Leasing Solar System for your home (neighborhood, buyers, utilities)

[Charles]

Anyone pursue the offers made by companies offering to install a solar system on your roof and lease it to you?

There was a pretty good thread on the CD Phoenix Forum

Does anyone here lease their solar panels?

and there were some pretty good arguments for it.

I've had several of these guys approach me and try to convince me. I've performed some preliminary calcs and it does seem sort of worth it. One of their assumptions is an average increase of 6%/year for power rates. Here are power rates from 1980-2005

Year PG&E SCE SDG&E LADWP SMUD BGP ESPs Other Municipal Utilities
Historical
1980 4.76 6.09 8.43 5.61 2.53 6.72
1981 6.05 6.45 9.36 6.16 2.82 6.48
1982 6.24 7.37 11.26 6.11 3.03 7.60
1983 6.42 7.42 11.66 5.85 3.75 7.48
1984 7.86 7.64 11.80 6.08 3.92 7.79
1985 8.73 7.94 12.84 6.54 4.56 7.81
1986 8.72 8.20 11.66 6.74 5.45 7.65
1987 7.56 8.19 10.42 7.09 6.64 8.22
1988 7.85 8.51 9.82 7.57 7.35 9.05
1989 8.79 9.17 9.51 8.06 7.41 9.50
1990 9.24 9.45 9.22 8.39 8.27 9.82
1991 9.87 10.07 9.36 8.23 8.30 9.91
1992 10.42 10.36 9.47 8.62 8.21 10.34
1993 10.59 10.06 9.89 9.13 7.69 10.96
1994 10.71 10.28 9.69 9.53 7.96 11.49
1995 9.89 10.46 9.67 9.14 8.18 11.43
1996 10.20 10.22 10.36 9.12 8.14 11.36
1997 10.30 10.22 10.70 9.36 7.92 10.51
1998 9.74 10.10 10.16 9.76 7.63 10.95
1999 9.81 10.05 10.16 9.75 7.60 10.96
2000 9.82 10.12 13.72 9.79 7.61 10.97
2001 11.74 12.87 13.66 9.79 9.26 13.57
2002 12.72 12.82 14.45 9.80 9.27 12.72
2003 13.18 13.16 14.26 9.80 9.81 12.43
2004 12.72 12.18 14.55 9.66 8.60 11.88 6.19 9.34
2005 13.07 12.93 14.72 9.31 10.10 11.97 6.44 9.51

from

Lee.org » Blog Archive » Historical Electric Rates

so 6% would be unprecedented. It looks like power has only risen maybe 2% a year in that period.

In my neighborhood there is one guy who bought his system but that costs like $50K-$70K. No can do.

[HarleyGuyOC]

Originally Posted by Charles

Leasing Solar System for your home

Can I lease just part of the Solar System? I doubt I'd be able to fit anything larger than a small asteroid into my back yard.


-"Funny, but somehow I can't seem to see Russia from here!"

[EscapeCalifornia]

How long is the lease commitment? What happens if you sell your house?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

How long is the lease commitment? What happens if you sell your house?

Twenty years and the lease system goes with the house. Some buyers might welcome it and some may not. Kind of like a pool. Some might welcome it and some may not.

I figure I am in no rush to lease this thing but so far, if I did, it doesn't seem like a bad deal. I just don't have a lot of confidence yet to make that kind of commitment. Also, I am not sure about the 6%/year assumption of power rates increasing. Seems extremely aggressive.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Charles

Also, I am not sure about the 6%/year assumption of power rates increasing. Seems extremely aggressive.

It does, but given things like AB32, fossil fuel prices, and San Onofre probably being decommissioned, its not entirely out of the question.