SolarCity 20-year lease too good to be true?

[russ]

Now that is just rich. I am happy with the deal I got on my solar city lease so I must be an employee. Wow how it must feel to go through life so bitter and distrusting of anyone with a positive story to tell.

Here is an idea. If you or anyone else is so skeptical of solar citys lease why not give them a call and pretend to be a potential customer.

1) They don't service Izmir, Turkey
2) If people, like you for example, would share their contracts it would be informative for many
3) I did not say you were an employee - I said that if I were an employee of Solar City in the sales group that these posts would be something I would do.

These posts from people so excited about a 'great deal' but with no details are meaningless.

Can the bitter and distrusting crap - only a fool walks into a 20 year contract for a goodly sum with a trusting attitude. Granted, there are plenty of fools out there.

Some of the deals reported are too good to be true - the one contract I have seen was not nearly so lucrative. Either people don't know what they are looking at or are too stupid to understand the document.

Testimonials are worth absolutely zero.
Russ

[mangoman]

From now on I am in favor of deleting these posts praising Solar City unless a copy of the lease is attached.

If I worked for Solar City this is exactly what I would do - write posts that can not be verified or facts checked and say how wonderful the company is.

Russ

Now that is just rich. I am happy with the deal I got on my solar city lease so I must be an employee. Wow how it must feel to go through life so bitter and distrusting of anyone with a positive story to tell.

Here is an idea. If you or anyone else is so skeptical of solar citys lease why not give them a call and pretend to be a potential customer. Then you can get your hands on a lease and take it to your lawyers or post it here for all to see. Even if they won't leave you an unsigned copy you will have 3 days to cancel after signing and you can make and post all the copies you want after you get your copy.

And no I am not a solar city employee. I work for a local municipality in southern California as a network administrator.

Give them a call or have a friend give them a call and lead them on until you have a copy of a lease. What have you got to lose?

[Naptown]

I would love to see one of their leases. That might be interesting.

[russ]

Funny thing too - Everyone thinks they got the best deal around (salesman told them so) but don't want to find out they got screwed so they clam up.

Come on people - You are helping the leasing companies screw everyone.

Post the lease before signing.

Russ

[Mike90250]

From now on I am in favor of deleting these posts praising Solar City unless a copy of the lease is attached.

If I worked for Solar City this is exactly what I would do - write posts that can not be verified or facts checked and say how wonderful the company is.

Russ

Ditto, except Solar City asks each mark, to keep the lease private, so folks don't realize they have been suckered.

[russ]

From now on I am in favor of deleting these posts praising Solar City unless a copy of the lease is attached.

If I worked for Solar City this is exactly what I would do - write posts that can not be verified or facts checked and say how wonderful the company is.

Russ

[phubner]

SolarCity Lease numerical analysis

SACSolar

I too have been looking at the Solar City lease option. They just finished a quote for me based on my last year usage

Hi Paul - If people want to post praise for a leasing company such as this - please post a copy of the contract in question so that details may be seen by all.

Russ

[russ]

No - you would just be getting cheap electricity in that case. At approximately 300 kWh per month most homes will still need power from the grid.

I am referring to the fact that you will have the benefit of hindsite at that time. What problems you have had. How much you have not gained by owning the system outright.

Russ

[csriram45]

Russ,


So in 15 years we expect to sell electricity for much higher to the utilities correct? So if we lease then SolarCity gets all the money while if we owned we can sell it for much higher? Is that your reasoning...

If your usage is however higher than what you produce how will you sell it to utility company?

Bit confused on that front.
Tks

[russ]

So back in post 34 of this thread I spoke about how my Solar City leased panels were just turned on that day. Here we are now a month later or so and today I got my first bill from So Cal Edison. $1.83. Last year at this time my bill was $111.65.

Thank you Solar City. If you are a scam, please feel free to continue scamming me for the remaining 19y 11m of my lease.

Tell us that in 10 or 15 years when you see how it goes then. I know Solar City is happy they have their money in the bank now.

Best of luck - hope it works out well.

Russ

[mangoman]

So back in post 34 of this thread I spoke about how my Solar City leased panels were just turned on that day. Here we are now a month later or so and today I got my first bill from So Cal Edison. $1.83. Last year at this time my bill was $111.65.

Thank you Solar City. If you are a scam, please feel free to continue scamming me for the remaining 19y 11m of my lease.

