SolarCity (SCTY)

[TheTalkingMule]

Solar City has just received $347 million in financing for solar projects from two new Citi funds. It is also mentioned that Citi is looking to invest over $100 billion in clean energy over the next decade, so they may also be a good source of additional solar project financing in future.

SolarCity Creates Funds to Finance Over $347 Million in Solar Projects for Homeowners and Small Businesses (NASDAQ:SCTY)

Also some CFO news because of the merger:
SolarCity Appoints Radford Small Chief Financial Officer (NASDAQ:SCTY)

Amazing news on both fronts. If Radford Small had been in this group from the beginning I don't think we'd be looking at this extra step of merging with Tesla.

 

[brian45011]

If Radford Small had been in this group from the beginning I don't think we'd be looking at this extra step of merging with Tesla.

Fourth CFO in less than 4 years since IPO--Kelly, Buss, Serra, Small.

 

[Lessmog]

Form 8-K is out re: Serra -> Small as CFO.

 

[Curt Renz]

I owned SolarCity for a few months in 2013 and made a nice profit. I bought back in late today. It's a way of buying more Tesla shares at a discount.

As a Tesla shareholder, I will be voting yes for the acquisition of SolarCity. I would do to the same thing as a SolarCity shareholder, if I owned on the record date.

The unsound reasons suspected by many for Tesla’s CEO requesting a combination may indeed have been part of his motivation. But they are irrelevant, if the rationale presented by Mr. Musk is sound.

I suspect that the institutional shareholders of Tesla and SolarCity see it the same way. If so, the merger should sail through.

 

[electracity]

I am also, once again, a SCTY shareholder. I shall be voting "meh", which I assume will be the third ballot choice.

I'm simply betting that the merger will happen.

 

[winfield100]

I am also, once again, a SCTY shareholder. I shall be voting "meh", which I assume will be the third ballot choice.

I'm simply betting that the merger will happen.

hopefully there will be fractional shares of TSLA from the merger (3 accounts)

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Has anyone seen a cost analysis of either of these last two funding rounds from SCTY? I'd be very interested specifically to see the details of this most recent $347M deal with Citi, but can't seem to find any info.

If this last deal was at all reasonable that is a VERY good sign considering all the normal headwinds plus the looming merger. I purposely tried to google for negative sentiment today and have found none on the normal FUD sites. Perhaps that's an indication.

 

[doggusfluffy]

Nevada task force recommends restoring net metering as PUC welcomes 2 new regulators

Solar companies may now set their sights on the reinstatement of retail rate net metering for new customers — at least for a time. Last week, Gov. Sandoval's task force approved a draft proposal calling for retail net metering until regulators can conclude Value of Solar dockets for the state's utilities. To help offset utility costs, the group also proposed a $25 minimum bill for solar customers.

That would put Nevada solar policy roughly back where it was before the controversial Dec. 2015 decision, which regulators made under a deadline from previous legislation. But this time, the regulators on the commission will be different.

Mission Solar closing N-type mono cell line with 87 job losses - reports

“Once again all eyes turn to SolarCity and Silevo and whether this company can succeed where others have failed,” added Colville. “While Mission Solar's retreat may be confined to the inside columns of the media outlets, an altogether different outcome may await SolarCity if by 2018 the company has yet to convince the outside world that ramping n-type cell lines in the US has a positive future.”

 

[doggusfluffy]

Financial Experts Not Overly Optimistic For SolarCity's Future In WNY

"The timeline doesn't bother me as much as that (Tesla CEO and SolarCity chairman) Elon Musk doesn't seem to have control of his board," SUNY Buffalo State College economist Fred Floss said.

SolarCity, meanwhile, is being sued by another company for intellectual property theft. Despite all this, the company says it plans to move employees already in Western New York to its new facility in Buffalo later in October. A spokesperson said the company plans to begin hiring by the beginning of 2017 and producing solar panels by the summer.

 

[doggusfluffy]

Altus Power America Raises $205 Million for Solar Expansion

The money will pay for new commercial solar projects that are expected to yield between 10% and 15% annually, Tom Athan, an Altus co-founder and managing partner, said in an interview.

Cities and businesses have signed long-term contracts to buy power from Altus at a discount to regular electricity rates. Altus has installed around 40 solar systems at locations including the headquarters of sports channel ESPN, the rooftops of some Bed, Bath and Beyond stores, some public schools in the Northeast and open land in Warren, Mass. It pays for the solar panels and their installation, and makes money over the long run from the utility payments that customers make. Altus also receives a 30% federal tax credit for owning the systems.

