NEW system pricing and questions i should ask installers

[Lomag]

Because it will not be at the end of its life after 20 years. Not even close! It will still be producing at least 80%+ of it's power. Solar is essentially a lifetime investment and generally requires you to stay in your house the entire time to get the full benefit. Good luck selling your house if you've leased solar unless it was pre-paid. And all this talk of a leasing company replacing your inverter after 10 years are complete nonsense. No leasing company is going to come out and replace your inverter just for fun. If it fails, then sure, otherwise they are going to leave it alone. But most likely it will not fail during the entire lease period or even at all.

[bobfromnj]

And all this talk of a leasing company replacing your inverter after 10 years are complete nonsense. No leasing company is going to come out and replace your inverter just for fun. If it fails, then sure, otherwise they are going to leave it alone.

This is an excellent point.

[ajpslp]

So think I have the monthly cost to around $165 a monthwith solar vs $320 with con edison. This is for two inverters and the new X series panles , installing 37 of them on roof. Roof survey was done and shading analysis. Was thinking of leasing it , vs buying it using the zero down interest free loan for 12 months . That price would be around $22-25k. Think the program details are that company lends u money while waiting for incentives to come in etc , but not exactly sure as we didnt talk in detail for it .. I plan on staying in this house for another 7-9 years or so .

[cyph]

If you think you can transfer the lease over to the new owner in 7-9 years, that to me is the better option. You're basically earning $155 a month with no up front cost. That 22-25k can go toward something else or invest it. If you purchase, you'll never realize the savings because you'll only get to use it for 7-9 years. Then again, you can add that to your asking price and it will be easier to sell your home without the transfer of the lease.

[bobfromnj]

Have you checked them out?

So think I have the monthly cost to around $165 a monthwith solar vs $320 with con edison. This is for two inverters and the new X series panles , installing 37 of them on roof. Roof survey was done and shading analysis. Was thinking of leasing it , vs buying it using the zero down interest free loan for 12 months . That price would be around $22-25k. Think the program details are that company lends u money while waiting for incentives to come in etc , but not exactly sure as we didnt talk in detail for it .. I plan on staying in this house for another 7-9 years or so .

I know many people on this web site are great at technical advice but from a more common sense approach I always like to check a company’s reputation before I hire them. Just out of curiosity I tried to check “Sea Bright Solar” every which way you can…by name. by phone number and URL address with the BBB and it comes up with “not found”. Of course this doesn’t always mean anything but you might want to check this company out further. Also, how financially stable are they? Just a thought.

[russ]

Just a thought.

A good thought!

[ajpslp]

that company is online n read about 10 reviews which were very strong . Also looking at Amergy solar but a not much on them but in staten island

[bobfromnj]

that company is online n read about 10 reviews which were very strong . Also looking at Amergy solar but a not much on them but in staten island

One big problem is that you don't know who wrote those reviews. I have done numerous searches on the internet including all kinds of searches on Google and there is very little if anything about that company. I would just say, to do your homework on the company and then rely on the great talent many posters have on this forum in the technical department. These guys are experts.

[Noob]

Some guy named "Herb Segars" posts a pretty gushing 2009 review, which seems okay except that every single mention of the company name includes a hotlink to its web site.

Which is... kinda spammy.

[Noob]

Because it will not be at the end of its life after 20 years. Not even close! It will still be producing at least 80%+ of it's power. Solar is essentially a lifetime investment and generally requires you to stay in your house the entire time to get the full benefit. Good luck selling your house if you've leased solar unless it was pre-paid. And all this talk of a leasing company replacing your inverter after 10 years are complete nonsense. No leasing company is going to come out and replace your inverter just for fun. If it fails, then sure, otherwise they are going to leave it alone. But most likely it will not fail during the entire lease period or even at all.

Thanks for the response. But the OP just said he's probably not staying more than 7 years. So now he would have to convince new buyers that those solar panels are a good idea, that they still work, AND that they're worth increasing his asking price by 20-50K. It doesn't sound enormously more difficult than convincing someone to acquire a lease for the same system, at least to me.

