What Is Dealer Network?
A dealer network is an independent sales organization made up of 1099 contractor reps that sells solar systems on behalf of an installer or financing brand but subcontracts the actual installation out, rather than employing install crews directly.
$300 setup + $249 per booked appointment.
A dealer network is an independent sales organization made up of 1099 contractor reps that sells solar systems on behalf of an installer or financing brand but subcontracts the actual installation out, rather than employing install crews directly.
Dealer Network explained
Sunder Energy is the clearest documented example of the model at scale: 893 1099 reps before its September 2025 acquisition by SunPower, more than 75% of volume coming from California, Florida, and Texas combined, and a salesforce that doubled to 1,734 reps post-acquisition. The dealer network sells; a separate installer or crew handles the physical work.
Wood Mackenzie's 2026 analysis singles this model out for the sharpest margin pressure of any acquisition channel: outsourced 1099 dealer networks are absorbing the largest 2026 margin compression, while vertically integrated installers, who own both sales and install in-house, are preserving more margin per watt by bringing acquisition in-house instead. The mechanism funding a dealer network's commission stack, the dealer fee, averages roughly 22% in 2026 and is under its own pressure to shrink even as CAC climbs 40% industry-wide.
That combination, rising acquisition cost and a compressing commission-funding fee, is the specific 2026 squeeze dealer networks are navigating that vertically integrated installers largely are not.
Why it matters when you're buying
If you sell into or run a dealer network, this is the segment where appointment economics matter most in 2026. A fixed per-sit appointment price protects a rep's commission margin better than an ad-spend-funded lead channel does when both CAC and dealer-fee funding are moving against the sales force at the same time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a dealer network and a vertically integrated installer?
Why are dealer networks facing the most pressure in the 2026 solar market?
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