SolarCity solar installation

[woof]

Not working with new construction and the uneconomic lease model --solar city seems to suck.

They have enough business using their existing "over the web", no need to send a truck, preliminary system design model. It's cheap and efficient and works well for many, but not the corner cases. New construction is a total corner case for them, and not worth their time.

As for "uneconomic lease model"...well it works well for me, and apparently many others. Yes, one can buy for less overall cost than lease, and yet leasing is still very attractive to many for both cars and solar energy. It's far from uneconomic, it's just not maximally economic.

Like any endeavor, if one is willing to put in the time and effort, one can always find a better "deal". SolarCity's advantage is few are willing to put in that time and effort, and they are very easy to work with if you happen to fit in their box.

 

[Gwgan]

What is a ballpark installed cost per something (panel, W, kWh/yr). This would be the financed cost or cash price if paid up front. I realize it can vary widely with the choice of panel and inverters and such, but I’m just trying to get some reasonable idea.

What will the NY factory do to the price of panels when it comes online?

 

[Lloyd]

You should be able to get an installed price all in of about $3.40 per watt. A little more or less depending on the difficulty of your installation. That should include all permits, inverters racking etc.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I was psyched to hear Solar City was in PA, and worked with PP&L... however my total bill, to my house, puts power at $0.11 a kWh.

Best Solar City could do was $0.15 a kWh... so my usage of 1500 kWh / month means I'd be paying $50/month more to go solar.

I want to save the planet as much as anyone, but I have to watch the cash here... car wasn't cheap... if they could do it for .11 or .10 I'd have signed up.

They said I'd need 51 panels to cover my usage.

It's not today as PA has fairly 'cheap' power, but the day will come when either they can match .11 / kWh or PP&L puts me over the .15 kWh, and I plan to sign up.

 

[Bin Bartin]

Just had the onsite assessment scheduled. The biligual (Mandarin) consultant Jetting Chen really impressed me with his product knowledge, and the resources his office provided. A reminder to those who are still on the fence, starting 2017 the $9945 tax credit is going to be a lesser amount.

 

[bart513]

Anybody just put in solar panels to charge their EV? I've called a few companies and they want to do the whole roof, not just for charging the car.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

I was psyched to hear Solar City was in PA, and worked with PP&L... however my total bill, to my house, puts power at $0.11 a kWh.

Best Solar City could do was $0.15 a kWh... so my usage of 1500 kWh / month means I'd be paying $50/month more to go solar.

I want to save the planet as much as anyone, but I have to watch the cash here... car wasn't cheap... if they could do it for .11 or .10 I'd have signed up.

They said I'd need 51 panels to cover my usage.

It's not today as PA has fairly 'cheap' power, but the day will come when either they can match .11 / kWh or PP&L puts me over the .15 kWh, and I plan to sign up.

Time to resurrect this old thread. I am a MetEd customer; Solar City just started serving our are within the last year. They are offering me a 12.3 cent/KWh plan. At the end of the day, our current bill (with all surcharges, etc.) works out to about 11.9 cents. So, right now the cost will be a bit more, although not much. However, electricity right now is dirt cheap; I assume it will only go up. Anyone with insight into the future of electricity pricing in eastern PA? I've done some research but haven't been able to come up with any actionable data.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Well... PA has an abundance of natural gas wells, and last count, I believe there are no less than three natural gas power stations being built/setup in the central PA area.

Two near Williamsport, Sunbury, and Bruner Island (which was coal) and one going in near Otter Creek...

My guess? Cheap natural gas = power gets cheaper, however that won't be passed to the consumer.

So, reality; grid power stays about the same for the next 4-8 years.

Every Year solar gets cheaper... so I'm really hoping that within 5-10 we see solar reach a point where it's more cost effective... and I'll be there.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

Well... PA has an abundance of natural gas wells, and last count, I believe there are no less than three natural gas power stations being built/setup in the central PA area.

Two near Williamsport, Sunbury, and Bruner Island (which was coal) and one going in near Otter Creek...

