Solar City

[Yuri Bezmenov]

Has anybody done business with them??

They came out to the house to do a free estimate today.

The system is "free" but you do have to sign a 20 year contract and pay a monthly service charge.

BTW, this is one of Elon Musk's companies.

http://www.solarcity.com/

[Icequeen]

20 year contract? Sorry, no way would I touch something like that with a 10 ft pole, even though my dream is to eventually go solar/wind powered.

Here's a few reviews, will post if I find anything else.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/solarcity-san-mateo

[Graelwyn]

I find a 2 year contact long enough, let alone a 20 year contract.
I would not touch that with a ten foot pole either.

[Jack]

Twenty years does seem a long contract and maybe wiser for a homeowner to long-term finance a solar panel system through a bank. Icequeen makes a good point to look at reviews. A look at BBB complaints might be wise too.

[Pyraxis]

Haven't done business with them, but I've researched them.

I wouldn't sign a 20-year lease unless it was at the same time as I was signing a 20-year mortgage. I prefer to buy things upfront if at all possible. I don't even sign 3-year cell phone contracts, I use month-to-month.

I'm not very good at estimating my future plans. Last time I thought I'd only stay in a place for a year, it was six years. The one year I buy a conference pass months in advance to get the big discount, turns out to be the year I can't go.

Solar City seems to be enjoying success so far, so I guess they're finding people to take their terms. I just wonder what will happen in ten years when people are going delinquent.

[Icequeen]

http://watchdog.org/130098/solarcity-horror-stories/

http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/solar-energy-system-design-and-installation/solarcity-corporation-in-san-mateo-ca-187674/complaints

[Yuri Bezmenov]

Thanks for the info IQ!!   

 

[Parts]

One of my sons works for one of their competitors and says they are hacks but then again everybody says that about the competition.  When he got the job I read up on the latest trend in leasing solar and knew right away it was not for me,  the contracts besides being 20 years have other stuff in them that I didn't like if you want to sell your house the new owners have to be approved or you have to pay to have the panels removed, same if you want to put up an addition they want to see how it affects them and roof repairs you pay to have them taken down then put back.  The only reason these places are in business are the government subsidies what happens when they run out 20 years is a long time will these people even still be in business in case something goes wrong.   When you own the panels at least you can decide for yourself what you are going to do with them.   Another though on solar panels in general how much does your homeowners insurance go up when you put $30,000 worth of stuff made out of glass on your roof and when was the last time you bought something that needed no maintenance like they say that lasted 20 years?   That said it would be nice to have them  but it would take some convincing to make me spend my money

[Yuri Bezmenov]

20 year contract? Sorry, no way would I touch something like that with a 10 ft pole, even though my dream is to eventually go solar/wind powered.

I find a 2 year contact long enough, let alone a 20 year contract.

Twenty years does seem a long contract and maybe wiser for a homeowner to long-term finance a solar panel system through a bank.

I wouldn't sign a 20-year lease unless it was at the same time as I was signing a 20-year mortgage. I prefer to buy things upfront if at all possible.

You all were right about the 20 year contract, it's basically a scam and one of the ways that Solar City makes such high profits.

After doing a bit of research, I came across a local solar company called Solarponics. They do nothing but solar power installations and they've been doing it since 1975.

They have a special deal to finance Kyocera solar panels at a low interest rate. We went ahead and bought a system from them. With the ball rolling now, it should be about 3 weeks before the construction crews show up to install.   

[Yuri Bezmenov]

One of my sons works for one of their competitors and says they are hacks but then again everybody says that about the competition.

The problem with Solar City is that they use a lot of subcontractors to do installations, so what you're getting is Joe Blow's Electric who was the lowest bidder to get the contract.     

When he got the job I read up on the latest trend in leasing solar and knew right away it was not for me,  the contracts besides being 20 years have other stuff in them that I didn't like if you want to sell your house the new owners have to be approved or you have to pay to have the panels removed, same if you want to put up an addition they want to see how it affects them and roof repairs you pay to have them taken down then put back.  The only reason these places are in business are the government subsidies what happens when they run out 20 years is a long time will these people even still be in business in case something goes wrong.

Yeah, I read up on the 20 year contracts too, as far as I can tell, they're just a scam concocted by leasing companies to make fat profits for themselves.

That said it would be nice to have them  but it would take some convincing to make me spend my money

There was little choice in our case, we have an all electric house, even our heat is through electrical coils in the ceiling. We got sick of $300 monthly electric bills.   

[Icequeen]

That's about what my neighbors average plus.

We're all electric ( 5 homes) here.

I have the smallest house though and it's tucked into the hillside. So I'm at about 100-170 a month depending on the weather...300+ a month would kill me.

[Parts]

One of my sons works for one of their competitors and says they are hacks but then again everybody says that about the competition.

The problem with Solar City is that they use a lot of subcontractors to do installations, so what you're getting is Joe Blow's Electric who was the lowest bidder to get the contract.     

When he got the job I read up on the latest trend in leasing solar and knew right away it was not for me,  the contracts besides being 20 years have other stuff in them that I didn't like if you want to sell your house the new owners have to be approved or you have to pay to have the panels removed, same if you want to put up an addition they want to see how it affects them and roof repairs you pay to have them taken down then put back.  The only reason these places are in business are the government subsidies what happens when they run out 20 years is a long time will these people even still be in business in case something goes wrong.

Yeah, I read up on the 20 year contracts too, as far as I can tell, they're just a scam concocted by leasing companies to make fat profits for themselves.

That said it would be nice to have them  but it would take some convincing to make me spend my money

There was little choice in our case, we have an all electric house, even our heat is through electrical coils in the ceiling. We got sick of $300 monthly electric bills.   

He works for Vivint,  they don't use subs for anything, also they aren't franchises like some places.
Our electric bills are just under $300 a month and we have oil heat but electric hot water,  a lot of that due to Connecticut having the highest electric rates in the continental US

Radiant panels are pretty efficient and a good way to heat the people rather than just the air