I just came across this company and looked in the forums to see if anyone had used them/recommended them, and found this thread. Did you (or any other MMM readers) look into this option? If so, what are the pros and cons? It seems a good alternative to the prohibitive cost of installing solar panels. Thanks for your input!
Here's the business model:
1. Homeowners don't have the savings to pay for the capital expense of solar. If PV companies want to move more product, they have to figure out how to subsidize it.
2. Just as the entire world ramped up panel production, Germany removed a bunch of subsidies. New tech and new manufacturing processes also cut down on costs, leaving wholesalers with a huge overhang of product. Prices of some panels are selling for less than $1/watt. When we were buying panels in 2005-2007, we were thrilled to find second-hand panels for $4/watt, so today's prices are Moore's Law on steroids.
3. Installation companies have to invest a lot of time & money in payroll, installation training, and special tools. Their profit margins depend on how fast (and error-free) they can install panels. It's hard work, their staff tend to have high turnover, and they need constant practice. Even if they're installing PV systems at cost, they're getting some proficiency training and using more product (so that they can buy with a better wholesaler discount).
Keep in mind that PV installers are probably not getting rich off this business model, especially in a recession. They might even be losing money and hoping to make it up on volume. If they had a choice they'd rather install their panels on top of Wal-Mart or Costco.
They'll install their array on your roof, using a less-experienced foreman (or an instructor) and a crew of newbies. They have to make it safe and they will, but they might have to fix mistakes and end up looking like a bunch of clowns in the process. (You're getting what you're paying for.) The nice thing (from your perspective) is that they have to run the construction permits and arrange the net-metering agreement with your local utility. Ask them to give you a smart meter (if you don't have one already) and tell them that you want them to arrange the approval from your local homeowner's association. Both of those are minor hassles and will give you an indication of how motivated these guys are.
If your electric meter is on the north side of your house, these guys may go cheap on the wiring and route fifty feet of conduit over the top of your house to reach the junction box. You may not care for the look. They may not care to spend any more money than necessary, and they don't care whether or not it looks good.
They'll get all of the tax credits (both state & federal) for installing your array. Since they're a business, they'll depreciate the heck out of it during the next 10 years. They did the installation so it didn't cost very much to begin with, and their payback is as little as 5-8 years.
You'll sign a power-producing agreement (PPA), and it might be for as long as 20 years. Ideally it'd be a flat rate for that entire 20 years. There could be penalties for early cancellation. I don't know what price you'd pay-- whether you'd be paying less than the current utility rate or more. If you're asked to pay more than the current utility rate, then you could consider what inflation would do to your electricity costs over that 20 years (that's what usually happens around here). Of course on the Mainland you can ship power in from out of state, so their contract rate might be lower than what you're paying now, or it might be tied to some sort of inflation/average-price index.
Every year you'll pay them an income stream on their array. Ideally it'd be less than you'd pay the electric utility, so you're happy. Their original goal was to be able to buy bigger volumes of equipment and practice installing it, while the tax credits & depreciation are just bonus. Now you're like the dividend stock that never stops giving, and when you multiply that by a few hundred homes it keeps their company in business. They can use your income stream to borrow money, buy more hardware, and underbid bigger projects.
If you have an electric water heater then ask them for a quote on a solar water heater. If you have a gas water heater then you're better off just sticking with gas.
If you want to get them thinking about the size of the array, tell them that you're thinking of buying an electric vehicle in a few years. They'll probably tell you that they can come back out to add another 1000-1500 watts of panels (with microinverters).
Ideally they'd pay for all maintenance & repairs-- offhand the only damage I can think of would be a hailstorm. The cover glass would probably handle even that. Good thing because I think they'd be reluctant to spend any time on customer service. After all you got it for free. The worst case would be if they screwed up and made a hole in your roof instead of in a rafter/truss... in your neighborhood you wouldn't know about a roof leak for months. My personal opinion is that roofing cement fixes a lot of mistakes.
If they're using microinverters then see if you can track each panel's performance on the Internet.
Keep in mind that you could probably do better if you put up the capex to buy your own PV array. They may try to upsell you in that direction. You'd get all the tax credits (
http://www.dsireusa.org/) and it could pay for itself in 10-15 years. However the downside is that you'd need to stay in the house for 10-15 years to realize that payback, and I don't think homebuyers are willing to pay for PV arrays.
http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US37F&re=1&ee=1 The federal incentive is a 30% tax credit, which can be carried forward. DSIRE also lists the state, local, and utility credits/rebates/incentives.
