Derek has been involved in the solar industry since 1992, working for another company and in 2001 he opened his own business now known as Superior Solar due to his passion about solar energy, knowing he could deliver quality products and installations.

Derek’s current focus is to provide solar power to businesses that primarily operate during the day, using less than 480Kw’s of electricity per day.

Superior Solar is now well recognised on the Central Coast as an industry leader for offering real solutions on commercial solar power with strong referrals.

In the next 12 months, the team at Superior Solar hope to achieve about 30% growth whilst continuing to further their name as the “go to” company for commercial solar power.

Due to the hundreds of manufacturers and installation companies that are now insolvent or close to becoming insolvent, Derek and the team currently face a challenge of continuing to install their quality products and services whilst also minimising the cost as effectively as possible.

To overcome this challenge, Derek and the team at Superior Solar have improved their processes and utilised larger purchasing power to keep the cost as low as possible whilst maintaining high quality products and installations.

“Robson Partners has worked with me to analyse our expenses, found ways to save money and strategically focus on our strengths as well as equipping our sales people to further improve their techniques,” says Derek.

Over the last 12 months, Superior Solar have been able to help charity Coast Shelter install 20KW of solar power. They have also recently won two 100+KW solar power systems and solar hot water for 18 local council buildings.

The goal for the team in the next 12 months is to remove the Co2 equivalent of 400 small cars off the road by installing solar power, with a share of the profits going to affiliated charities. Derek also hopes that in the next 12 months Superior Solar will be the major solar installation company on the Central Coast.

Since joining with the Robson Team, Derek says “Meeting with Troy helps keep me focused and motivated, and pushes me to put in place a strategy to achieve my goals. I’ve found it really helpful to meet with another business person who understands small business and can help me look at it from an objective person.”

“Troy has encouraged me to embrace cloud-based software to give greater control over the whole operation of the business in order to continue growing the business to allow some more personal time for volunteer work in the future.”

“I have a great team, each member brings their own unique abilities and quirkiness, it’s taken a while to learn our differences and where we can each find the right fit. Looking back, it’s those differences that have made a strong Synergy that gives us a unified strength. Our team has worked very hard to focus on our business’ strengths and points of difference, which has been rewarding.”

Derek’s business/life goals, plans and actions for the future include helping the underprivileged. Last year, he got the opportunity to go to RWANDA to see what he could support there. This year, Derek and the team are able to provide support to Coast Shelter in Gosford, installing a solar power system to reduce their energy requirements. 

Derek hopes to be able to send teams to volunteer part time to provide marginal areas better access to power, lighting and clean water.