Alternative Energy HQ solar power for homes, wind energy, and bio fuel issues
Solar City, California’s largest solar system installer has announced a new solar lease program that can get homeowners set up with their own solar energy system in their home for as little as $1000 to start and a monthly lease payment that keeps their outlay below their current electricity bill.
Wow is all I have to say. For years many of us have been looking at solar and trying to make it work for our situation. Tax credits, rebates, lower panel costs have all been nice incentives but the cost of entry was still formidable for the average homeowner.
But now with Solar City’s lease program I can for see many more home owners jumping into installing solar on their roofs in the short term. I am ordering up my consultation to get mine this week. It is too good of an offer and energy is such an important topic right now.
AEHQ will get a solar system and document for our readers so they can see just how it works out and what if any obstacles there may still be in the process.
From Solar City:
SolarCity custom designs each solar system to the homeowner’s needs, based on roof space, electricity usage and other factors, so lease terms will vary for each customer. Interested San Francisco residents can estimate their potential savings by using SolarCity’s solar calculator, available online at http://solarlease.solarcity.com.
For example, SolarCity can provide 2.4 kilowatt systems for monthly lease payments starting at $25 per month for eligible installations on approved credit. A 2.4 kilowatt system can typically reduce a $100 monthly electricity bill to $40 in San Francisco. In this example, the $65 cost of the combined lease payment and new electricity bill create a net monthly savings of $35. The lease structure—with fixed lease payments that increase 3.5 percent annually—is designed to allow customers to save money immediately, and continue to save over the life of the lease as electricity rates increase.
The City of Berkeley, CA has also started an interesting program for residents. You can install solar and pay for it in your property taxes. A different form of a lease but never the less it has low cost of entry which is attractive. Since it is tied to the property tax of the house the payments carry forward to any new owner of the property but then so does the increased value of the home from the solar installation. Check it out here.
