Hi all,
I have read through a lot of the posts on this forum and I am impressed by how much knowledge people are sharing about solar PV systems.
I am considering a Sunpower lease or buy in the San Diego area:
28 Sunpower E20/327 solar panels
2 SPR-6000m 6kW inverters
This will generate approximately 14,872 kWH per year.
Financing options I am considering:
Buy for $33,000 (this is after federal tax credit and state rebates)
Prepaid 20-year lease for $16,500
Our current electricity usage is approximately 18,000 kWH per year, so we pay a lot of high tier rates. This works out to us currently paying about $0.27 per kWH during the summer and $0.32 per kWH during the winter. It is about $5,000 per year in electricity from SDGE.
Based on my usage and the cost of the lease, I could see a full return on my investment in as little as 4-5 years. This really seems too good to be true. I understand that Sunpower can depreciate the full retail value of the system under a lease which is why they can offer it at a discount compared to the purchase price even though they must maintain and insure the system under the lease. I would prefer to not have a 20 year lease, but it wouldn't make any sense to pay the additional $16,500 to buy the system and then be on the hook for maintenance.
On a pre-paid lease, I would have the option to buy it out for FMV in 7 years, or keep the lease to the end. I'm not sure why I would want to buy it out though since I'd have to maintain it and replace the inverters when they inevitably fail during the 20 years of original lease. With the prepaid lease, they even guarantee my production every year.
So, my questions for the experts:
- Am I missing something big here? Is this deal really as good as it looks?
- Is there any way to estimate the FMV at the 7 year mark? Has anyone gone through the process of buying out their lease for FMV? I don't think these deals have been around for 7 years yet...
Thanks for any insight you can provide.
I have read through a lot of the posts on this forum and I am impressed by how much knowledge people are sharing about solar PV systems.
I am considering a Sunpower lease or buy in the San Diego area:
28 Sunpower E20/327 solar panels
2 SPR-6000m 6kW inverters
This will generate approximately 14,872 kWH per year.
Financing options I am considering:
Buy for $33,000 (this is after federal tax credit and state rebates)
Prepaid 20-year lease for $16,500
Our current electricity usage is approximately 18,000 kWH per year, so we pay a lot of high tier rates. This works out to us currently paying about $0.27 per kWH during the summer and $0.32 per kWH during the winter. It is about $5,000 per year in electricity from SDGE.
Based on my usage and the cost of the lease, I could see a full return on my investment in as little as 4-5 years. This really seems too good to be true. I understand that Sunpower can depreciate the full retail value of the system under a lease which is why they can offer it at a discount compared to the purchase price even though they must maintain and insure the system under the lease. I would prefer to not have a 20 year lease, but it wouldn't make any sense to pay the additional $16,500 to buy the system and then be on the hook for maintenance.
On a pre-paid lease, I would have the option to buy it out for FMV in 7 years, or keep the lease to the end. I'm not sure why I would want to buy it out though since I'd have to maintain it and replace the inverters when they inevitably fail during the 20 years of original lease. With the prepaid lease, they even guarantee my production every year.
So, my questions for the experts:
- Am I missing something big here? Is this deal really as good as it looks?
- Is there any way to estimate the FMV at the 7 year mark? Has anyone gone through the process of buying out their lease for FMV? I don't think these deals have been around for 7 years yet...
Thanks for any insight you can provide.
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