blakegallagher
Member
SolarCity Introduces its First Community Solar Option for Renters - NASDAQ.com
This is a really promising sort of development, community solar. So far SolarCity's business model has focused on home owners dwelling in single family homes with good south facing roofs. About a third of the US population are renters, and there are many condo owners in multi-unit housing as well. Community solar bridges these limitations, bringing SolarCity's financial product strength and microgrid capabilities into play. So I see this as a very good step toward addressing a much larger market and diversifying their business model.
I think this also shows the kind of utility partnership with utilities that Lyndon Rive has been talking about. For SolarCity to address wider markets it needs access to distribution services. This is why grid defections I'd a bad policy outcome for SolarCity. The company needs to be able to offer shared solar power and battery backup.
I wonder if this has to do with new commercial zep mounting. I think that is more for flat roof applications but I am not sure. I also wander if this has anything to do with them getting into the manufacturing business. I think Silevo panels will make a very be very compelling in "community solar gardens".
This first announcement is targeting up to 100 Mw of these at 1 Mw each with the total US installation last year at around 86. It is exciting to see how fast they are entering new markets within their main business unit but also creating new areas of growth.