From everything I’ve read, electricity rates are expected to go up much faster in the coming 20-30 years than in the last 20-30. 3% might still be a conservative rate to use.

I’d think ownership would really giving you a much better return. But there’s obviously a reason why the huge majority of people go the lease route now — humans don’t like putting a lot of money down up front (or getting a loan of their own).

If you’re considering moving in coming years, I think buying is also a benefit. It raises the value of your home and is easy to pass on with a higher price tag. With a lease, from what I understand, you’d have to get the new owners to take over the lease. With savings on one end of the lease more than the other, this can get complicated and could be a deal-breaker in many sales.

I assume you have thought about this, but just in case: a lot of Volt drivers actually drive on gas a lot less than projected in MPGe ratings. You might want to consider how well you will do at just running on electricity, and the savings you’d land from powering that wil solar.

Anyway, much more to consider. I actually envy you a bit in that (think that’s fun stuff), but understand it’s not easy. Hope my 2 cents is of some value!

Inverters are already about as efficient as one could hope for. Copper wire might be replaced with carbon fiber or some other yet to be invented material. It would still do the same job.

I think one thing to appear is going to panels that are more integrated into roofs rather than being mounted on the roof. Panels becoming roofing. Perhaps with internal (attic space) fans for cooling to boost hot day performance. I can see entire south/east/west-facing roofs being solar panels wholesaling their output to utility companies.

Of course, it’s easy to imagine that 10, 15 years from now we’ll look back and think “Wow, sure didn’t see that coming…”.

Right, and good for you.

Have you looked at the cost of ownership? Panels last a lot longer than 20 years. What happens after the 20 year lease is over?

Installed solar seems to increase the resale value of houses beyond the cost of the system.

I look at the way ownership/lease breaks down this way:

Ownership cost = cost of system + financing cost.

Leased cost = cost of system + financing cost + lease company profit.

And, perhaps, add in the cost (loss) of residual value at the end of the lease. What happens to those still valuable panels/racks?

The only way I see that leasing should get you a better monthly is if the lease company has access to lower rate financing and/or has managed to get their installation costs well below other installers.

And, guessing here, if one decides to sell the house before the lease is up it would be a feature to say “The solar system is installed, working, eliminating your electricity bill, and paid off.”

Leasing never feels right to me. Perhaps that’s because one of the companies I owned/operated made its money by owning stuff and leasing it to others.

They are already driving two EV’s, so they will pay a much lower electric bill and will drive for “free”.

Oh, and even without the PV panels, they are each paying well under 3¢ / mile; in fact my brother’s i MiEV is only about 2¢ / mile.

Neil

But let me throw in one little thing.

Would it make you feel ‘warm and fuzzy’ to know that you were generating all the electricity you use and helping with the CO2 problem? If so, that has value.

I ran a quick spreadsheet using 3% and the 20 year average would be about $180.

Assumptions:
Drive 1500 miles per month
.29kWh per mile
14.4 cents per kWh (SDGE night charging rate)

Cost: $62.64/mo

Current electricity usage without EV: ~440kWh/mo billed at regular tiered rate comes to about $65-70.

Assuming I will spend $130/mo including EV charging, I’ve requested a few quotes. But with one in so far, I’m not sure I’ll find a solar installer with a $0 down lease which can produce 10,500kWh per year (875×12) that will come close to this monthly price. The first bid was $182/mo.

At what price per month would it make sense to get into a $0 down lease commitment for 20 years if one spends $130/mo currently? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Think about how many multi-car households there are in the US. And in how many of those households does no more than one car travel more than 100 miles on a given day.

Think about all the people that just don’t drive long distances. Lots of folks jump on a train or plane rather than drive long distances. With rapid 80% charging a 100 mile EV has a 180 mile reasonable range.

And how about people who hardly ever drive more than 100/180 miles and could do with renting a gasmobile once or twice a year – Thanksgiving at Granny’s type driving.

I’m betting that if you add all those cars up you’d be over 50% of existing cars.

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Put the solar on your house roof. Get your employer to install outlets for charging in the parking lot. That’s a lot more efficient use of solar panels.

One thing that I could not find was what its cruising speed is. At 100 miles per charge is would be fine for daily commute around town, but how about freeway speeds? Will it do 80 MPH (yes there are freeways in this country that allow 80 MPH, in fact, there is one proposed Freeway down in TX that is being proposed at 85MPH.

It is real easy to say that it is still a good deal for that “around town commute”, but let’s be real, unless it can REPLACE a gas powered car then it is not realistic for most people. Not many can afford to have one car for driving inside a 50 mile radius and another one for driving outside that 50 mile radius.

Personally, my desire is for a EV that has 100+ mile range per charge, can drive this distance at 70 MPH with heater/AC, radio, headlights, etc. all going at the same time. AND I want it to be able to trickle charge from a solar panel mounted on its hood/trunk/roof. Now, I have something that will cover most of my driving needs, will charge while it sits in the parking lot at work, and if I do something stupid and run out of “juice” without having an outlet available, all I have to do is sit in the sun for a while until I can limp into the next town.