How Sunology Used Shopify Plus to Scale Solar Sales Across Europe

Background

Sunology launched in late 2019 with one clear goal: simplify solar adoption for homeowners and renters. Early on, founder Vincent Arrouet chose WordPress with WooCommerce to power his online store, but soon found every small change required lengthy specs, dev quotes, and agency cycles. As orders climbed and customers asked for detailed custom builds, the platform began to buckle under the weight of complex product rules and traffic spikes.

Challenge

In early 2022, the energy shock from the Ukraine conflict sent inflation soaring across Europe. Although 80% of French households expressed interest in solar, only 3% actually converted. Sunology’s model—customizable kits paired with clear financing—answered a real need. But with WooCommerce struggling on performance and internationalization, the team risked missing a market window. They needed a robust solution that let them build a complex configurator, handle huge traffic surges, and expand in days, not months.

Solution

By late 2020, it was clear WooCommerce couldn’t keep pace. Sunology migrated to Shopify Plus and saw immediate gains in flexibility and reliability. In only five days, a developer built a fully bespoke storefront without relying on generic templates. The team usedShopify Scriptsto power a dynamic product configurator that builds a custom bill of materials based on customer choices. To go global, they turned onShopify Marketsand theLocalizeapp to auto-translate pages, manage local taxes, and adjust duties—all from one dashboard. Checkout got simpler thanks toShopify Paymentswith multi-currency, so customers in each market pay in their currency without extra setup.

Results

When a featured segment aired on national TV, Sunology saw over 13,000 carts open at once. Instead of faltering, the Shopify Plus setup held firm. That single surge generated more than €600,000 in one day. Conversion rates jumped, dev cycles shrank to days, and the team rolled out launches in the UK, Germany, and Spain within four weeks—no heavy rebuilds required.

Next Steps

With core infrastructure in place, Sunology is eyeing the B2B suite to serve installers, resellers, and businesses with tiered pricing and multi-location accounts. New financing integrations are in pilot, giving customers more ways to pay over time. The streamlined Shopify Plus base means these launches will go live faster than ever.