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SolarCity vs (SunRun + local installer). Pros and cons?

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  • SolarCity vs (SunRun + local installer). Pros and cons?

    I live in Hawaii where our cost per kWh is $0.42, the highest in the nation. My typical usage is around 1,000 kWh per month and my monthly electric bill is about $425.

    With all the federal and state tax credits, going solar is a no-brainer. The major solar providers/financiers like SunRun and SolarCity are here offering pre-paid lease plans where they own the equipment and receive the tax credits, and lease the system to you for 20 years for about 40% of the purchase price and no monthly payments. A whole-home grid-tie solar system which would cost $50,000 to purchase, I could instead lease for 20 years for $20,000 upfront with no monthly payments. This is the type of plan I want to do. For now, I can only afford a half-system.

    So it comes down to which provider/installer. Here's what I've come up with so far from my discussions with their local salespeople:

    SolarCity
    Cost: $10,530 for a 4.165 kW DC 17-panel system installed ($2.53 per W)
    Yelp Rating: 3.5 (48 reviews)
    BBB Rating: A+

    PROS:
    Sales, installation, support, maintenance all under one roof one company.
    Owner also started Tesla motors, plans to incorporate car-charging and off-grid options in the next 5 years.
    Kyocera 245W panels, made in Japan (and Mexico).

    CONS:
    More expensive than SunRun.
    Reimbursement rate for panel under-production averages to 10.8 cents per kWh, less than SunRun.


    SunRun
    Cost: $9,970 for a 4.250 kW DC 17-panel system installed ($2.35 per W)
    Yelp Rating: 3.5 (11 reviews)
    BBB Rating: A

    PROS:
    Cheaper than SolarCity.
    Reimbursement rate for panel under-production averages to 12.5 cents per kWh, more than SolarCity.

    CONS:
    Contracts installation with local installers (who may come and go).
    Does not have any off-grid plans.
    Trina (Chinese) 250W panels (assuming Chinese panels are lesser quality than Japanese).

    So, that's where I'm at. I could really go with either one and am trying to decide whether cost-savings of SunRun trumps the pros of SolarCity. I asked SC to meet the SunRun price but they said they can't do that. I think they figure their benefits outweigh the cheaper cost.


    Which one do you think is the way to go?

  • #2
    $50,000 sounds very, very high for a 4-5 kW system. Even at $6/watt, it should be under $30k to purchase.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by megalo View Post
      $50,000 sounds very, very high for a 4-5 kW system. Even at $6/watt, it should be under $30k to purchase.
      A full system for my house would be about 8.5 kW DC and cost around $42,000 to buy it outright. I can only afford to do a half-system, about 4.25 kW DC.

      Keep in mind Hawaii is 2,500 miles away from the mainland. Often it's more expensive to ship the items here than the cost of the item itself. And, the vendors know it and charge a premium because our choices are limited.

      Anyway, that wasn't the question -- I'm wondering about the Pros vs Cons of the SolarCity and SunRun offers I've gotten.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by scottkeen View Post
        A full system for my house would be about 8.5 kW DC and cost around $42,000 to buy it outright. I can only afford to do a half-system, about 4.25 kW DC.

        Keep in mind Hawaii is 2,500 miles away from the mainland. Often it's more expensive to ship the items here than the cost of the item itself. And, the vendors know it and charge a premium because our choices are limited.

        Anyway, that wasn't the question -- I'm wondering about the Pros vs Cons of the SolarCity and SunRun offers I've gotten.
        Yea people on the mainland need to realize that prices are super inflated in Hawaii because we must ship everything over. What they can get for a buck, we pay 5 for.

        What did you end up doing after all? In 20 years when your prepaid lease expires, you can probably get the rest of your system for a fraction of it's 2013 pricing.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by skyline.citylights View Post
          In 20 years when your prepaid lease expires, you can probably get the rest of your system for a fraction of it's 2013 pricing.
          This may be true, but by 2017 (in only 4 years, not even 20 years), Uncle Sam may decide not to offer the 30% tax credit anymore because solar prices have come down enough. That's the whole point of the tax credit, isn't it? You can say the same thing with people who jumped into solar 5 or 10 years ago. The kind of incentives they got were probably a lot sweeter than today's standard. But the prices they paid were probably a lot higher, too.

