Re:The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months
by maxerickson on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @03:11PM
(#11623366)
The accelerating payments in the PPAs might not be so great if electric prices drop due to solar (in the example below they go up 2.9% per year).
https://www.solarcity.com/sites/default/files/sc-contract-re...
Being responsible for the full 20 year term is also a somewhat onerous financial agreement.
Re:The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months
by toomuchtodo on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @05:55PM
(#11624554)
> Being responsible for the full 20 year term is also a somewhat onerous financial agreement.
I don't think so. Is it wrong to be responsible for a car when you lease it? Different asset, different terms.
Re:The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months
by maxerickson on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @06:04PM
(#11624623)
A car is usually a much shorter lease with much better liquidity. There is a robust market for transferring a vehicle lease, the PPA is as likely to derail a sale of the house as anything else.
This is actually turning into a hollow victory for Florida utilities. To bring people up to speed, Florida outlawed homeowner PPAs [1] (which locks out firms like Solar City, who install the panels and sell you power; no out of pocket cost for you, and you get solar immediately).
With the rapid decrease in panel costs, and the uptick in firms who are providing extremely cheap (or even zero percent loans in some programs!) financing for solar, Solar City (and other installers) are moving towards a financing model, which kills Florida's efforts to stop the spread of distributed rooftop solar.
Disclaimer: I did some volunteer work for the non-profit who attempted to fight utility legislation in this space [2].
[1] http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/jan/16/flo...
[2] http://www.flsolarchoice.org/