NorCal quote ready to go with sungevity

[KenZ71]

Hi Rocket,

If not too late you can try my referral code 1093821. I am about 2 or 3 weeks in the paperwork stage. So far I am impressed with Sungevity.

I did compare to Solar City but did not like their proposal so we are going with Sungevity.

Hope it works out for you.

[russ]

Posting this here because this seems to be the most-recent thread that is nominally about Sungevity:
I am negotiating a possible lease or purchase with Sungevity.

Their policy on referrals is as follows, "...when you refer a friend and they go solar with Sungevity we'll give your friend $500 and give you $1,000 with no limit..."

Tell them to take the 500$ off yours or no deal - do it the last thing.

[rocketcity]

Sungevity referral credit

Posting this here because this seems to be the most-recent thread that is nominally about Sungevity:
I am negotiating a possible lease or purchase with Sungevity.

Their policy on referrals is as follows, "...when you refer a friend and they go solar with Sungevity we'll give your friend $500 and give you $1,000 with no limit..."

Since I called them out of the blue, I currently have no name to give them as the person who referred me.
If you are a Sungevity customer, send me a private message with your name and referral number. I will give them your name as my referrer and you will get $1000 (and I will get $500).

In addition, for my education, I would like it if you also included the following info:
- When your signed with Sungevity
- When the Sungevity system was actually installed and when it went online
- The size of system you bought or leased
- The price you paid (If purchase, then the gross $ per watt. If lease, then cents per kWh + escalator costs.)

[jcl2k6]

sure thing russ. will start a new thread as recommended. thanks!

[russ]

Sorry to derail this topic and I would be happy to move this discussion to another thread if needed...

Itsme and wwu123, we're looking into solar upgrade for our home in Mountain View. After a few quotes from local companies I researched more and happened on this thread mentioning the non-profit group you used.

I contacted them and they were very quick to reply the next day and have already set up a site survey from my home in about 2 weeks.

I'm pretty excited to see what they can offer us! Would you mind sharing more of your experiences? I'm new to this web forum and may need some more posts before I can PM.

Thanks in advance!

Then don't derail the thread and start your own - anything seeming like an ad for any group will most likely be removed.

[jcl2k6]

Sorry to derail this topic and I would be happy to move this discussion to another thread if needed...

Itsme and wwu123, we're looking into solar upgrade for our home in Mountain View. After a few quotes from local companies I researched more and happened on this thread mentioning the non-profit group you used.

I contacted them and they were very quick to reply the next day and have already set up a site survey from my home in about 2 weeks.

I'm pretty excited to see what they can offer us! Would you mind sharing more of your experiences? I'm new to this web forum and may need some more posts before I can PM.

Thanks in advance!

[Itsme]

This nonprofit also did my install in November, as well as a neighbor whose array I look out on a few weeks before mine. I think they've done more of their installs in my municipality than any other town.

They are really on the up and up, and were the only ones who could make PV viable for my situation, given my low $100/mo electric bills (majority in Tier 1) and severe afternoon site shading. Who else will actually invoice $1000 less than the signed contract, because the job ended up being simpler than expected? I didn't have any complicated electrical upgrades, but my install did include Enphase microinverters (due to the shading) and included Envoy monitoring, all for $2.79/watt before credits and $1.95 after tax credits.... They actually proposed a slightly larger system, which would have made it even cheaper per watt, I shouldn't have but I ended up having them size it down a bit for mostly aesthetic panel layout reasons.

You must be in PA.

You got a good deal for micro-inverters. Am assuming that you got REC panels.

I have a 5.72 KW system; and costs are about $1.85 per KW after the incentive; line inverter. BUT, I had to do a panel upgrade...to get a larger system...so that set me back $2500...

[wwu123]

I google'ed around and found the organization you are talking about. Looks very cool, saw an article in SJ Mercury about their 100th install last month. It would be great to hear about the experience.

This nonprofit also did my install in November, as well as a neighbor whose array I look out on a few weeks before mine. I think they've done more of their installs in my municipality than any other town.

They are really on the up and up, and were the only ones who could make PV viable for my situation, given my low $100/mo electric bills (majority in Tier 1) and severe afternoon site shading. Who else will actually invoice $1000 less than the signed contract, because the job ended up being simpler than expected? I didn't have any complicated electrical upgrades, but my install did include Enphase microinverters (due to the shading) and included Envoy monitoring, all for $2.79/watt before credits and $1.95 after tax credits.... They actually proposed a slightly larger system, which would have made it even cheaper per watt, I shouldn't have but I ended up having them size it down a bit for mostly aesthetic panel layout reasons.

