Hilarious New 1BOG Video On Going Solar
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One Block Off The Grid (1BOG) has a pretty hilarious new video ad out about how to go solar. Having a bit of a close relationship with the dudes there, they sent it over as soon as it was published. (Full disclosure: if you click those links above or fill out the form at the bottom of this post and then go solar via 1BOG’s site, we do get a small bit of the revenue… so that we can keep bringing you the best solar news and commentary on the planet!)
With that long disclosure (and push to go solar!) out of the way, here’s 1BOG’s great new ad:
Like it? If so, share it with your friends, family, coworkers, pets, high school or college sweethearts, and everyone else on this fragile planet.
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One of the live ads on your pages is classified as dangerous by Trend Micro Scan
http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead.
Solar energy is a no brainer, it is the best thing you can do to eliminate your electric bill…BUT…Solar Leasing is a SCAM! There is no such thing as free….duh.
Do your math before signing anything with a solar lease company!
Pingback: How Many Solar Companies Can Your Friends Name? | CleanTechnica
Here’s a funny video that shows just one of the dark sides of solar leases and PPAs: http://vimeo.com/70888784
Semi-funny and dishonest.
I don’t think so. It was inspired by the real following comment that was posted on a business rating website:
“We signed a solar lease with xxxxx xxxx. Wish we had done more research (Even though we did do some). Even though it’s 0 down and low monthly payments, we didn’t realize that our payments will be going up every year. At the end of our lease our payments will be over $300, A MONTH. We hardly ever paid over $300 a month with SCE. Only once or twice a year in the summer. Also, we have been contemplating the possibility of Short selling our house, and are seeing that these solar panels are going to be a HUGE hinderance in doing this. Even if we wanted to do a regular sale, with the housing market prices the way they were, if we could get what we owe on the house, we would have to add another $50,000 to the sale price because of the solar panels. Bottom line….if you can’t afford to pay for them or finance them, DON’T LEASE! We are really sorry we did.”
Copy and paste it into Google without all the Xs if you want to view its original source. I’ll give you a clue, the website begins with the letter Y. I don’t make this stuff up.
There were also these comments which were an inspiration to the creation of this video. the original sources can be easily located on the internet as well. So no, the video is not “dishonest”:
A HOMEOWNER: “We are trying to sell our home with a solar lease that just started a few months ago. We didnt plan on moving so soon, but the sequester changed that so it is what it is. Here is the issue. It has been a nightmare trying to sell our home with the lease attached to it. We lost one sale after the home inspection due to the buyers deciding they didnt like the lease. Plus we are having issues getting people in to the home once they find out about our lease. The funny thing is that the panels work great and we even put together a print out proving that our system saves a lot of money. People seem to be scared of the lease being 20 years long and they cant look past that. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate them. Also, take my advice in that selling a home with a solar lease is not at all easy and makes an already stressful process even worse.”
A REAL ESTATE PROFFESIONAL: “The curse ! I tried to sell one in the Desert and even though it was only about $150 / month, no Buyer would touch it. That property ended up going to Foreclosure! Good luck !”
A HOMEOWNER: “We are leasing a $26,000 solar system, and in order to qualify to take over the lease the buyer must have a 700 credit score or above. So if we ever sell the house we would have to wrap the remainder of the lease of the solar system into the cost of the house. Depending on how long we are in the house that would bump the price of the house up significantly.”
A HOMEOWNER: “I was recently involved in a potential sale that failed due to two year old xxxxxx xxxxx lease. Solar leases are still quite new and many of the folks than have taken them have not yet tried to sell their homes. Mr. xxxxxx glossed over the detail that will cause a potential sale to grind to a screeching halt like what if the buyer doesn’t have a 680 credit score? What if the buyer doesn’t want the system? How much does it cost to actually move the system/ Is it worth it? When the lease is terminated, will xxxxxx xxxxx remove all mechanical attachment points/flashings/penetrations and repair the roof to as new condition with the same warranty the rest of the roof carries or will they simply abandon the old racking in place and take the high value solar panels?”