My guess? Cheap natural gas = power gets cheaper, however that won't be passed to the consumer.

So, reality; grid power stays about the same for the next 4-8 years.

Every Year solar gets cheaper... so I'm really hoping that within 5-10 we see solar reach a point where it's more cost effective... and I'll be there.

Thank you for the information. I am really on the fence right now, and I think I am trying to rationalize going forward with the installation. My Solar City and Met-Ed bills will essentially be a wash. Price stability gives SC a slight edge; however, this is pretty small considering electric has been very stable in recent years. Increasing renewable power is always a plus but doesn't impact my wallet directly.

The final factor is the ability to buy the system in five years. Solar continues to get cheaper so, after 5 years, I can probably assume this "outdated" technology will be pretty cheap. But it will still provide me a benefit. I'll have to see if this forecast is accurate.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Well... PA has an abundance of natural gas wells, and last count, I believe there are no less than three natural gas power stations being built/setup in the central PA area.

Two near Williamsport, Sunbury, and Bruner Island (which was coal) and one going in near Otter Creek...

My guess? Cheap natural gas = power gets cheaper, however that won't be passed to the consumer.

So, reality; grid power stays about the same for the next 4-8 years.

Every Year solar gets cheaper... so I'm really hoping that within 5-10 we see solar reach a point where it's more cost effective... and I'll be there.

All of that is true, but what about the soon to be shrinking customer base? Without Tom Corbett(fracking puppet) in the Governor's mansion, utility and natural gas interests won't have nearly the level of influence they had in the past. As the massive amount of pent up PA residential solar demand gets installed, the customer base paying for those retail kWh shrinks, all while they're also feeding(selling) juice back into the grid which takes an even bigger chunk out of peak demand.

Those natural gas plants will get built, but they will certainly not lead to lower energy prices at the retail end. Remember, all the costs go in, the utilities mark them up, then they get split amongst all the ratepayers over a set number of years. As of now we don't have much solar, but simple logic says a tidal wave is coming. In a lot of states this has meant solar customers get hosed with all sorts of extra fees to make up for the hole in the utility's business model. With Tom Wolf appointing PUC members for the next 6 years that simply will not happen here, or at least not to the ridiculous extent it happened in Arizona/NM/Nevada.

So what happens? Total costs continue to rise as the utilities build unnecessary natural gas plants while the number of kWh's sold at retail slowly shrinks. Pretty clear that the residential ratepayer is gonna get hit for all that extra cost over the next decade. The price increases will then OF COURSE be blamed on the residential solar customers.

The answer to solar decisions in PA is simple. If you can find an installer you have confirmed for a fact will install quality hardware properly and be around to service your warranty in 5 years and will install for less than $3/W.....go for it. You'll save so much money that waiting 2 years will be a net loss at any conceivable 2018 price point. Or you can obviously pay a premium to go with SolarCIty at any point and not worry about any of that stuff.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

The answer to solar decisions in PA is simple. If you can find an installer you have confirmed for a fact will install quality hardware properly and be around to service your warranty in 5 years and will install for less than $3/W.....go for it. You'll save so much money that waiting 2 years will be a net loss at any conceivable 2018 price point. Or you can obviously pay a premium to go with SolarCIty at any point and not worry about any of that stuff.

thanks for the information. We ultimately decided on some other home improvements I lieu of buying solar. SolarCity PPA isn't compelling financially at he moment but looks like it will pay off in the long run.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

If you're looking primarily to save money, might as well wait until the spring in PA. Figuring out who the good installers are and what you want will be a pain in such an imature market. Good luck!

I know the Philly market if you ever have any questions.

 

[dhrivnak]

I was psyched to hear Solar City was in PA, and worked with PP&L... however my total bill, to my house, puts power at $0.11 a kWh.

Best Solar City could do was $0.15 a kWh... so my usage of 1500 kWh / month means I'd be paying $50/month more to go solar.

