"Free" Solar Electric: I saw two notices lately about what seemed to be a free solar electric system. "New York State will pay." I knew that couldn't be true, but I went through the...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I saw two notices lately about what seemed to be a free solar electric system. "New York State will pay." I knew that couldn't be true, but I went through the process, and someone called me back. She asked about the location of the house, etc., and she said she would send me details later in the day. I wanted to confirm that there was "no upfront cost." She said, "that's right. You don't make your first payment till..." Ah, "the first payment." So, they will do the work without any payment, but then I start paying. I guess they would take my house if I stop paying. I never did receive an email with details.

"$ 0 out of pocket cost" is a bit deceptive. Of course there is out of pocket cost. I would have to keep paying month after month. The idea is that I would be paying less for the system than I would pay the electric company. I pay about $70 a month for electricity, so maybe that was too low for them to make me a tempting offer.

Hereford Loc: Palm Coast, FL

No such thing as a "free lunch".

BebuLamar

If I am not mistaken they will install the Solar system for free but you will have to pay to use the electricity. So you pay your bill just like you pay your bill for electricity now except that the electricity is generated by the solar system on top of your house

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

BebuLamar wrote:

If I am not mistaken they will install the Solar system for free but you will have to pay to use the electricity. So you pay your bill just like you pay your bill for electricity now except that the electricity is generated by the solar system on top of your house

Ah! I don't like that idea. I pay someone else for the electricity that I'm generating. Of course!

wjones8637 Loc: Burleson, TX

We had a fellow out that had a pretty good offer until the payments were discussed. Using our average electric bill, he projected our electric costs, including inflation, for ten years then divided that number by 120. This would have left us prepaying the electric for ten years and hoping that we didn't use more that his projection. I have heard similar stories from other potential customers of other companies. If you look into solar electric be sure to take a close look into how the rep calculates numbers and payments. Needless to say this fellow didn't get the sale.

Bill

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

wjones8637 wrote:

We had a fellow out that had a pretty good offer u... (show quote)

Yeah, there's always an angle for someone to get rich at someone else's expense. I'd have solar electric and still pay more.

A few years ago, I contacted all the solar installers who advertised locally. Not one got back to me.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

I had a representative for a similar offer visit my house. They offered free installation with a per-month lease payment. Supposedly, the cost of the lease would be less than my electric bill. Trouble is, they wildly over-estimate how much electricity their proposed solar array would make so I'd still have an (admittedly smaller) electric bill plus the lease. The monthly lease payment and the reduced electric bill would have been considerably more than just my usual electric bill. There are other issues with what they make sound like a great opportunity but this was the deal breaker for me.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I see this all the time now. Not just for solar but false or deceptive advertising for many products and services. This used to be illegal and the FCC(?) would put a stop to it or levy fines. Now they seem to have stopped punishing these companies so many do it. Another thing the FCC used to regulate is the volume of broadcast commercials. Now that I am older I turn the tv up louder to better understand diaglogue, and then a commercial comes on that blasts me out of the room.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Companies are in the business to make money. The government is in the business of taking and giving away other people's money. It is foolish to believe that anything is for free.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

A friend of mine installed solar on his roof and signed a 240 month lease (that's 20 years!). He and his wife divorced and decided to sell the house. When they went into closing the buyer found out about the leasing arrangement and had the entire amount of the remaining lease (I don't know how much it was) deducted from the sale price. He wasn't happy about it, but went along with it to get rid of the house and his ex-wife.

Another friend, with a south facing roof, called in one of the solar companies. She found out about the leasing arrangements and asked why she should pay them for making money off of her roof. She didn't go through with it.

Lucasdv123

A friend of mine paid $33,000 for a solar system and it broke within 2 weeks of being installed.it took 6 months to get the part so he was paying for something that wasn't workng.the average system has a 10year warranty. I spend about 2,000 per year in electricity so if I were to buy a $33,000 system it would have to last me at least 15 to 17 years to break even and I would have to pay it off in 5 to 7 years.the numbers Don't add up for me.i know solar is the way of the future but not right now.

Properframe Loc: US Virginia

Assuming everyone here is paying Federal tax you are paying for all these schemes anyway. They qualify for a 30% tax credit. So you buy a $50,000 system and you get a refundable $15,000 tax credit on your federal return. Not to mention some states offer the free handouts also.

NDMarks Loc: Dublin, Ca

There is one thing the Solar companies don't talk about - There is maintenance involved and what happens if the batteries need to be replaced. I understand they are quite expensive. Also saying there is no free lunch is not totally true - many people in jails get free meals all the time!!!

Dbl00buk Loc: Orlando

wjones8637 wrote:

We had a fellow out that had a pretty good offer u... (show quote)

Funny you should bring that up. I had a very similar pitch given to me last week by a solar company rep. (who looked {and smelled of potent after shave} like he'd just graduated high school then went to the "Fast Sam's" used car slicked-back hair stylist college). He tried to hype similar numbers like a broken record auctioneer.
That alone was enough for me to politely show him the door.

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

NDMarks wrote:

There is one thing the Solar companies don't talk about - There is maintenance involved and what happens if the batteries need to be replaced. I understand they are quite expensive. Also saying there is no free lunch is not totally true - many people in jails get free meals all the time!!!

A lot of jails now, are charging prisoners for meals.

will