Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Was speaking to my father in law this past weekend regarding going solar. He told me about what he is thinking about doing with a local solar company. Basically, they come in, sign a 20 year contract/lease with you for your roof space, they completely cover your cost of the install, all maintenance, any costs of removing panels for roof repair, etc. They claim to cover all of this at their own expense while you, the customer/homeowner, pays $0 upfront for the conversion while seeing an annual savings of 40% to 50% on your power bill while, I assume, giving power back to the grid/selling back to PSEG.
How legit is this kind of deal? I assume over the 20 year span, they are obviously making a decent profit. I guess they are basically financing the initial project cost and maintenance costs, while over the 20 years, profiting off of a portion of your savings...?
My father in law is in his late 60's so he is ok with the concept as opposed to the more traditional conversion of laying out the $15k or $20k himself for the initial setup cost.
Anybody have experience with this kind of conversion deal? Thoughts? Comments?
Was speaking to my father in law this past weekend regarding going solar. He told me about what he is thinking about doing with a local solar company. Basically, they come in, sign a 20 year contract/lease with you for your roof space, they completely cover your cost of the install, all maintenance, any costs of removing panels for roof repair, etc. They claim to cover all of this at their own expense while you, the customer/homeowner, pays $0 upfront for the conversion while seeing an annual savings of 40% to 50% on your power bill while, I assume, giving power back to the grid/selling back to PSEG.
How legit is this kind of deal? I assume over the 20 year span, they are obviously making a decent profit. I guess they are basically financing the initial project cost and maintenance costs, while over the 20 years, profiting off of a portion of your savings...?
My father in law is in his late 60's so he is ok with the concept as opposed to the more traditional conversion of laying out the $15k or $20k himself for the initial setup cost.
Anybody have experience with this kind of conversion deal? Thoughts? Comments?
Thanks guys
My daughter's neighbor did this last year and he's happy he did it, because he is paying a lot less. The southern side of his roof is unobstructed by trees to maximize the sun exposure - important!
Something to consider:
If you're signing a 20-yr contract you'll continue to have a financial obligation if/when you move, unless the buyer is willing to take over the contract--something you can't be certain of (many people don't like how it looks, etc.).
I hope your father-in-law lives to be 100, but what happens to the contract if he should die before the 20 years are up? What, if any, financial obligations remain to those left behind? That's a question to be asked IMHO.
The above mentioned neighbor is saving about $200/mo and he has no plans to move (and he's in his 40s).
I suggest anyone considering solar leasing to find out about obligations down the road - life has a way of changing when you least expect it. If you like the answers and can live with them, go solar and stop paying PSEG
My daughter's neighbor did this last year and he's happy he did it, because he is paying a lot less. The southern side of his roof is unobstructed by trees to maximize the sun exposure - important!
Something to consider:
If you're signing a 20-yr contract you'll continue to have a financial obligation if/when you move, unless the buyer is willing to take over the contract--something you can't be certain of (many people don't like how it looks, etc.).
I hope your father-in-law lives to be 100, but what happens to the contract if he should die before the 20 years are up? What, if any, financial obligations remain to those left behind? That's a question to be asked IMHO.
The above mentioned neighbor is saving about $200/mo and he has no plans to move (and he's in his 40s).
I suggest anyone considering solar leasing to find out about obligations down the road - life has a way of changing when you least expect it. If you like the answers and can live with them, go solar and stop paying PSEG
I guess that's a good question to ask. They are semi-retired and plan to stay in their house until they pass away. But yes, valid question and I will ask him.
What the OP is talking about is solar leasing. That's not the only option. One can have the solar company perform an installation and finance it yourself. This way, the rebates and energy savings are yours and the profit the leaser would have gotten is yours also.
Those solar leasing companies aren't in business not to make money.
Be sure to inquire what obligations you will still have to PSEG. You have to stay with them in some capacity. Those costs need to enter the equation too.
I recently did a consultation with SolarCity. The rate difference is 19 cents(PSEG) vs 15 cents (solar) on the leasing rate. The difference is less than I expected but were told that the rate increase will be locked in at 2.9% for the next 20 years.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.