I am leasing solar panels and I am super excited, 5.28 kw system (dc, a little less than 5 after it goes through the inverter). No money down, I am just paying for the power directly at a rate that is slightly cheaper than my current utility. I am not really doing it though because I am saving money, which is minuscule, but because I am kind of geeky, and since my rate is locked in for 20 years it is acting as a hedge against rising utility costs.
But mostly I am just geeky.
20 years? You must be supremely confident that power costs will rise for decades.
But the geek factor I can understand.
Nevertheless, tell us more. Are these photovoltaic, installed on your roof? Fixed? Size (dimensions)?
I am somewhat confident power costs will rise, but even if they don’t it isn’t a bad deal, i.e. the downside is not really bad at all. As I said, it is a hedge. It will be a PV system installed on my roof, fixed. The agreement is for a guaranteed 7,663 kwh this year with a half percent degradation every year. We haven’t done the full on engineering yet, so I cannot say how big the system will be size wise, but right now we are estimating 5.28 kwh on a extremely well located SW facing roof slope
Solarcity, I assume?
I looked into that system, but decided against it - even though we are a prime candidate for optimization of solar, their model wouldn’t have worked for us.
Our roof gets full sun all day long, and we are gone at work during the day. Where we live, you can sell back to the grid. With the right setup, we’d be able to easily keep a bank of batteries charged for emergency purposes or for use at night. With fully owned panels, our electricity would be just about free.
But with a leased system, you don’t get the sell-back credit (I suspect this is a large part of why they can charge you a lower price, because they take the credit themselves). Nor is there a backup system - if I recall correctly, if the line power goes out, the transfer switch they install shuts off, so you can’t even use the cells if the power goes out during the day. At night, when the solar panels aren’t producing, you buy from the grid. Basically, their setup seemed optimal for situations where someone is home during the day using the electricity being produced by the panels (ie, young family), or senior citizens that wake up at the crack of dawn and go to sleep as soon as the sun sets 
Still - a part of me still wants to go that route because I’d kinda like to be on the forefront of alternative energies. It’d also be cool to take the water heater off NG.
(please feel free to correct anything I may have mis-stated about the capabilities, though )
GO - does the system allow you to operate normally whent he grid goes down? (i.e. does the price include batteries?)
Do you mean if my system goes down or the whole grid goes down? When the system is not creating power for whatever reason I then get my power from the local utility. Conversely, if I am producing power that I am not using it goes to the local utility literally running my meter backwards. I will not have any batteries, so if the whole grid goes down while the sun is shining I should still have power otherwise I will be SOL like everyone else.
One other factor that would give me pause is that solar cells are likely to improve dramatically over the next few years. Would they upgrade the panels to newer technology?
I have to admit, this sounds like a brilliant business plan for the company that leases the solar panels!
Basically, they make the profit and are guaranteed you pay for the installation and equiptment during the contracted period of time, and they have nothing to lose if the price of electricity goes up (they will be able to sell it for more) and nothing to lose if the price goes down (you are already locked into the fixed price).
Seriously - that is one hell of a great business plan!
Twice now - twice - I have read the thread title as “I’m getting a solar penis.”
I am not sure how they make money if the price goes up. They sell me the power at the fixed price, if I use it I use it and if I don’t I get to sell it back to the utility.
Yes, that is a definite risk. But solar panels have flattened out in efficiency and cost (and with the recent tariff against China they may actually go up). I don’t see it as a huge risk on the downside though.
My guess is your contract, locked in at that price over 20 years, more than covers the cost of installation and maintenance - even if they don’t make a dime selling any extra electricity.
Oh, I see what you are saying, yes I am sure that is the case. Although I can tell you that it is no different than a utility buying power from a solar or wind farm on a 20 year contract (which in California, at least, is the norm)
Welcome to the club! I used SolarCity to install a 4+ kw system a couple of years ago. Banked the Federal and California tax credits, spending $15k to wipe out a $160 monthly bill (and get a check for around $50 each year for the excess generation).
I have not paid for electricity since installation, and my calcs put my payoff around year 12. I have a deal where the panels are still at 85% after 25 years, so my only risk is the transformer.
The bottom line is improved by the fact that they pocket the subsidy, up front. This article notes that:
nm
Cool! I am not buying my solar panels, I am just getting the energy, they will get the tax breaks and such. Its just a different model. I can buy the system at some point down the line (they have provided a buyout schedule), or I can just continue to buy the energy only. As far as I can tell this is a low risk proposition, it could turn out to be more costly if energy prices decline, but here in California I am pretty confident that that won’t be the case. And the offsetting benefits of that risk I like, cleaner energy, having something cool :), to go along with the hedge against rising prices make this a win for me.
Of course it isn’t for everybody, your roof, your sun shine, your utility rates are all factors, I have a good roof, tons of sunshine and have a utility with a high upper tier rates.
We looked into this, and my impression is that the solar power vendor has nothing to do with electricity sales - that is between you and the power company. Am I wrong?
For your area, do you know how power generation varies by month? In the Bay Area we’d have to buy electricity in the winter with short days but be able to sell in the summer.
What happens of you move before the 20 years is up? We didn’t do it because it seems you have to convince the buyer to take over the contract or else you are sol - and we are not going to be in our house 20 more years.
I am in Sacramento area so if anything I have more of a variability between winger and summer. Right now I would say my bill will be higher about 4 months, lower about four months and a push for four months. The net effect should be slightly lower bills. One nice thing, IMO, is that it smooths out my electricity spending throughout the year. They do have a pretty nice referral program, which we are hoping we can possibly take advantage of.
If you move, you can transfer the lease to the new owner or you can prepay and just include it in the sale. It is no different really than any other feature of a home you are trying to sell, some buyers will want it, some won’t.