          The bottom line is all about the math, right? If you're paying 45 cents/kwh in Hawaii, it may make a lot more sense to go solar sooner than somebody in the midwest who pays less than 10 cents/kwh.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Volusiano View Post
            This may be true, but by 2017 (in only 4 years, not even 20 years), Uncle Sam may decide not to offer the 30% tax credit anymore because solar prices have come down enough. That's the whole point of the tax credit, isn't it? You can say the same thing with people who jumped into solar 5 or 10 years ago. The kind of incentives they got were probably a lot sweeter than today's standard. But the prices they paid were probably a lot higher, too.

            The bottom line is all about the math, right? If you're paying 45 cents/kwh in Hawaii, it may make a lot more sense to go solar sooner than somebody in the midwest who pays less than 10 cents/kwh.
            The tax credits end December 31st, 2016. But it's just that - a tax credit. If you do not even owe much tax, the credits are not of much help.

            I think we agree with each other, if I understood you correctly. I just meant that solar prices will go down later on down the road as technology advances, so even if he opts not to purchase/lease his entire system NOW (He mentioned he can only afford half a system), it's probably not a huge deal because in 20 years he could purchase the other half for a fraction of today's value and still have saved money. That is assuming outdated solar technology is still available in 2033 and/or the leasing company honors the panels depreciation.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by skyline.citylights View Post
              The tax credits end December 31st, 2016. But it's just that - a tax credit. If you do not even owe much tax, the credits are not of much help.

              I think we agree with each other, if I understood you correctly. I just meant that solar prices will go down later on down the road as technology advances, so even if he opts not to purchase/lease his entire system NOW (He mentioned he can only afford half a system), it's probably not a huge deal because in 20 years he could purchase the other half for a fraction of today's value and still have saved money. That is assuming outdated solar technology is still available in 2033 and/or the leasing company honors the panels depreciation.
              Yes, I agree that you don't have to wait until you can afford the whole thing. Half now and half later is fine. My point is that if you decide to wait until solar systems get cheaper, that's fine. But be mindful that the incentives will also go away at some point as solar gets cheap enough. So the final cost to you may end up being the same now with the incentives, or 5 years later without the incentives.

              Another thing for consideration is the political climate of the local utility company. For example, APS here in AZ has been trying to propose a net metering service fee to solar customers (to the tune of $50-$100/month), claiming that it's not fair for net metering customers to enjoy the infrastructure cost for free and subsidized by regular customers. Luckily the AZ Corporation Commission rejected the proposal. But it brings home the point that you may want to get going to get grandfathered in just in case that there's unfavorable climate by your local utility company wanting to start charging fees for net metering.

              In terms of the tax credit, if you don't have enough tax liability to claim the credit, the lease option will allow you to take advantage of it by letting the leasing entity claim the credit and pass on the savings to you.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by skyline.citylights View Post
                Yea people on the mainland need to realize that prices are super inflated in Hawaii because we must ship everything over. What they can get for a buck, we pay 5 for.

                What did you end up doing after all? In 20 years when your prepaid lease expires, you can probably get the rest of your system for a fraction of it's 2013 pricing.
                I went with SunRun (Islandwide Solar installer) pre-paid lease.

                In the end, they offered more output at a lower price.

                It cost me $9,970 for the 20-year pre-paid lease upfront for a 4.25 kW system with (17) Trina 250W panels and SolarEdge inverter. There was a lot of waiting, about 2 months for permits, and then the installer came and installed it in 2 days. Now I have to wait for the county inspector to OK the electrical installation, and then wait another 2-4 weeks for the electric company to put in a new meter for net-metering.

                Because our electricity rates are SOOOOO high in Hawaii @ $0.43/kWh, the break-even point is much sooner. I should break-even in 3 years 8 months. The lease is for 20 years, so for the next 16 years and 4 months after that point I'm getting free electricity.

                My actual consumption requires an 8.5 kW system (34) 250W panels, but I just did half of that now. I plan to do the second half next year.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Sunrun and Solarcity are solid companies. Solarcity does not tell you what equipment you will be getting, Sunrun does. The contract is better stated with SunRun. They also offer a buyout after 1 year. Solarcity is vague on that point. SC is not a bad company just does biz different. We signed with Sunrun, and can't wait. Good luck to you. Solar will really pay off in HI for you. Mahalo!

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