I would expect that many buyers would put those panels in the same category as a pink bathroom or moosehead gargoyles -- something the previous owner liked but that is alien to them.

Even if the buyer is pro-solar, by what measure could they trust the panels' and inverters' age, functionality, maintenance, etc.?

I understand your point of it working as a "lifetime investment" but isn't 20 years already on the outer edge of what many people would commit to as a single place of residence?

[SunEagle]

Thanks for the response. But the OP just said he's probably not staying more than 7 years. So now he would have to convince new buyers that those solar panels are a good idea, that they still work, AND that they're worth increasing his asking price by 20-50K. It doesn't sound enormously more difficult than convincing someone to acquire a lease for the same system, at least to me.

I would expect that many buyers would put those panels in the same category as a pink bathroom or moosehead gargoyles -- something the previous owner liked but that is alien to them.

Even if the buyer is pro-solar, by what measure could they trust the panels' and inverters' age, functionality, maintenance, etc.?

I understand your point of it working as a "lifetime investment" but isn't 20 years already on the outer edge of what many people would commit to as a single place of residence?

I put in a solar water heating system a couple of years ago and really only plan on staying another 2 to 3 years in my home. I may or may not get back my investment in the 5 to 6 years I have it but I do know that it is a selling point to have one of these systems per our realtor friends so technically it should pay for itself by increasing the value of my home.

There are more and more people that want solar electric & water heating systems especially in Florida where a lot of people have installed similar systems to heat their pools.

[Noob]

I put in a solar water heating system a couple of years ago and really only plan on staying another 2 to 3 years in my home. I may or may not get back my investment in the 5 to 6 years I have it but I do know that it is a selling point to have one of these systems per our realtor friends so technically it should pay for itself by increasing the value of my home.

There are more and more people that want solar electric & water heating systems especially in Florida where a lot of people have installed similar systems to heat their pools.

Thanks, SunEagle. It's probably very much a YMMV situation.

Back on the proposed installer, they are listed on "Angie's List" but there's no indication of whether or not anyone's reviewed them. I fail to understand the appeal of paying to be part of a user-contributed review site. It always seems like something built for suckers. (How much more difficult is it to game them than game Yelp? The businesses are the ones with money literally on the line, and more in a position to pay for fraudulent reviews posing as customers.)

[SunEagle]

Thanks, SunEagle. It's probably very much a YMMV situation.

Back on the proposed installer, they are listed on "Angie's List" but there's no indication of whether or not anyone's reviewed them. I fail to understand the appeal of paying to be part of a user-contributed review site. It always seems like something built for suckers. (How much more difficult is it to game them than game Yelp? The businesses are the ones with money literally on the line, and more in a position to pay for fraudulent reviews posing as customers.)

Unfortunately even getting a good review does not make you a reliable seller or contractor. It happens all the time on eBay or other websites that ask you to "score" or "rate" your transactions. It is not until sometime after you have "rated" the seller that issues happen and then you can't retract you A+ rating.

I hope for ajpslp's sake this contractor is legit but without any solid positive reviews it becomes a crap shoot at best.

[ajpslp]

he has done some solar work near me and trustworthy company. Solar in NY is so new most of these companies are new also .BUT this company has been in businees 9 years and doing most installs in NJ. Im also looking at Amergy Solar who are local company and state over 245 installs upcoming this year. But most research shows these solar companies disapperaing and reapperaing under new names . But I guess Sunpower would need to fix anything that goes wrong on lease with equipment etc so i am not totally worried about that

[Ian S]

Can someone tell me how a prepaid lease works when you sell your home before the lease is up?

All depends on the lease contract. My Sunpower prepaid lease permits the new buyer to take over the lease which should really be a no-brainer because it won't cost them anything to do. Or, I can buy the system out myself at a predetermined price and transfer it with the house to the new buyer who will then own it. If someone is doing the monthly pay type of lease, then you would have to get the buyer to agree to take over the lease payments and the lessor would also require a sufficiently high credit score to agree to it. You could run into a buyer who might baulk at taking on the lease payments. You would want to have years of complete records proving how much the buyer will save with the system.