[LuisSuarez]

Avalanche Energy Inc. - Solar Hot Water Solutions for Your Home

Looks interesting for the future

[lvoc]

Solar City is now offering a lease deal. Effectively you get your power for $.10 per kwhour for the next 20 years. There is also an alternative at $.08 per kwh with an increase of up to 2% per annum.

Note that a number of the systems being offered in new homes are combined...PV solar and hot water in a package.

Its net metering that you go for. Basically a big enough pv solar package to offset all your electrical usage. Then you just let it cancel out.

The problem with the lease program is the questions of what happens next. We will clearly see lower PV package costs over the next years. But when you jump in you set your capital investment level.

You need to think about stuff like selling your house later on. The value of the PV package is likely to be a lot less than what you owe on it. In fact at 20 years the package is probably obsolete and needs to be replaced.

[C_A_Braun]

Keep in mind when leasing as well when you go to sell the lease will show as a lien on your property which will likely cause some moments of stress as you work with the leasing company to remove the lien in order to clear a title search. The other potential problem with leasing and then trying to sell the house then come in the form of any potential new owner must qualify to assume the lease. Otherwise you will be stuck continuing to make payments on solar on someone else's house.

Lease is not for everyone. We determined that it was right for us on our CA home. I am looking forward to my call with Solar City tomorrow morning to see if it will make sense for us in NV as well.

[Tornado Baby]

Please update us!

[gigglesnap]

Not sure about the Solar City stuff, that looks pretty cool. But if you're just talking about going with one of the local solar contractors in Vegas, then you're looking at around 15 to 25 grand in total expenses (that includes installation and the 30% savings from the Federal Energy Tax Credit which expires in late 2016).

So, it'll cost you a decent amount of cash if you don't get financing, but the good news is that most systems pay for themselves after about 7 years or so. Not only will you be saving money from either a much lower or non-existent power bill, but you can also sell any excess energy back to the power company. Then there's also the increased value to your home. So, for many people it works out as a great long term investment. Nevertheless, I'd advise that you shop around as much as possible before choosing a solar contractor and spend a lot of time doing research beforehand.

[C_A_Braun]

So after talking with the Solar City guy (Simon) and getting all the details from him of what (he thinks) I need we have decided to pass on PV solar for the house in Henderson. I am a huge fan of Solar City and I have been a customer of theirs for over 3 years now on my home in California and I would love to (maybe someday) put PV solar on the home in Henderson and would happily go with Solar City. Right now it just didn't make financial sense as Simon was basically insisting that I get a system sized identical to my California home and not listening to me when I try to explain my energy use patterns today in Nevada vs last year vs what we will likely be using 10 years from now. He just would not listen and was a pushy as the stereotypical used car salesman that everyone hates dealing with. Perhaps if the guy that signed us up in California (James) was still working for them I would have signed on. He at least listened to me a few years ago.

This is not to say that Solar City (or any other solar company) wont be good for others so I hope others will still look into PV solar as an option. Not to get all political on you all, but Solar can go a long way towards breaking our dependence on foreign energy sources and at the same time, when done right, can save you a ton of cash over time.

If anyone does decide to give Solar City a call, I will gladly provide a referral which will get me $250 that I will be happy to split with you. Just PM my your e-mail address (before you call them) and I will send you a referral e-mail that you can tell them about during that initial call.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by gigglesnap

So, it'll cost you a decent amount of cash if you don't get financing, but the good news is that most systems pay for themselves after about 7 years or so.

If this is something other than some number you copied and pasted from another web site without understanding how it was calculated, show your math. The low cost of electricity makes the payback period in Las Vegas much longer than seven years. My calculations are in post #10 in this thread.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

If this is something other than some number you copied and pasted from another web site without understanding how it was calculated, show your math. The low cost of electricity makes the payback period in Las Vegas much longer than seven years. My calculations are in post #10 in this thread.

This is something I do every few years, and I cannot get a positive ROI in less than 15 years. It actually much worse when we made our house unusually energy efficient. It's really hard to justify a solar system (even a small one) when the total power bill is around $700 per year.

And as much as I'd like to install it anyway, just to generate my own power, I cannot justify spending $25K just to be the greenest guy on my block. Eventually, costs will come down to the point where it will make sense.

[C_A_Braun]

Does anyone have a best estimate (best ballpark you can give based on your billing history) how much NVEnergry increases rates per year on a % basis? I used 3% in my spreadsheet to try to determine my payback for going solar but having only been a customer for just over 2 years I really cant say for sure.

[gigglesnap]

True, it definitely depends on your current energy bill, the cost per kw that you can get out of your solar install and many other factors. In hindsight, a 7 year ROI was probably a bit too optimistic, but a 10 ROI is achievable if you can get your cost per kw below $5.