Well, Solarcity is buying a panel manufacturer. In true Musk form, he is going to push PV as hard as he can - partly to fuel Tesla cars.
On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 11:41 AM, Robert Bruninga via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > Actually, Solar City is mostly just a marketing, and financing system. > They then hire local companies to do the installations according to their > specs. > > Yes, they demand efficiency from those local companies, and that is where > the weeding out happens I guess. > > Similar to my experience with Geothermal. I got estimates from $28k to > $45k for the same job. And turns out the real pros were the $28k and the > other estimates were from "me too" contractors jumping on the bandwagon. > > Bob > > -----Original Message----- > From: EV [mailto:ev-boun...@lists.evdl.org] On Behalf Of Michael Ross via > EV > Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 11:14 AM > To: Zeke Yewdall > Cc: Electric Vehicle Discussion List > Subject: Re: [EVDL] Solar now under $1.50 INSTALLED in Maryland > > I am sympathetic to the local proprietor thing, I go to the market, buy at > the little hardware store, the local coffee shop. But I think many > installers are less than efficient (there is a national effort to reduce > soft costs). Why does it take a week and 5 trips by the main crew and a > number of other visits to make a straightforward install happen? I got > very good workmanship, but I was really scratching my head after 3 days. > I think dealing with the utilities adds a layer that the installer has to > manage - which is not subject to competition. Does Duke power care if the > installer has to have two on staff to call them and write emails? > > Maybe Solarcity and other trickier methods can be the competition to drive > the cost down. If a local supplier is not being a good competitor then > maybe they should not be as successful as they are now. > > > On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 9:55 AM, Zeke Yewdall <zyewd...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > In Colorado, they only work with one of the utilities here (the one > > with some minimal incentives). They typically won't work with any of > > the other utilities that don't offer incentives, or who have a limited > > pool of incentives. We do a lot of work with the other utilities, > > consequently :) > > > > I have mixed feelings about them. Opening up access to solar to > > people without the up front cash is good... but the number of local > > companies that have gone under due to low cost leases being offered by > > solar city (and a few others), and the number of orphaned PV systems > > with no warrantee any more is not good. > > > > Z > > > > > > On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 7:41 AM, Rick Beebe via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> > > wrote: > > > >> I have 9.3kw of SolarCity cells on my house using their Power > >> Purchase Agreement (PPA) and they've been great to work with. With a > >> PPA I basically agreed to buy all the electricity the panels produce. > >> They would have installed it with absolutely no money out of my > >> pocket but I elected to pay them $1000 to lock my rate in for 20 > >> years. Payback was four years based on historical electric company > >> rate changes but they raised it 15% this past January so my payback > will be even quicker. > >> > >> They're not in every state, though, and I suspect that the ones they > >> are in are the ones with the best state incentives. > >> > >> --Rick > >> > >> On 06/29/2014 04:01 PM, Michael Ross via EV wrote: > >> > > >> > I am interested in Solarcity. They offer a way for people with > >> > less > >> funds > >> > and credit to get solar on their house. But, I have not figured > >> > out > >> quite > >> > how they operate in all the various situations that people find > >> themselves > >> > in vis a vis their utility and local government. > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > >> http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > >> For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > >> > >> > > > > > -- > Put this question to yourself: should I use everyone else to attain > happiness, or should I help others gain happiness? > *Dalai Lama * > > Tell me what it is you plan to do > With your one wild and precious life? > Mary Oliver, "The summer day." > > To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. > Thomas A. Edison > <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed125362.html> > > A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought. > *Warren Buffet* > > Michael E. Ross > (919) 550-2430 Land > (919) 576-0824 <https://www.google.com/voice/b/0?pli=1#phones> Google > Phone > (919) 631-1451 Cell > (919) 513-0418 Desk > > michael.e.r...@gmail.com > <michael.e.r...@gmail.com> > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140630/e7f462 > 99/attachment.htm> > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -- Put this question to yourself: should I use everyone else to attain happiness, or should I help others gain happiness? *Dalai Lama * Tell me what it is you plan to do With your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver, "The summer day." To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. Thomas A. Edison <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed125362.html> A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought. *Warren Buffet* Michael E. Ross (919) 550-2430 Land (919) 576-0824 <https://www.google.com/voice/b/0?pli=1#phones> Google Phone (919) 631-1451 Cell (919) 513-0418 Desk michael.e.r...@gmail.com <michael.e.r...@gmail.com> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140630/e916d1c1/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
