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A Mint Solar display in a Sam's Club. 

Courtesy Mint Solar

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A Mint Solar executive, right, poses with a customer in a Sam's Club.

Courtesy Mint Solar

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BJ Savage, partner and chief sales officer at Mint Solar in Lehi.

Courtesy Mint Solar

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As more Utah County residents opt for rooftop solar panels, one Lehi solar company is making it much easier to comparison shop for solar.

Mint Solar in Lehi recently announced a partnership with Sam’s Club to be a solar provider within all 400 Sam’s Club stores nationwide. BJ Savage, Mint Solar partner and chief sales officer, said Mint Solar already has vendor booths in 40 Sam’s Clubs, and are in most of the Utah locations. By the end of this year Mint will be in about 200 locations, with the final locations following by the end of 2019.

It’s a unique route for solar, which is normally sold door-to-door or online. But just as vacuums and water softeners started out as door-to-door products and are now available in multiple retail locations, Savage said they see solar following that same evolution.

“What we saw is most solar is sized as a one-size-fits-all product, and we saw this as big opportunity to be agnostic in offering our products,” Savage said.

At a Mint Solar booth in local Sam’s Clubs, customers can shop about 30 different brands of solar products, from entry-level models to more high-end offerings. Mint Solar also partners with multiple solar financing lenders so customers can also cater their purchase to the best rate, cost and program.

“Sam’s Club’s motto is ‘Savings made Simple,’ and that merges well with Mint’s values. We’re solar made simple,” said Carrie Christensen, vice president of sales operations at Mint Solar.

Mint Solar was founded in 2014 by Spencer and Scott Shumway specifically to identify the largest big box retailer and pursue a partnership there. Mint executives negotiated with, and were vetted by, Sam’s Club for more than two years, before contracts were signed. Mint opened in their first Sam’s Club in February 2017.

Savage explained to be a part of Sam’s Club offerings, they had to prove to the corporation that Mint employed a stringent quality control process at every part of the process — from manufacturing to the in-store sales and service, to install, city inspections and industry certifications.

Getting solar customers to the point of actually having working solar panels on their homes was a major focus for the Mint Solar team. Savage said some companies in the “solar coaster” industry will take more than a year before customer’s panels actually can be turned on.

“That’s why Sam’s Club was concerned. But our installers onsite aren’t paid for the job until it’s done right, until the system is turned on,” Savage said.

“If we’re good enough for Sam’s Club, we’re good enough for your home,” Christensen added.

The Mint Solar team was excited to partner with Sam’s Club because the corporation is a green company, focused on energy efficiency. Between the two of them, Savage feels the partnership will have an amazing impact, and will lead change in the industry as a whole.

“If every home goes solar, that’s equivalent to planting 180 trees annually in regards to the reduction of the carbon footprint,” Christensen said.

Mint Solar held a leadership summit at its Lehi office last week to prepare for its expected exponential growth as they roll out their services to stores nationwide.