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Solar Panels - Anyone have any experience?


99_XC600

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This week I have an appt with a Vivint Solar regarding putting Solar panels on my house. The attraction is that they assume all costs for installation. They then offset their cost buy claiming all of the local and federal state credits. They then sell the power back to the local utility company and you then buy the power at a reduced rate resulting in a lower electrical bill for the homeowner. They are then responsible for all maintenance and any issues.

 

Has anyone gone through this process and had any issues? 

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The location of my house, makes it a perfect candidate for solar panels.  I looked into it a few times, and the ROI at this time, is just worth it for my situation. I do have small solar setup I made for my Ham Radio, has part of Disaster Recover exercise, it's packed away has part of my "bug-out" bag.

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On 8/6/2016 at 9:49 AM, 99_XC600 said:

This week I have an appt with a Vivint Solar regarding putting Solar panels on my house. The attraction is that they assume all costs for installation. They then offset their cost buy claiming all of the local and federal state credits. They then sell the power back to the local utility company and you then buy the power at a reduced rate resulting in a lower electrical bill for the homeowner. They are then responsible for all maintenance and any issues.

 

Has anyone gone through this process and had any issues? 

I have heard the cost of the solar panels can be tacked on to your house if you plan to sell it at some point. You have to also watch out as utilities are trying to change the laws regarding selling back the electricity. I guess on your end that's not a problem and if the company goes bankrupt you get the panels for free anyways.

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We met with them last week. Essentially they classify it as a "Power Purchase" where they absorb all installation costs and in turn you agree to purchase power from them at a reduced and somewhat price controlled rate. 

 

It's a 20 year "Lease" and in the event you decide to move or sell the home. (Which we might in the next 5 years). They need to approve the buyer of the house via a credit and a background check. This same situation also effects being able to pull the equity out of the house or doing a refi.

 

There's currently some legislation in MA trying to correct this. So for now, we're going to wait and see what happens before we commit to anything.

 

 

http://whdh.com/news/hank-investigates-leased-solar-panels/

 

 

 

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