Slashdot Mirror
Selling Homeowners a Solar Dream
slugo writes to mention a Wired article discussing a unique business looking to capitalize on interest in solar power. The
Citizenr company will install a solar generator on your roof, completely for free. You then buy power from it, instead of a regular power company, at a fixed rate that's likely to be lower than the usual power fees. The company will make money on these usage fees, as well as credits from the federal government for spreading the use of solar power. If it sounds too good to be true to you, you're not alone. A number of financial analysts have warned people away from the company. "The naysayers are finding lots to say nay to. Much of the criticism is clinging to the company's multilevel marketing scheme. So far, more than 700 people have enlisted as independent Citizenr sales agents -- what the company calls 'ecopenuers' -- or about one sales representative for every 10 customers, with significant overlap. Heading that sales army is 42-year-old Styler, a veteran of multilevel marketing and a colorful figure in his own right." Pyramid marketing and shady business or not, it's an intriguing idea.
"So far, more than 700 people have enlisted as independent Citizenr sales agents -- what the company calls 'ecopenuers' "
The boldface buzzword is a warning sign: stay away, stay very far away.
I would love solar (or some other alternative) energy for my house. Love it. But it's just too expensive.
That said, this is kind of nuts. They're using my roof space, selling power back to the energy companies and I still have to pay them?
Now, set this up so I pay them a flat-rate for a few years (even a rather long time, like 7 years) and I would absolutely consider it.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
This works under net metering, so it is not really a matter of running out of electricity. There is no storage in these systems except that provided by the grid and its responsiveness to changing loads. Net metering runs over a year, so an unusually cloudy year could affect revenues, but there are 40 states with net metering laws, so it would have to be cloudy all year everywhere for this to be a problem.
The ownership of the systems stays with the company, so recievers would be collecting them, or the bill in the worst case.s -selling-solar.html
The roof, shading factors, past electric usage all go into the system design. Under the 25 year contacts, there is one free deinstall-reinstall in case you need to move or reroof.
Installs are performed by franchises. These are brick and mortar. The network marketing is for sales. It is working as well.
These systems are only available where there is net metering. You use up kWh credits when the weather is cloudy that you build up when the weather is fair.
The amount of roof the system needs depends on how much electricity you use. The panel configuration is still not set but they will be 15% efficient. So, you can take 340 W/m^2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_radiation day night average mutiply by 0.15 and get about 50 W/m^2 out. For a 1000 kWh/mo bill you can work out that you use 1.4 kW on average so you need about 28 m^2 of panels, about 5 meters square. The tilt and orientation of your roof is also important and the amount of annual cloud cover. Ground mounted systems are also offered.
You can find out more following links at http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-user
Thousands upon thousands of people have done it, and continue to do so. The economics are well-settled at this point.
Photovoltaic generation on a house-load level IS cost-effective in one situation: New construction in rural areas, where it displaces running a long (and high-priced) grid connection. Then the money that would have been spent on the grid tie can be spent on the capital cost of the photovoltaic system instead.
This one requires a grid tie for net metering, so that displacement is not available.
Unfortunately, equipment costs for grid-tied photovoltaic equipment is still high enough that you're ahead to invest the money it would have cost and spend the interest buying power for the life of the system you didn't install. (This could change with enough lowering of equipment costs or raising of electric power prices.)
If you have a source for equipment inexpensive enough to back up your claim, please let us know what it is. I have two houses where I'd LOVE to install such a system.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
I've signed up with CitizenRe as well, and I have not chosen to be a "ecopreneur," so I have no referral link to place.
To answer your question: yes, I would love to own the system outright, and to outfit it with a large bank of deep-cycle batteries, etc. However, I do not have the $35-50,000 that such a system would require, nor do I have the credit to finance such a system. Therefore, CitizenRe, with their virtually "no risk to either side" contract, is the best option for "going green" and also saving a whole bunch of money.
Right now, CitizenRe has nothing about me except a name, an address, a telephone number, and a signature on a piece of paper indicating I will purchase all the electricity their solar cells can generate for a period of 25 years at $0.08/kWh. I predict this will be an excellent gamble, as energy prices are unlikely to fall dramatically (right now, the average rate for electric service in Texas is $0.124/kWh), and I will still be generating electricity in an environmentally-friendly manner.
These are the reasons I signed up. Not to make "gobs" of money, or to try to recruit other people. I did so because I wanted to, and without selling, so they let me.