Solar City and residential leasing [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

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(switched from wrenches list to markets list)

61 percent of Consumer Reports readers who spent $20k or more on a kitchen 
remodel financed most of the job with cash from savings or liquidated 
investments. It is feasible that SolarCity and its soon-to-come clones will 
capture 20% of the PV market (80% buy or finance their car purchase and 20% 
lease their cars).

I can't imagine a contractor selling $80k room additions, or $40k kitchen 
remodels, or a swimming pool, or even a $10k central heating and a/c 
installation spending an hour or more taking measurements and writing an 
estimate and then another hour or more with their prospect saying, "Get your 
bank to loan you the money or find a leasing company and then call me." Do 
wrenches on this list only sell to cash paying customers? Is anyone offering 
terms?

Joel Davidson

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Schaal" <ken at commonwealthsolar.com>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 2:39 PM
Subject: Re: Solar City and residential leasing [RE-wrenches]


>
> I'd really like to explore these financing issues,techniques more fully.
> Perhaps we should move this discussion to the Markets List ??
> --- Your welcome, Michael.---
>
> My question is  'has anyone seen / read a copy of their lease agreement' ? 
> Can you share it on the markets list?
>
> Thanks, Ken
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Marco Mangelsdorf" <marco at pvthawaii.com>
> To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 2:48 PM
> Subject: RE: Solar City and residential leasing [RE-wrenches]
>
>
>>
>> Joel,
>>
>> Can we?  Yes. Do we want to?  Not this PV integrator.  I want to be paid
>> in-full once the install is complete and do not want to rely on getting 
>> paid
>> over time.
>>
>> marco
>>
>>
>> Can PV contractors finance high ticket products and services the same way
>> hvac, plumbers, home remodelers, etc. do?
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I wanted to update you all on my findings regarding the ability of Solar
>>> City, and other companies which offer similar residential PV lease
>>> arrangements, to break into the market.  It would appear that the 
>>> ability
>>> of
>>> a company to offer homeowners a PV lease, where they pay little or no
>>> up-front cost for a system and instead pay a monthly check to lease the
>>> system for 10 or 20 years, and accrue the 30 percent Federal commercial
>>> tax
>>> credit (ITC) is a legitimate transaction.  While I don't know if this
>>> option
>>> is available outside of CA., it's inevitable that it soon will be in 
>>> those
>>> states that have buydown programs or the like.  My point is that if some
>>> companies, e.g., Solar City, can offer an off-the-shelf program that
>>> allows
>>> homeowners to obtain a PV system at little or no up-front cost, those of
>>> us
>>> who rely on cash sales to support out businesses should be very nervous.
>>> Americans love to buy/get things now and pay later.  And being able to
>>> enjoy
>>> the benefits of a PV system, with the monthly utility bill savings being
>>> more than the monthly lease payments, without paying anything up-front
>>> would
>>> shake up our industry to its core.
>>>
>>> marco
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
> - - - -
> Hosted by Home Power magazine
>
> To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>
> Archive of previous messages: 
> http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/read
>
> List rules & how to change your email address: 
> www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php
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> Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
>
>
> 


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