Creepy Solar Power Enthusiast Roaming Neighborhood at Night

[wobblymusic.livejournal.com]

Rant = ON.

I signed up with Sungevity, the solar power company and it recently went live. OK, they put a yard sign in front of my house, and I suppose that encourages strangers to want to talk to me. But why would someone ring my doorbell at 9:30pm on a weeknight hoping to ask me some questions about the system? It's not just me, right? That's kind of a weird thing to do, right?

If the stranger in question reads this board: Maybe you should leave a note with your phone number or email address instead? If you don't have any paper with you, well, you know where I live and you could always come back later.

Rant = OFF.

Before anyone asks, I paid about $2,900 upfront for a 15 year lease with no additional monthly payments. They also gave me a $500 iPad as a special promotion, so the net cost was more like $2,400. My thinking on lease vs. buy was that, 15 years from now, I won't want to be stuck with what will (hopefully) be very outdated technology.

I haven't gotten my first post-solar electric bill yet (it's due next week), but things look very promising. I've had the system live for 3+ weeks and I'm averaging over 100kWh/week. That should save me close to $100/month at current NSTAR rates which means the system pays for itself in 2-3 years.

And I swear this isn't why I wrote this post (really!), but if anyone is seriously interested in using Sungevity, please use my referral code when visiting sungevity.com. I think we each get $500 if you sign up. My code is 75403.

Comments

[nathanjw]

The usual deal is that the company that installs it owns it, and gets to keep the various tax credits and the like that are associated with the power generation. In MA, that mostly means Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs), which are usually worth more than the electricity itself - something like $0.50 per kWh last year, but only $0.20 per kWh in recent auctions this year. SRECs are purchased by utility companies, who have a mandate to have some percentage of their power come from solar. A system that generates 5000 kWh over the course of a year makes around $1000-$2500 per year for the installers, which is a pretty good return on investment on a ~$20k set of panels and electronics. For the homeowner, they get a certain amount of cheap or free power, don't have to deal with the complexities of the SREC auction market or the risks in that market (including the risk that it will simply cease to exist if the legislature so desires), and know that the installed has a continued stake in the operation of the system.

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense. I'd forgotten about the SRECs - if the installer keeps those and the tax credits, that certainly would let them offer a lower price. Effectively, you're leasing them space on your roof to install their panels and they give you a cut of the profit in the form of reduced utility bills. And of course, they're dealing with all the annoying paperwork and maintenance of the system, which they have big incentive to keep functional. It seems like not a bad deal for homeowners who don't want to deal with the complexities of running a system, but would like the benefits.