Is $20 savings a month worth getting into a 25-year leasing contract with Sunnova?

[UnisunRoseville]

I just had a guy from a local solar installation company (Unisun/Syntrol) talk to me for almost three hours about a 25-year lease contract with Sunnova (well, technically, we're paying by the kWh to Sunnova for using their solar-generated electricity). Prior to this guy, I have had a few other competitors come and talk to me about their products and services, but it always seemed like it wasn't worth the trouble, since my wife and I are frugal to begin with, so the savings we'd get compared to households that use a lot more energy is quite meager.

Basically, our average monthly electricity spending is about $134 (Lincoln, CA, with PG&E), and according to Sunnova, we'd save about $20 a month at first, and then when PG&E raises their rates, we'll start to save more down the line. While Sunnova will raise their rates too, the rate increase is a lot lower than PG&E. The chart the guy showed us shows that our roof can accommodate about 12~13 panels, and will generate roughly 67% of our electricity, while the rest 33% will come from PG&E. When the 25-year contract is up, we own the panels. During the 25-years, they will be responsible for all maintenance and repairs and upgrades, as well as provide a 2-million dollar insurance.

From the research I've done, it's common wisdom that buying the panels outright will result in more savings in the long-term, but at the same time, the money can be invested with our financial advisor instead and likely get higher returns. In comparison, the lease contract costs me nothing upfront and I'm at least paying a little less for electricity, so even if the savings isn't significant, it at least causes no harm. However, I've read horror stories of people who felt cheated and ripped off and ignored by the solar power company after installation, where calls for maintenance and repairs were routinely ignored or other unpleasant experiences. So in my mind, I'm wondering if a $20 per month of meager savings is worth the risk of possibly dealing with that kind of unpleasantness. Could it be because our electricity bill isn't high to begin with, solar doesn't seem all that compelling? In the past, we even had solar companies not bother getting back to us after they got permission to pull our meter numbers--probably because they didn't seen any potential to make good money off of us, so they never bothered following up with us.

So what do you guys think? Should we go for the lease contract? Should we wait and see how much better the technology/contracts gets later as competition heats up?

After seeing this comment on here for so long, we're anxious to learn what you decided to do.
We also have a product called EZOwn which gives you the ability to take advantage of the 30% tax credit, and maintain very low, lease like payments. It is important to note that when discussing the benefits of owning the system and being told the tax credit is so great, it's only beneficial for those that have a federal tax liability. This means you must owe money to get any benefit from the credit.
There's also m-power which is a program that doesn't rely on credit at all. It's based on your equity and is paid with your property taxes. This allows the payments to be write offs.

[solar pete]

Hello UnisunRoseville and welcome to Solar Panel Talk. Blatantly trawling for leads and putting in your website address so you think no one will notice it is not cool, if you want to mention your company you need to link it to your solarreviews.com page, like this Unisun

So take a week off and reflect on your actions.

[MikeInRialto]

My $.02 is that if you can find a solar company to sign you up for a lease/PPA without an ESCALATOR (rates raise each year) at your current tier 1 rate or less for the next 20 years - then it would probably be a decent deal for everyone. These companies are getting RECs, able to write off equipment over 5 years, keep the federal tax credit, and are valuing the system well above competitive rates - so they should be willing to SHARE the benefits of solar. But for all the hassle a lease/PPA will cause you in the future if you want to sell your house, $20 is not worth the headaches.

IMO - leases/PPAs should be selling the kilowatt at or around .11-.14, some people are already paying less than that in certain states.

[SolarFamilyGuy]

I just had a guy from a local solar installation company (Unisun/Syntrol) talk to me for almost three hours about a 25-year lease contract with Sunnova (well, technically, we're paying by the kWh to Sunnova for using their solar-generated electricity). Prior to this guy, I have had a few other competitors come and talk to me about their products and services, but it always seemed like it wasn't worth the trouble, since my wife and I are frugal to begin with, so the savings we'd get compared to households that use a lot more energy is quite meager.

Basically, our average monthly electricity spending is about $134 (Lincoln, CA, with PG&E), and according to Sunnova, we'd save about $20 a month at first, and then when PG&E raises their rates, we'll start to save more down the line. While Sunnova will raise their rates too, the rate increase is a lot lower than PG&E. The chart the guy showed us shows that our roof can accommodate about 12~13 panels, and will generate roughly 67% of our electricity, while the rest 33% will come from PG&E. When the 25-year contract is up, we own the panels. During the 25-years, they will be responsible for all maintenance and repairs and upgrades, as well as provide a 2-million dollar insurance.

From the research I've done, it's common wisdom that buying the panels outright will result in more savings in the long-term, but at the same time, the money can be invested with our financial advisor instead and likely get higher returns. In comparison, the lease contract costs me nothing upfront and I'm at least paying a little less for electricity, so even if the savings isn't significant, it at least causes no harm. However, I've read horror stories of people who felt cheated and ripped off and ignored by the solar power company after installation, where calls for maintenance and repairs were routinely ignored or other unpleasant experiences. So in my mind, I'm wondering if a $20 per month of meager savings is worth the risk of possibly dealing with that kind of unpleasantness. Could it be because our electricity bill isn't high to begin with, solar doesn't seem all that compelling? In the past, we even had solar companies not bother getting back to us after they got permission to pull our meter numbers--probably because they didn't seen any potential to make good money off of us, so they never bothered following up with us.

So what do you guys think? Should we go for the lease contract? Should we wait and see how much better the technology/contracts gets later as competition heats up?

Yes. But I would get a credit card or low interest loan and purchase the system. This way you will reap all the monetary benefits. Plus you renewable energy credits every month which lower your energy bill.