we now put solar systems on roofs, you also have stuff like solar tiles. Looking into the space more broadly, we really need innovation when it comes to battery storage.

There's a huge space where we need more sustainable technologies, not only for the energy market, but if you think about cars and other industries that's definitely an area to innovate.

The second field I see is creating labour. At least in Europe, we really don't have enough craftsmen to support this energy transition, so entrepreneurs might look into fostering this change by making it easier for people to transition into new job profiles that help foster sustainable behaviour. I think the last and broad area for entrepreneurs to look into (since energy is such a complex topic) is how can you actually take out the friction for consumers? To sum it up, my advice which holds true for most entrepreneurial ideas is either you find a consumer need you can cater to, or you can find a space where there's still a lot of friction and try to solve it. That definitely holds true for the energy market. Thinking about innovation, I can be through platforms. Zolar is one, but it can also include new forms of energy tariffs where you currently see a lot of companies emerge in the transition of the whole energy market. There is definitely technology that is more sustainable than the technology currently used in the market.

How can businesses most effectively engage and integrate renewable energy sources into their own activities?

It's definitely a growing space, but what I realise coming from a platform that dealt with what employees want, it's also becoming more important for employees their employers act sustainably and have the right tools to become energy neutral and independent. I think we see it at zolar. We focus on the consumer and households out there, but we definitely are getting a lot of B2B requests. These are companies that really look into how they can put solar panels on office buildings and transition to more green and renewable energy. From a P2V company perspective, the most important thing when transitioning to renewable energy is to look at it holistically, so that you look into your whole value chain and carbon footprint. What is great from my perspective is that there are actually a lot of start-ups that have evolved in the last year that help companies through this transition. There are a lot of start-ups such as Planetly that really help companies track and improve their carbon footprint, and I think that's a rule to go to. If you have a B2B business, look at your entire value change, make sure you measure your footprint and then transition step by step.

What advice would you have for an entrepreneur who is intending to create and scale their own start-up incorporating impact into its activities?

For me, the clear advice is purpose first.

As an entrepreneur in the social and impact space, you really need to know what you stand for as an entrepreneur, a company and what is the purpose of your company? Then, don't sacrifice it.

Especially when you are a young company, you will always have the challenge of how to monetise and grow faster. But from my experience, if you have nailed your purpose, this is really a North Star for yourself as an entrepreneur, but then also for your entire company and employees. It's a very powerful leadership tool which helps you navigate through all the challenges you might encounter as a young start-up. Know your purpose and stick to it, no matter what.

What inspiring projects or initiatives have you come across recently that are creating a positive social change?

There are actually two initiatives which we are supporting with zolar. One is the Undiri Support Project, which takes place in the North of Bangladesh. This project helps families to install solar panels. Basically, the whole initiative is about building solar panels on family houses roofs, and this helps them to become more independent. I think what we see here in the developed market is the same as there; people want to become independent from the grid. Then, they can self-produce electricity. They have electricity and can get rid of petrol lamps and families then have light and electricity at night. Then, if you look into the long term effects, this helps children to do their homework in the evening and have time to study, because a lot of these families are working during the day. I think that's really an initiative where renewable energy makes a change to people's lives. But you do not always need to go as far as Bangladesh to see amazing projects. There is also an initiative here in Berlin called the Masterplan Solarcity. Berlin wants to generate 25% of its electricity needs by solar, so this is a large scale project that might lead the biggest city in Germany to foster energy independence.

To finish off, are there any books or resources that you would recommend for our audience?

I have one podcast I really like and would recommend to your audience, which is the Change Maker podcast by Dr. Amanda Tattersall. She's really showing how people personally have an impact and talking to those people, so it is a really inspiring podcast. As a book, I would recommend Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change written by Dieter Helm. What I really like about this book is it shows us why so far, we have failed in stopping climate change and why people are not behaving the right way although they already know what they should do. What I also love about this book which is very closely related to the research I did back at the university is he then also shows solutions to how we can match this consumer change and get people to act more in line with environmentally friendly policies.