I want to save the planet as much as anyone, but I have to watch the cash here... car wasn't cheap... if they could do it for .11 or .10 I'd have signed up.

They said I'd need 51 panels to cover my usage.

It's not today as PA has fairly 'cheap' power, but the day will come when either they can match .11 / kWh or PP&L puts me over the .15 kWh, and I plan to sign up.

I would get another quote. My solar 3 years ago was $3.65/watt and when converted to its 30 year life is about $.065/KWh

 

[abasile]

Elon Musk just stated that installing a Tesla/SolarCity solar roof would be cheaper than replacing a "dumb" roof. (I expect this would be relative to using "premium" roofing materials like slate or terra cotta, not standard composite shingles.) Musk Says Tesla’s Solar Shingles Will Cost Less Than a Dumb Roof

I'm hoping that a Tesla solar roof will become a possibility for virtually all homes, even those that may not be optimal for solar. Generating some electricity from solar PV would be better than none, particularly if the overall roof cost remains reasonable.

Today, however, SolarCity's policy is to "disqualify" homes with shading that would block more than 30% of production. After a recent site survey at our home, SolarCity told us that our shade factor would be a bit over 30%. Thus, SolarCity will only move forward, due to their own corporate policies, if some tall pine trees can be trimmed or removed. This would not be acceptable to us. The strange thing is that we planned to pay cash for the system and would have been fine knowing that our production might have been only about 60% of optimal. But SolarCity won't take our money.

While we will likely just go with another solar installer and put up panels, I'm not 100% sure. It might be attractive to wait and see if a solar roof could be an option. I just hope SolarCity/Tesla loosens up their policies.

 

[ecarfan]

Today, however, SolarCity's policy is to "disqualify" homes with shading that would block more than 30% of production. After a recent site survey at our home, SolarCity told us that our shade factor would be a bit over 30%. Thus, SolarCity will only move forward, due to their own corporate policies, if some tall pine trees can be trimmed or removed. This would not be acceptable to us. The strange thing is that we planned to pay cash for the system and would have been fine knowing that our production might have been only about 60% of optimal. But SolarCity won't take our money.

My guess is that SolarCity would not sell you a system for cash because in reality their business so far has been based on PPL systems. I tried to buy a system from SolarCity a few years ago and they wouldn't take my money either. In my case there were zero issues with shading on my roof, I was told they did not install on foam roofs in California even though they admitted they did install on foam roofs in Arizona. I thought their stance was insane. I know own a solar system installed by a local foam roofing company. Making penetrations to a foam roof is a simple matter and they are easy to reliably seal against leaks.

I just hope SolarCity/Tesla loosens up their policies.

I am certain that Tesla Energy solar installation policies will be completely different from what SolarCity has been doing. In my opinion the acquisition of SolarCity by Tesla is a tacit admission that SolarCity's business model has failed and it is time for a new approach with new products.

 

[abasile]

My guess is that SolarCity would not sell you a system for cash because in reality their business so far has been based on PPL systems.

SolarCity appears to have shifted gears in recent months and is now emphasizing a loan option. I got a strong impression from talking with our salesperson that loans are, at this time, preferred over PPAs (or PPL?). And they are more than happy to sell systems for cash. However, I agree that their "70%" requirement is probably a legacy of the days when PPAs were the preferred finance vehicle.

 

[tinm]

Is SolarCity still insisting on roof installations only? Seems Tesla is obsessed with roof installs, it's all Elon talks about. And it's all SolarCity has ever talked about.

For my house, a ground install makes more sense and would be cheaper. I am curious whether SolarCity or whatever the new entity is named will ever consider ground installs. Not everybody has roofs that match Elon's idea of a perfect shingle-type roof.

Signed,
New Mexico resident who lives in flat-roof adobe-style house,
like a million other homes in the Southwest

 

[Patrick0101]

I've been tracking my solar production since our SolarCity system was installed in 2015, but they've made some changes to the webpage and now I cannot find where I can download the month's data as a comma-delimited file. Anyone happen to know?