New 15 Year Lease on 5.98 kWh system with SolarCity in Oregon

[Dowzer]

I didn't do any negotiating; just asked for info and then chose one of the options they presented.

Like someone else said, I think the variance in cost has more to do with the regional incentives. One of the options SolarCity offered was to purchase the system. Here's a summary:

* System cost: $32,579
* State rebate: -$10,465
* Out of pocket payment: $22,114
* Federal tax credit: -$9,655
* State tax credit: -$6,000
* Federal tax on state rebate: $4,940
* Net system cost: $11,003

So here in Oregon, it looks like the state rebate and tax credit pays for half the system price.

For us, having an upfront cost of $11K wouldn't work, although I understand the lifetime savings of owning the equipment would far exceed what we would get with a lease. Also, if we purchased the system, the monitoring and warranty would be limited and we wouldn't get insurance or a performance guarantee.

-Chris

[nate]

Such a deal
As I read this you paid them a down payment and giving them another 4000 over the next 4 years
So this will produce about 421 KWH a month and if I read this correctly you will be paying them $0.09 a KWH for the energy produced
You are currently paying about 8 cents a kilowatt hour on the top tier as you stated.
Congratulations you are now paying 13 cents a kilowatt hour for what ever this produces.

I'm looking at similar programs for smaller systems, and prepaying the lease so there are no monthly payments. I'm also comparing purchase options.

No, I don't think you read that correctly. The $0.09 kwh is the guaranteed energy price used for the performance guarantee. This is what the leasing company uses to calculate what they pay him if the system underperforms its quoted output at the end of the year. SunRun has a similar guarantee.

The 4 $1000 payments that are due in May correspond to the $1500 he'll be getting from the state, so he'll be netting $500 each year. The leasing companies, even though they own the systems, can't take the Oregon state tax credit but the state does allow the person who is leasing to take it. My quote from Solar City had the same arrangement. For purchase quotes and for SunRun's program I essentially paid the full $6000 up front. To be fair, you need to compare the net cost of the systems you get quotes on and add in the interest involved in waiting 1 year for the federal credit and 4 years for the state tax credit for the quotes that involve that.

[russ]

Part of the reason I went with Solar City is so that I would not have to read all that crap and try to figure it all out and fill out all the paperwork and jump through all the hoops and go through all that pain in the ass stuff.

Good for them. American capitalism at it's finest and all I needed to do was sign the lease instead of trying to figure out what rebates and incentives I qualified for and jumping through all the hoops to get those.

Nothing to do with American capitalism - a lot to do with not understanding and being lazy I believe.

Like Chris said - the dealing with permits etc is up to the seller/installer of the system.

If one wants to get a decent deal then study is necessary - otherwise you are giving all the advantage to the sales/lease company - they are in business for their good - not for your good.

After one understands the issues and what they are getting in to whatever choice they make is fine be that zero down lease, prepayment or system purchase. Be in control of your own financial destiny.

Russ

[Filojr]

Sad

Its funny to me the animosity of a "business" making a dollar. They provide exerptise, the homework and research. It is one thing to be "ripped off" and another to be delivered a service for which you didn't have to spend time and energy. I guess its not odd the "solar" clientele world hates profits for anyone - but of course themselves.

[russ]

Its funny to me the animosity of a "business" making a dollar. They provide exerptise, the homework and research. It is one thing to be "ripped off" and another to be delivered a service for which you didn't have to spend time and energy. I guess its not odd the "solar" clientele world hates profits for anyone - but of course themselves.

Depends - when people have no idea of or understanding of a topic they tend to be easily swayed by BS. Take the hatred of oil companies by some politicians - congressman Malarkey for example.

The other side of the coin - here is I buy sodium hypochlorite from a water treatment place (distributor) I would have to pay between 3 and 5 times the price I do from a chemical company.

Just completing a pool and in looking for hydrochloric acid (pH down) I found exactly the same problem. We are just buying generic sodium hypochlorite and hydrochloric acid for reasons not explained to the salesperson.

That is price gouging by the retail outlet being aided and abetted by the chemical firm.

A 'reasonable' markup/profit has to be there for a company to stay in business - The examples I provided of my local situation are not reasonable markups.

[Dowzer]

Here's an update on the 5.98 kWh system. It has been producing power for about 2 1/2 months now. May produced 522 kWh, June produced 750 kWh, and July produced 920 kWh. The electric bill for June was about $25 and July's was about $12. I am thrilled with the results so far.

[nate]

Here's an update on the 5.98 kWh system. It has been producing power for about 2 1/2 months now. May produced 522 kWh, June produced 750 kWh, and July produced 920 kWh. The electric bill for June was about $25 and July's was about $12. I am thrilled with the results so far.

Cool to hear that things went well. I'm really impressed with SolarCity as they were great to work with and very professional. Everything went as planned, on time and on budget - not a penny extra. They replaced our electrical panel at no charge.

Was May a partial or full month for you? La Nina seemed to make summer arrive a little late this year and May was definitely cooler and rainier than normal. I think this may have extended some into June but I don't recall

We turned our system on last Friday afternoon after PG&E came out to do their final thing. Just wondering how your performance compares since last Friday compared to averages in other months? In SW PDX/Beaverton, I didn't see a cloud in the sky this last Saturday. Sunday was mostly sunny and Monday was 100% clear again. I think today was clear at my house, but some light clouds in the AM out in closer to Hillsboro where I work -- the numbers turned out basically identical to Saturday/Monday despite seeing clouds out my window at work. Anyway, I'm particularly interested in how do the last 4 days compare to your average July numbers?

Thanks.

[Dowzer]

Hi Nate,

Yes, May was a partial month. The system was turned on on 5/11.

If you send me a PM with your email address, I will share the SolarGuard site with you so you can monitor the system's performance.

-Chris

[OCJeff]

Hi Nate,

Yes, May was a partial month. The system was turned on on 5/11.

If you send me a PM with your email address, I will share the SolarGuard site with you so you can monitor the system's performance.

-Chris

I would like to see your SolarGuard site but I cannot PM you, since I don't have 10 posts yet. Can you share on this site, or send me email?

[email removed]

[Dowzer]

Hi OCJeff,

I can't PM either. I sent you an email.

-Chris

[Mike90250]

Users, in the profile, can list email, website, and other contact information. We have the 10 post threshold to slow spammers down, and it's always a cat-mouse game to stay ahead of them. (deleting pointless posts from them - Yes solar is enviromental.)