[coolwilly]

leasing is a rip off

I just bought 15 ul solar panels for $5000. 3000 watts. And i bought a sunnyboy 3000 for 1000 on ebay . I made my own ground mount. I have 6300 total in it. I put my own geo system in. and both my windmills. I am just a irrigation contractor. But i do install 4 systems a week. The solar install was very easy comparred to everything eles. sma and sun elec do all the work for you. All you have to do is put it together. I know a roof mount system would be much harder. But i wouldnt drill holes in my roof or climb up there to clear snow. I am now helping 4 neibors install there own. Mike i got alot of my ideas from you and reading your post. I thank you for that, And those burgers look good on your grill

[Stomp]

Achievable in the 10-15% range
At 10% your money will double in about 8 years
At 15% more like the 5-7 year range

I realize it's achievable in that range...my point is I think that range is aggressive given the current market. Later I read that he is an active trader and perhaps he has it figured out, but I remember a number of "professional traders" during the first dot com boom that did well for a period of time, and then got hosed. I'm thrilled being up 1000% on a flier I took 2 years ago (PWAV), but I didn't have the stones or conviction to put enough $$ at it to make it meaningful.

I didn't mean to take this too far off-topic...I just think that saying you are doing bad if you aren't doubling your money in 5-7 years (i.e. 10-15% returns) is not really "market" for a balanced approach in this market.

[Naptown]

With all due respect, if you are good enough to guarantee (or very comfortably believe you will be) doubling your money in 5-7 years in *this present market* you are in the wrong business...unless you moonlight in the investment arena. 10-15% per year, year over year, is aggressive on a balanced portfolio. I agree there were some screaming buys as the market was recovering, but don't quite think that's still the case. My view of the world is:

1.) Yields on treasuries and other low-risk investments are next to nothing right now. There are some decent yielding dividend stocks out there, but dividends can be cut and prices can go down.
2.) Despite many feeling we were on the verge of a depression just a few years ago, the market has recovered very nicely while there are still substantial fundamental issues that could cause meaningful drops/losses.
3.) While it hasn't shown itself to be a serious issue yet, the potential for inflation or stagflation is real.

So, getting back to why I chose to go solar, first and foremost we think we're staying in this house a long time. No matter what people say, I don't think the solar system adds that much to resale value (in fact a friend just bought a house that has what looks to be a sizeable system on the roof and they didn't even mention it in the MLS listing.

I was of the opinion that a payback period of 7-8 years (assuming historical norms in utlity rate hikes for SoCal Edison) was reasonable. I'm definitely still long on the stock market for the long-term, but personally view this almost as an asset-class within my portfolio that will be paying me a predictable return (my utility bill savings) and serve as a hedge against utility inflation that has been constant here in California. Just my $.02 worth, and of course everybody has their own unique situation.

Achievable in the 10-15% range
At 10% your money will double in about 8 years
At 15% more like the 5-7 year range

[Stomp]

Guess it depends on what you call a good investment. IMO if you cannot double your money in 5 to 7 years, it is not a good investment. At 20 years to break even on you rinitial investment is lousy. In reality you are loosing your shirt as inflation would completely consume it.

Example if you invest $1000 today, in 20 years you should be able to cash out $16,000. So if you invest $1000 today and 20 years from now it is only worth $1000, you lost $15,000.

With all due respect, if you are good enough to guarantee (or very comfortably believe you will be) doubling your money in 5-7 years in *this present market* you are in the wrong business...unless you moonlight in the investment arena. 10-15% per year, year over year, is aggressive on a balanced portfolio. I agree there were some screaming buys as the market was recovering, but don't quite think that's still the case. My view of the world is:

1.) Yields on treasuries and other low-risk investments are next to nothing right now. There are some decent yielding dividend stocks out there, but dividends can be cut and prices can go down.
2.) Despite many feeling we were on the verge of a depression just a few years ago, the market has recovered very nicely while there are still substantial fundamental issues that could cause meaningful drops/losses.
3.) While it hasn't shown itself to be a serious issue yet, the potential for inflation or stagflation is real.

So, getting back to why I chose to go solar, first and foremost we think we're staying in this house a long time. No matter what people say, I don't think the solar system adds that much to resale value (in fact a friend just bought a house that has what looks to be a sizeable system on the roof and they didn't even mention it in the MLS listing.

I was of the opinion that a payback period of 7-8 years (assuming historical norms in utlity rate hikes for SoCal Edison) was reasonable. I'm definitely still long on the stock market for the long-term, but personally view this almost as an asset-class within my portfolio that will be paying me a predictable return (my utility bill savings) and serve as a hedge against utility inflation that has been constant here in California. Just my $.02 worth, and of course everybody has their own unique situation.