Solar power disrupts the business of existing utility companies. In exchange for being granted a monopoly to generate and distribute electricity in a given geographic area, utilities are guaranteed a certain rate of return. That gives them an incentive to spend more money on power plants and grid expansion. The more they spend, the more money they are allowed earn. That’s how the power game is played in the US.
Making it possible for many New Mexico homeowners to install solar with no upfront cost, SolarCity is now offering its groundbreaking MyPower solar loan in the state. Expecting its unique solar ownership program to immediately become the most affordable residential solar power option in New Mexico, SolarCity states that homeowners will pay as much as 20 percent less by going solar than they are paying for utility power. America’s #1 solar power provider, SolarCity provides solar power to businesses and government organizations throughout the nation, and has completed hundreds of projects in New Mexico.
“I’m excited to welcome SolarCity to New Mexico,” said U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). “Solar energy’s future in New Mexico is as bright as our sun—our tremendous solar resources should be harnessed as an engine of economic and job growth for our state. SolarCity’s decision to come to New Mexico is great news for our residents, our economy and our environment.”
New Mexico will be the first place where SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) has launched solar service through MyPower exclusively. The company’s MyPower loan program and its affordability has made it very popular. Introduced in October of 2014, already more than 12,000 customers across the country have signed up.
Most solar loans are provided to homeowners by third-party banks and municipalities in partnership with solar manufacturers and regional installers. However, through its subsidiary, SolarCity Finance Company, SolarCity acts as a lender to its customers, offering some of the industry’s best financing terms. SolarCity notes the advantages of this, pointing out that “some competitor products place a lien on the customer’s home and involve an onerous approval process. MyPower places no lien on the home, making it easier to transfer in a sale.”
Except for the added advantage of retaining ownership of the solar panels, homeowners repay their MyPower loan similarly to the way a customer would pay for a solar power purchase agreement (PPA), based on the solar energy the system produces from the sun.
As SolarCity expands into New Mexico, the company states that it is also opening a new operations center in Albuquerque this month. Jobs available include sales, installation, and positions supporting these roles. Approximately 50 local employees are expected to find positions in SolarCity’s initial round of hiring.
SolarCity will initially be offering solar service to homeowners in specific areas of New Mexico. These areas will include customers of the utility company PNM in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and their surrounding areas, as well as homeowners that are customers of El Paso Electric in the Las Cruces area.
New Mexico will be the 16th state that SolarCity operates in, and the company believes it has the potential to be one of the best solar markets in America. New Mexico is one of the sunniest states in the U.S., and Albuquerque is one of America’s sunniest cities.
SolarCity points out that it will accommodate New Mexico solar customers on a first-come, first-served basis. Area homeowners interested in SolarCity’s services can contact the company directly at 1-888-SOL-CITY (1-888-765-2489) for a free, no-obligation solar consultation or visit SolarCity online. Candidates interested in employment opportunities in New Mexico can review available positions and contact SolarCity directly via its online jobs form.
Photo Credit: SolarCity van, from wikimedia commons.
SolarCity announced this week that it is expanding its operations into New Mexico. It is proposing to transform the market for electrical energy in the state with a program that allows customers to sign up for solar power with no money down. It anticipates that the cost of its solar power will be 15% to 20% less than electricity from traditional sources. Some call the plan “solar power for the masses.”
SolarCity finances, designs, installs and maintains residential and commercial solar systems. The company will offer New Mexico homeowners 30-year loans at 4.5% interest, financed by Credit Suisse through a program called MyPower. “The reason the service has been so popular is we address the biggest barrier to solar, which is the upfront cost,” said Jonathan Bass, a SolarCity spokesman. “This way, there’s no out-of-pocket costs.”
The loan is based on a person’s credit rating. The minimum credit score required to secure a loan is 650, and the monthly payment is based on the amount of solar energy the customer’s system produces. The solar installation itself is the collateral for the loan. No lien is placed against the home. The customer can pay off the loan early with no penalties and if the home is sold, the solar loan agreement can be transferred to the new buyer or incorporated into the home’s sale price.
Regina Wheeler, CEO of Positive Energy, a solar design and installation company based in Santa Fe, said she’s excited about SolarCity’s arrival. “We know that when they come to town, they tend to double the market for solar.” SolarCity can also be a powerful ally for promoting solar policies at the state level, Wheeler said. “We’re really happy to have additional support for distributed generation,” she said.
That last part could be important. The existing utility companies in New Mexico are proposing a surcharge of up to $100 a month on home solar installations, claiming solar customers do not pay their fair share to help maintain the existing grid infrastructure. SolarCity’s Bass says, “There is no solar or technical basis for the claim that solar customers don’t pay their fair share for electricity. We’re happy to have that debate.” SolarCity has already filed an antitrust suit in federal court for instituting just such a surcharge.
The chairman of SolarCity is Elon Musk, who has shown many times he enjoys disrupting entrenched interests and challenging existing authorities. Things in New Mexico could get interesting soon. SolarCity began taking applications from residential customers on March 4, 2015.
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Source: Santa Fe New Mexican
SolarCity has already installed rooftop solar systems on about 4,000 homes within Fort Bliss, but now it wants to expand into the rest of El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Fort Bliss is the second-largest army post in the country with head quarters in El Paso.
