Bank owned foreclosure

[john phillips]

No doubt the SREC transfer process is complicated. Assuming Tesla has involuntarily lost their security interest in the PV system, the OP can decide how much the SRECs are worth, compare that to the hassle of getting them, and decide how much he wants to pay for Tesla's cooperation.
Again, assuming Tesla was wiped out in the foreclosure, they have more than SREC minimums to worry about. They or their PPA lender/investor is also looking at recapture of accelerated depreciation and possibly also losing all or part he Investment Tax Credit that they took in 2016. I am not sure Tesla yet understands that unless the Title Company has contacted them.

You may be able to replace the inverter so you could register your system. It is very easy to plug a cat 5 wire into the new inverter and then the other end into your router. The problem would be to run the cable between the two. Then you need an account set up for the new inverter. .

[john phillips]

You are mixing how NET metering works, how regulated utilities work and tossing in SREC markets.

The utilities are not required to buy SRECs, they can do their own installs just like many other utilities have decided to do. They make a value decision on if they should buy SREC or build their own systems.
The state makes policy based on their goals of increasing solar adoption and how they want to go about that.
They could have done as OH or PA have done and opened the market which would drastically drop the rates, or kept it closed like DC which keeps the rates high in a tight market. The annual sell prices are set yes but it is based on the closed market.

Utilities can guy or build and that is always a cost analysis decision not unlike those made by almost all other utilities in the nation.

The rates are set for regulated (publicly traded ) utilities by the PUC just like regulated utilities in almost all states.

Your utility may not be buying your SREC but some utility is and their customer is helping to pay for your system.

[John_Dumke]

Not much of an update, but I have left 2 messages and emailed my contact with the title company (along with numerous calls without messages) and haven't heard anything back, which is frustrating.

My suggestion would be to call your Real Estate agent to see if they can get a little bit of leverage.

[Ampster]

I went through the transfer process for the SREC contract when we bought our house. There were 4 different forms - some of which needed to be signed by buyer and seller, and then it took a good 6 months to work its way through several opaque bureaucracies. Trying to do a transfer with a non-cooperative system owner seems like it would be a lot harder.



Tesla would lose the SRECs. And isn't it the case that there might be a penalty if they fail to meet their minimums?

No doubt the SREC transfer process is complicated. Assuming Tesla has involuntarily lost their security interest in the PV system, the OP can decide how much the SRECs are worth, compare that to the hassle of getting them, and decide how much he wants to pay for Tesla's cooperation.
Again, assuming Tesla was wiped out in the foreclosure, they have more than SREC minimums to worry about. They or their PPA lendor/investor is also looking at recapture of accelerated depreciation and possibly also losing all or part he Iinvestment Tax Credit that they took in 2016. I am not sure Tesla yet understands that unless the Title Company has contacted them.

[ericy]

I dont know enough about SRECs to answer that. It would seem logical that all the OP would need to do is prove ownership of the system and therefore the power that the system generates. However it is possible the assignment of the SREC might not be affected by the foreclosure and the OP might not be able to claim the SRECs. Worse case the OP would have a free system without the SRECs but all the other generation benefits.

I went through the transfer process for the SREC contract when we bought our house. There were 4 different forms - some of which needed to be signed by buyer and seller, and then it took a good 6 months to work its way through several opaque bureaucracies. Trying to do a transfer with a non-cooperative system owner seems like it would be a lot harder.

Regarding Solaredge monitoring, worse case, there are several alternatve ways to monitor the system production if for some unknown reason Solaredge does not cooperate.

Why would the OP do that? He would lose any Net Energy Metering credits for generation. All Tesla would lose is the data.

Tesla would lose the SRECs. And isn't it the case that there might be a penalty if they fail to meet their minimums?

[Ampster]

They might decide they lost their security interest, but choose to not cooperate in transferring anything like SREC or SolarEdge monitoring.

I dont know enough about SRECs to answer that. It would seem logical that all the OP would need to do is prove ownership of the system and therefore the power that the system generates. However it is possible the assignment of the SREC might not be affected by the foreclosure and the OP might not be able to claim the SRECs. Worse case the OP would have a free system without the SRECs but all the other generation benefits.

Regarding Solaredge monitoring, worse case, there are several alternatve ways to monitor the system production if for some unknown reason Solaredge does not cooperate.

What happens if the OP just turns off the inverter? Does that do anything incentivize Tesla to be more cooperative, or does would he just shoot themself in the foot by doing this.

Why would the OP do that? He would lose any Net Energy Metering credits for generation. All Tesla would lose is the data.

