Comments on: Home Solar, Minus the Cost, Effort, Worry

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:10:54 +0000

@Elizabeth you may want to check in with a company that does a lot of solar out in more remote places, Plan It Solar. They may have some ideas for you. http://www.planitsolar.com/

By: Elizabeth De Roos

Elizabeth De Roos — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:07:19 +0000

What about those of us out in the boonies off the grid? If my research is correct we get no rebates & of course can’t sell back to a utility.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:44:20 +0000

From what I understand about how these companies make their money, *I believe* they would be able to harness any utility rebates and state/federal rebates.

Simple example here in AZ – if it costs $9/watt to install solar they get $3/watt right off the bat from the utils. Then they get 30% of the remainder as a federal tax credit or about $2/watt meaning they are only out $4/watt for the install. Now remember you need to put a few grand up front plus the stream of payments over the service agreement.

Even if they don’t get the federal credit they probably get the util’s money and your upfront payment. And they retain ownership – which with panels that have 20-25 year warranties they can expect to earn $ beyond the initial contract period.

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:13:31 +0000

Wow Caitlin, you really did your homework, thanks for sharing this information. As I told the COO when I interviewed them, I’m definitely looking into them when I buy a home next year.

By: Caitlin MIskimen

Caitlin MIskimen — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:21:12 +0000

Regarding a comparison between SolarCity and SunRun, here’s what I’ve gleaned from reading about them online:
* SolarCity is an installer, and in the way of financing it provides homeowners with something called the SolarLease. Basically an equipment lease, homeowners pay a low upfront cost and then a set monthly bill for the duration of their contract. Seems a bit fuzzy when you get into details about insurance, monitoring and maintenance, and you don’t get much choice about who you work with.
* SunRun is a service, so it works with a variety of installers to get panels on your roof (my favorite so far is Akeena, who has some really cool looking panels). Big differentiators with SolarCity: The amount of SunRun’s payments are based on the electricity you use; SunRun insures panels and guarantees performance; and SunRun takes care of the maintenance.

By: Wei-En Tan

Wei-En Tan — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:31:15 +0000

Hi Thor,

The sun is certainly free, but harnessing its power certainly isn’t, and considering that utility prices are predicted to rise on an average of 9.8% in 2009 ,

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/07/25/US_electric_rates_predicted_to_rise/UPI-39351217004823/

looks like a fixed rate for 18 years is a very good idea, and would be even better if it were longer…

By: thor

thor — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:35:50 +0000

Why get into a contract for 18 years. Sounds like a ploy form the energy moguls of today to hold on to their monopoly by hooking you up for 18 years now, for things that are free (solar energy) and in the very near future will only be a small upfront cost.

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:19:28 +0000

I’m encouraging the COO to chime in on this, and wrote them myself to follow up. I think they were busy at a major solar conference this week, so hopefully they’ll check in next. Stay tuned!

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:54:08 +0000

Here’s an article about it on Grist: http://www.grist.org/feature/2008/04/11/?source=most_popular

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:50:15 +0000

SolarCity is a similar company.
With these suggestions, I’d love to see a head-to-head comparison of the different companies.

By: John Seiffer

John Seiffer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:18:31 +0000

Sounds like a great concept but I don’t quite get how the company will cover it’s costs and make money. Given that solar is not quite cost competitive with conventional power and the home owner is paying less, there has to be some extra for the company. In similar commercial deals I’ve looked at that extra comes from the fact that the company gets to sell the extra power back to the grid and keep the bonus (especially as prices go up in the future). If you’re saying the homeowner gets that too in this case, I’d like to know more about their business model.
- John http://www.TheSmallBusinessCoach.com

By: Tracy

Tracy — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:11:34 +0000

CitizenRe has been trying to get this going for a while now. My obvious concern is letting a company with an unknown track record of performance alter my home. Yet, everything has to start somewhere. I’m on their waiting list.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:32:26 +0000

Sounds great….but it would be helpful to have more financial info available. With a guarantee of equipment service and utility rate security, that could run to 18 years(!!), it would be good to know whether such a new company has the resources to back up the guarantee. For example, in the event of Sun Run bankruptcy, does the homeowner loose the solar equipment, which would appear to remain Sun Run’s even while installed on one’s roof.
Graham