 

[doggusfluffy]

Elon Musk’s SolarCity Corp. expands into the Charleston market

The South Carolina rollout includes a new service available exclusively in the state. The pilot program enables customers to research and place orders online at a discount.

Zemsky sees SolarCity staying on schedule - The Buffalo News

“SolarCity has not experienced any delays in equipment order and delivery,” said Kady Cooper, a spokeswoman for the company. “The installation and manufacturing schedule could change due to reconfiguration of the floor plan, but is unrelated to the charges or shift to Empire State Development management of the project moving forward.”

Cooper did not elaborate on how much the schedule could change.

The governor’s new point man for SolarCity also said he sees no delays.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

The pilot program enables customers to research and place orders online at a discount.

Thank the lord! This is a bigger turning point than the ITC extension IMO. The ability to bypass the SCTY sales effort(and cost) is the missing piece of the puzzle.

 

[MikeC]

Thank the lord! This is a bigger turning point than the ITC extension IMO. The ability to bypass the SCTY sales effort(and cost) is the missing piece of the puzzle.

Agreed, when looking for solar I knew exactly what I wanted. But SCTY and most of the other companies insisted on sending a salesperson to tell me about "the benefits of going solar". The added cost (and inconvenience) of this unnecessary step prevented me from choosing them. Totally counterproductive.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Goldman downgrades TSLA to 18x due to SCTY merger concerns. I guess we can assume they're heavily short on SCTY.

 

[doggusfluffy]

Goldman downgrades TSLA to 18x due to SCTY merger concerns. I guess we can assume they're heavily short on SCTY.

Goldman just dumped $205m into Altus Power, whose business sounds exactly like SolarCity so also a direct competitor now too?

 

[doggusfluffy]

SolarCity CEO says more customers buying power systems

The loan offering is helping SolarCity expand into more states, including those that ban the third-party ownership model like South Carolina, Rive said. The company opened an office in Charleston this week that will offer loans for rooftop installations but not leases.
“The uptake has been fantastic,” Rive said. “It will continue to increase.”

Why It’s So Hard to Get Solar in Florida (That’d Be the Sunshine State)

Florida is one of five states that specifically prohibit this kind of third-party ownership. People with rooftop solar, the state’s logic goes, are providing a utility—and all utilities must be able to provide power 24 hours a day. Any utility unable to blast electrons into the grid on demand isn’t allowed to lease. But even Florida gets dark sometimes (I know, some Sunshine State, right?).

 

[TheTalkingMule]

SolarCity CEO says more customers buying power systems

The loan offering is helping SolarCity expand into more states, including those that ban the third-party ownership model like South Carolina, Rive said. The company opened an office in Charleston this week that will offer loans for rooftop installations but not leases.

Well that's annoying. I was hoping the PPA product would be sold online at a discount in South Carolina under this pilot program. Maybe adding Pennsylvania(where all options are legal) to the next phase of this program would be a good experiment?

 

[doggusfluffy]

SolarCity's CEO says to expect big growth in 2017

"I believe that, next year, what is going to separate solar companies from one another is going to be their product," Rive told Business Insider. "If the consumer can’t necessarily tell the difference between solar company A and B’s service because they claim to both have the best service, then you have to have product differentiation."

Rive said that he expects such mass adoption for the solar roof and at-home battery that there will eventually be "hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of solar systems combined with storage."

SolarCity's ultimate goal is to then have an infrastructure that utilities can leverage in order to load balance the grid, Rive added.

High stakes time: It’s a crucial time for the commission that is facing an onslaught of state-level environmental policies — as well as state policies egged on by federal action — with the potential to rattle U.S. power markets. FERC is poised to respond to big programs, such as a set of nuclear subsidies recently approved in New York, and it's trying to help EPA ensure its Clean Power Plan does not threaten the reliability of the electric grid. Regulators, analysts and lobbyists across the utility industry are predicting that either one could set off a series of battles between states and FERC.

 

[electracity]

"I believe that, next year, what is going to separate solar companies from one another is going to be their product," Rive told Business Insider. "If the consumer can’t necessarily tell the difference between solar company A and B’s service because they claim to both have the best service, then you have to have product differentiation."

FUD from Rive. A solar system will need less service than HVAC. Getting solar serviced is no more difficult than HVAC.

Solarcity installs the same good, generic, reliable, and low cost solar systems as everyone else. They just have much more overhead than local companies.

Inside the Minds of Solar Consumers: What Makes Them Buy and What Makes Them Walk Away

 

[3Victoria]

Better SC solar coming soon.