[ButchDeal]

They might decide they lost their security interest, but choose to not cooperate in transferring anything like SREC or SolarEdge monitoring.

OP can just registered the inverter himself and take over the monitoring that way.

What happens if the OP just turns off the inverter? Does that do anything incentivize Tesla to be more cooperative, or does would he just shoot themself in the foot by doing this?

then OP doesn't get the production from the inverter.
He could disconnect their monitoring though.

[ericy]

However, if the Title Company can convince Tesla that they have already involuntarily lost their security interest in the panels then it might be easy. It will turn on whether the foreclosure wiped out the lien that secured Teslas interest in the panels.

They might decide they lost their security interest, but choose to not cooperate in transferring anything like SREC or SolarEdge monitoring.

What happens if the OP just turns off the inverter? Does that do anything incentivize Tesla to be more cooperative, or does would he just shoot themself in the foot by doing this?

[JSchnee21]

Wow! SolarEdge and Trina from Solar City ?!?! That's surprisingly high end stuff from them. Hopefully you'll get to keep it.

[foo1bar]

It is actually 36 of these.

Do you know if it's the 245W or the 260W version of the Trina modules? or something in between?
IMO you'll want to know that eventually anyhow.

36 * 260W would be 9360W
36 * 245W would be 8820W

So the installation probably cost somewhere in the $24k-$28k range for the materials and the subcontractor that did the actual work.

BTW - I don't think systems are "quite a bit cheaper" now than they were in 2016. I think they're still in the ~$3/W range.
The graph on here says average of $3.57/W or $3.36/W for 2016 vs. $3.05/W for H2'18.
So it's saying things have gotten 10-17% cheaper (I think it's high for the numbers for 2016. But maybe it's right for the "average" - which includes a lot of very-profitable-for-the-installer deals)
In any case - I'm willing to believe 10% cheaper than ~2 years ago. I would have guessed only ~5%, but 10-17% cheaper seems plausible to me.

[peakbagger]

The scam was they were loading as many charges up front as they could get away with to boost the federal rebate on the installed system cost. Its an artificially high installed cost.

[Crash]

This post is better than a TV mystery. I would tell Tesla that you want a new roof or at least neutral party to inspect your roof for damage after removal. No reason you should suffer from this.

[foo1bar]

I also got the original price of the system in 2016, before any tax credits or incentives (just over 47K). I doubt they are just going to let that go without some sort of fight.

Installed in 2016?
Most likely it cost them about $3 per DC-watt to install. Maybe a little less.

I don't think you've stated the type of panels installed - just the inverter.
Since the inverter is 10kW, I'll guesstimate that it is a 11kW system and cost them about $33k to install. (maybe less - maybe 10kW @ $2.75/W ==> $27k)
The $47k price tag probably meant they got a $14k credit from the feds. So it really cost them $13k-$19k.
And they may have gotten some payments from the previous owner, so knock a few bucks off for that.

But really the question is - what's it worth to them?
If they can get you to take over the contract it's probably worth $30k+ in today's dollars. (IANAL - but it doesn't look like you have any need to do that. Of course I'm sure they'd be happy to have you voluntarily sign a contract with them.)

If they have to remove the system and get what they can for scrap value, it's probably worth -$5k to +$5k.

And then there's what they'll have to spend on administrative time and lawyer fees...

Right now I think the title insurance company is going to be a big help for you. I probably would talk to a RE lawyer too - show them what Solar City has sent you, and what your title insurance says and get their opinion on what is likely to happen.
My *guess* is that the title insurance company will get Solar City to go away. But again, IANAL and I don't know MA laws.

BTW - what are the details of your system?
You said 38 panels. Do you know what type of panels they are? Or what wattage?

[ButchDeal]

I ended up getting my hands on the original install papers from solar city. I am going to assume that any information that I need will be somewhere in them. I also got the original price of the system in 2016, before any tax credits or incentives (just over 47K). I doubt they are just going to let that go without some sort of fight.

That is NOT their cost and that is older pricing. Systems are quite a bit cheaper now.

They sold the product to a customer that was high risk, their loss has nothing to do with you.

[ButchDeal]

How do the SRECs work in Massachusetts? And by this I mean, would the homeowner need to enter meter readings for Tesla to get the SREC revenue, or is it all automated? For our home in Delaware, I have to read the revenue-grade meter periodically and enter the reading into a website, but other states are likely to be different.

No the inverter has a built in Revenue grade meter so the meter readings are automatic over the GSM network.

You could have put in a connected meter as well but your installer went with a cheaper option.

IN some states like PA you used to be able to use predicted generation for systems under 5kW. Mine is grandfathered into this in PA so I don't need any readings