[Itsme]

Is that for low income? or no requirement, just wait?

PS. got it "homeowner whose electric bill is under $130 per month over the last year's average, OR, they have an electric car in the household"

Yes, that is correct.
Best

[silversaver]

The install went flawlessly; the system is up and running. Produced 32 kwh yesterday, and 31 kwh today. 5.72 KW system in San Jose. Now waiting for City Inspections this friday, and then interconnection from PGE in a couple of weeks....with EV-A plan (not E-6). I would recommend this non-profit...as long as you are patient....

Is that for low income? or no requirement, just wait?

PS. got it "homeowner whose electric bill is under $130 per month over the last year's average, OR, they have an electric car in the household"

[Itsme]

It is going well so far; zero issues. But we have some ways to go; install should be complete by tomorrow; they have already submitted the interconnection application. Hopefully City inspections next week, and PGE thereafter; interconnection takes a month, I am told. Ping me in a month, and i can report back. Thanks

The install went flawlessly; the system is up and running. Produced 32 kwh yesterday, and 31 kwh today. 5.72 KW system in San Jose. Now waiting for City Inspections this friday, and then interconnection from PGE in a couple of weeks....with EV-A plan (not E-6). I would recommend this non-profit...as long as you are patient....

[Itsme]

I google'ed around and found the organization you are talking about. Looks very cool, saw an article in SJ Mercury about their 100th install last month. It would be great to hear about the experience.

It is going well so far; zero issues. But we have some ways to go; install should be complete by tomorrow; they have already submitted the interconnection application. Hopefully City inspections next week, and PGE thereafter; interconnection takes a month, I am told. Ping me in a month, and i can report back. Thanks

[prhamilton]

I google'ed around and found the organization you are talking about. Looks very cool, saw an article in SJ Mercury about their 100th install last month. It would be great to hear about the experience.

[Itsme]

No electric car yet. System size is going to replace close to 100% our current usage to there is definitely room to add a car.

The reason i asked about the electric car is, that based on your system size i assume that your electric bill is more than ~$130 per month for a rolling 12 month average. There is a non-profit in the South Bay area, that can take on a homeowner whose electric bill is under $130 per month over the last year's average, OR, they have an electric car in the household. This non-profit relies on an employee contractor lead and community volunteers, so the install takes a bit longer...but all work is done well, and city/utility approved. Their pricing for outright purchase, i found, was equivalent to prepaid lease from Sungevity. They do not do any leases, or financing.

I am going thru an install right now with them at my home...8 of the 22 panels (REC 260W), & the inline inverter (Sunnyboy 5000TL), have been installed this past weekend; the rest will go up next weekend. As they rely on community volunteers, most of the work does happen on weekends. Their waiting list seems long, as it took 3 months for me to get scheduled. To get an idea on my price per kw...for a 5.72 KW system with a string inverter, mine is about $3.15 pre-fed credit, and $2.21 after the 30% Fed credit incentive; and that included the electrical panel upgrade costs (I needed to go from a 100 amp to a 200 amp.)
http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showth...ck-in-San-Jose

Will let you know how my experience goes.

Thanks

[J.P.M.]

Interesting article. I don't know the first thing about the solar leasing arrangements, but the gist of the article seems to be that (a) the owner/builders of the leased systems are able to get tax benefits through depreciation not allowed for residential owners, and (b) in order to maximize those tax benefits, they are exaggerating the costs of building the systems for tax purposes.

Point (a) is certainly true, and has always been the case. If a business buys a car, computer, building, or solar panel, the business gets to deduct the cost of that capital investment over a period of years as a business expense. This is nothing new and entirely proper as long as corporate taxes are based on profits rather than gross revenue.

Point (b) is more problematic. If true, then this is approaching, and possibly crossing, the line of tax fraud. There might be some "soft costs" which can be allocated to different projects to maximize tax benefits, or interlocking agreements for multiple projects, but that starts to get really dodgy. For example, every company has administrative overhead which can be allocated to different projects. But if the solar installer preferentially assigned that overhead to leased projects rather than sold projects (thus inflating the cost of the lease projects and earning more profit on the installations which were sold outright) you might be able to get an accountant to sign off on it, but the IRS won't appreciate it.

File this under "things to watch…"

IRS/Solar City investigation has been with us for some years now. Some think Solar City got caught w/its hand in the cookie jar.