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Cross-reference public permit data with state license records in Claude to find homeowners who lost their installer
Luis Galarza and Laura Gutiérrez, founders of SoFlo Solar, a small solar service company in Florida, in an Anthropic-sponsored Axios Q&A
Galarza pulled public permit data (in Fort Lauderdale alone, 4,000 permits tied to more than 400 contractors) and used Claude to cross-reference it against state corporate licensing records to find which contractors weren't still operating. He then overlaid the result on a map, which showed clusters where certain installers had worked a neighborhood. Gutiérrez says Claude also helped them map out the plan and structure how to service and scale the business.
Claude $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly)
Medium · or we do it from $149/mo
Claude
The problem
When solar installers go out of business, homeowners are left "orphaned" with equipment on the roof and loan payments due. SoFlo had a hunch that servicing these systems was a real market but, Galarza says, "we didn't know exactly how to attack it or where to spend our money."
What happened
Galarza: "it became a business, not just a hunch." Once they reached one person in a neighborhood, word of mouth followed, and "Ever since then, we've been so busy that we've never really had to rethink this." Gutiérrez says the two-to-four-person team can act "as if we were a 20-person team." This is a sponsored piece paid for by Anthropic, which makes Claude.
Quoted in the source: Luis Galarza and Laura Gutiérrez, founders, SoFlo Solar. Source: Axios (sponsored by Anthropic): Small business supports "orphaned" solar panel owners with Claude (2026-10-16) · Added 2026-10-20.
How to set it up yourself
- What SoFlo Solar does: per the Axios Q&A, the founder exported public permit data and used Claude to cross-reference it against state corporate licensing records, find contractors no longer operating, then mapped the results to see neighborhood clusters.
- Download the permit records for your service type from your city or county open-data portal or permit search (export to CSV), and the active/inactive business or contractor license list from your state's licensing or corporations site.
- Upload both files to Claude with the prompt below and ask for a matched table plus the addresses grouped by neighborhood or ZIP code.
- Spot-check 10 matches by hand on the state site before acting, plot the addresses on a map (Google My Maps imports CSV), and follow your state's rules on contacting homeowners.
Copy-paste prompt
File 1 is building permits for {SERVICE TYPE} in {CITY/COUNTY} with the contractor name on each. File 2 is the state's business/contractor license records with status. Match each permit's contractor to File 2 (allow for small spelling differences, and list any uncertain matches separately). Output: (1) a table of contractors that are inactive, dissolved or not found, with how many permits each pulled; (2) every permit address tied to those contractors, grouped by ZIP code with counts; (3) the 5 ZIP codes with the most. Don't invent records; if a field is missing say so.The $39 Plumbing & HVAC AI Starter Kit has ready-to-use call scripts, missed-call texts, estimate follow-ups and review templates, built from 18 real, sourced setups. Instant download, 30-day refund.
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Tools used
Claude
AI assistant for writing, long documents, analysis and coding help.
From $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (checked 2026-10-18)
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Checked prices: Claude: from $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (verified 2026-10-18)
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