“We’ll grow as fast as the market will allow. We’d love to put a solar system on every house in El Paso,” explained Eric Wittenberg, a SolarCity senior vice president. SolarCity is offering solar power systems with no upfront costs and owners can pay as little as $35 a month for their solar electricity. The typical bill will probably range from $35 to $75, says SolarCity.
SolarCity installs its own solar rooftop systems for no or very little cost, so homeowners can afford to use solar power but not have to buy their own systems, which can cost up to $20,000 or more. Customers still use grid-connected electricity too, but they need less.
A FICO score of 680 is needed for SolarCity to accept a homeowner as a customer that will receive solar panels. Also, the customer’s roof must receive adequate levels of sunshine to generate enough electricity to make the installation worthwhile.
El Paso Electric’s nearly 400,000 customers have not adopted home solar in record numbers. Only about 3,000 have their own home solar systems.
Home solar systems have never been as affordable as they currently are to purchase. A homeowner that buys her or his own can pay back the cost in as little as 7 years, depending on the system and utility bill costs. After it has been paid off, the owner can save thousands per year on utility bills. Buying and home solar system will probably turn out to be a good investment for many. Adding a home solar system can increase the value of a home and decrease air conditioning and heat costs because it can keep a home cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
However, some people are more cautious and may prefer an arrangement like the one SolarCity offers, where they have to invest nothing or next to nothing in order to get solar power.
SolarCity handles the installation, so it is a relatively burden-free process from the customer point of view.
As you might imagine, Texas has plenty of solar power potential. A research study found that it could produce 170 times the amount of electricity it consumes using solar power. The same study indicated that there are three million rooftops there that could have solar panels.
SolarCity is making it easier for some of them to have solar power systems installed.
Residential solar provider Sungevity, Inc, headquartered in Oakland, CA, has announced that it has expanded its solar services into New Mexico and Vermont. This expansion mirrors the general growth trend for solar in the United States. In fact, Sungevity was ranked the third most productive residential solar installer in America, by a GTM Research report.
Sungevity was kind enough to answer some questions for this article. Have a look and drop more questions in the comments if you have more.
1. Why did you choose to expand into New Mexico and Vermont and which states might you add next?
New Mexico and Vermont have the right business environment for solar — electricity prices are high, net metering policies are good, and adoption rates have been strong, among other things. And while they lack the solar name recognition and big influence of California, the leading solar market, it’s Sungevity’s mission to make solar an easily accessible, affordable, and enjoyable experience for as many people as possible.
2. With your instant online quoting technology, how long does it take to get a quote?
With our proprietary online iQuote technology, homeowners can get a solar quote within hours and a dedicated Sungevity representative takes the time to answer any questions that consumers have. We take care of all the complicated backend issues to getting a system on your rooftop and interconnecting the system with your utility, so you can experience the benefits of clean, green solar energy.
3. How do consumers sign up for the Sierra Club donation and discount?
Customers can go solar through Sungevity and the Sierra Club by visiting sierraclub.org/solarhomes and requesting an iQuote. The URL will tag the customer as a Sierra Club supporter and the $750 discount and donation gets automatically saved in our system and communicated to the customer’s sales rep. The donation goes directly to the local Sierra Club chapter so that the money is benefitting initiatives in the state where an individual lives.
4. Are there similar deals with other non-profits?
Our Sungevity.org program has over 100 non-profit partners and has helped raise over $1.5M to date, since we launched it over 3 years ago.
5. Do your own employees get discounts on home solar if they sign with Sungevity?
We pride ourselves on providing our customers with the best experience in the industry, including a great rebate program. If our employees go solar, they in turn become customers and get the same great experience.
“Our partnership with Sungevity allows our members to take personal action toward a cleaner planet while doing something good for themselves too. Home solar is good for everyone, and we couldn’t be happier to expand our partnership into these two new states,” said Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director.
Sungevity’s sales doubled in 2013 because of the ease of its online quote system and focus on customer service, as well as growth of the market as a whole. The company’s iQuote system can rapidly calculate a range of information using satellite imagery, aerial photography, and historical consumption rates.
New Mexico is ranked in the top ten US states for solar-powered houses. $131 million dollars was invested in New Mexico solar power in 2013, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, but investment there is expected to increase this year. New Mexico has the second-highest solar potential of the American states, according to Environment New Mexico, which wants solar systems on 100,000 New Mexico homes by 2020.
Vermont ranks 24 in the United States for solar power, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. $47 million was invested there in 2013, which was an increase of 28% over 2012. Solar investment in Vermont is expected to increase again this year as well.
Image Credit: Sungevity
The following is a fun graph I recently ran across on Wikipedia. It shows the completely explosive solar power growth that has occurred in California, Arizona, New Jersey, Nevada, and New Mexico since 2010. Different factors have been at play here. For one, the price of solar panels has come down dramatically. In some of these markets, 3rd-party solar that lets people go solar for $0 down or close to $0 down has been important. In California, it accounts for about 70–80% of the residential solar market. The SREC market in New Jersey has been big for stimulating growth there. No matter how you look at it, though, this is awesome:
Note that the data are for the years 2009–2012. Solar power leapt to new heights in 2013.
Image Credit: Plazak (CC BY-SA 3.0 license)
