A while back there was a great post about this with some Great info, any way to find it ? We have a Solar City rep coming by today to talk to us and just wanted to know what I am getting into.

@Zegermanznew


This is the best person to talk to for this.

Hey Cohiba, I've been in solar for ten years. Stay away from Solar City, and stay away from leases in general.

If you have specific questions feel free to post them here or IM me.

I work for RGS Energy (arguably the best) but there are a couple other very reputable companies out there I'd put in my same tier or would consider working for, Earthlight for instance.

After that Vivant, Ctech(sp?) and Ross Solar are the next tier down. Trinity, Solar City and NRG(out of business) make up the bottom of the barrel, they are also the largest companies though.  

There's a lot of mom and pop and smaller companies I'm not listing and know nothing about.

I can't find that old thread but I'll keep searching.

Thank You Zegerman and Andrapos for the info and archived threads !!!

Be careful with Solar City. They do not give straight answers. Also with those leases you are basically allowing them to use your house to generate electricity and you agree to pay a certain amount per kwH from them. Watch out for the rate increases and the fine print. A friend of mine loved it for the first 2 years. Now he pays more per kwH than if he didn't have Solar City.

With Solar City you save money up front but what they hide from you is the rate increases, additional cost to put on a roof, and a couple of other issues. One of the other issues is if you decide to sell your house you need to convince the buyer to assume your lease. It will devalue your house.

I can vouch for Zegerman's character he is a good dude. I know him personally Zegerman will steer you in the right direction.

If you do go solar buy or finance your own system do not do the Solar City type flim-flam scams.

I'll +1 the no lease. I've been looking into solar for a while and it's a good deal. With the 30% federal refund and the state (must use contractor for this) the overall project costs nothjng. You can apply for a energy loan and, if you qualify,  you can get 0% for 10yrs. Figure, you're putting the electric bill towards the energy loan and getting a credit from the electric supplier (if you get a grid tied).So, once you pay the loan off, it shouldnt cost any extra than an electric bill for 6-10yrs. Battery backup doesn't really pay, once you consider LP Kohler generators cost about as much as a battery system, but won't cost you every 5-10yrs.

2.9% per year increase is what I was told. I ran away

I told my pappy knot to do it, but he had solar shitty do them.

The 2.9% increase is insane, Im amazed anybody agrees to it (although it is in the fine print). Thats a compounding increase, too.