A REAL ESTATE PROFFESIONAL: “I too have recently been in a transaction where a solar lease is involved. The property is selling for well above $2,000,000 and the buyer did NOT want to take over the solar lease–thinking it was a very bad investment and he would have much preferred to have bought solar equipment outight. It took a lot of negotiating to bring the buyer and seller together on this issue so I agree that many of the people with the leases have not yet experienced what prospecttive buyers will think about it. It will remain an item to be negotiated. Also, I think it is a poor idea to put the panels on the front of the house–which some people have done. It does not look good for the indiviual house or for the neighborhood.”
A REAL ESTATE PROFFESIONAL: “If you are considering leasing a solar system, please read this first. I have actually come across this in my business. Not only problem with buyers qualifying but shying away from these homes because they don’t understand the lease. There can be issues to a solar lease if a homeowner decides to sell their home.”
That’s anecdotal, not real data.
If data isn’t objectively gathered what one can end up with is cherry-picked stuff which is misleading.
You think it’s honest to state that the leasing company is “taking your federal, state and local subsidies”? (However that is stated.)
Those subsidies belong to the owner of the system. If you lease the system you aren’t the owner.
—
Now, this one…
“Even though it’s 0 down and low monthly payments, we didn’t realize that our payments will be going up every year. At the end of our lease our payments will be over $300, A MONTH. We hardly ever paid over $300 a month with SCE”
What’s the start point? What’s the average monthly bill at the beginning of the lease? How much would one expect the bill be 20 (?) years later as inflation kicks things along?
An average of $170/month and 3% inflation would mean monthly utility bills of $300/month in 20 years.
“Also, we have been contemplating the possibility of Short selling our house, and ar e seeing that these solar panels are going to be a HUGE hinderance in doing this”
The pending short sale has nothing to do with the solar lease. And it being harder to sell is speculation.
” if we could get what we owe on the house, we would have to add another $50,000 to the sale price because of the solar panels”
Are you friggin’ kidding me? Pay someone $50k to take over a lease that pays for itself via utility savings?
How about we be a bit more critical and not promote BS?
Owning probably makes more sense than leasing. But leasing is an option that some wish to take. If there is real data that says that a solar makes it more difficult to sell, then get that data up. Don’t try to support an anti-leasing bias with that sort of non-sense.
They would be their incentives had these homeowners not fell for the leasing company salesman’s BS about the “incentives being difficult to qualify for”.
And as for these comments, talk to their authors. Like I said, I don’t make this stuff up. Do some research and you’ll find a lot more comments like these on the Internet. Now that the 5 to 7 year sale cycle is coming around since leasing began, I’ll bet that you’ll find a lot more comments like these flooding the Internet.
Sure, my research may not have been very scientific but the data wasn’t “cherry picked”. There simply were no comments from anyone that I could find that boasted or commented in any fashion about having an easy time selling their home with a solar lease attached to it.
Who in their right mind is going to assume someone’s remaining $0 down lease contract payments with a 2.9% annual payment escalator (now that’s real BS), on a used solar system that they’ll never own, when they can buy a brand new system for less than half the cost.
I don’t follow your thinking.
Why should someone who doesn’t own the system get the money designed to help pay for the system?
Actually I believe it is the case that the paperwork for the subsidies is a bit complicated.
I can find comments on the web that vaccines cause autism and that people have been taken aboard alien space ships.
Who’s going to assume the lease? Someone who likes the house and understands that a leased solar system is better than no system at all. If you assume a lease on a car you get a ‘not new’ car that you will not own.
“a 2.9% annual payment escalator (now that’s real BS)” The average annual inflation rate is 3.22%
“Why should someone who doesn’t own the system get the money designed to help pay for the system?” My point exactly. That’s why a homeowner should purchase the system at the much lower prices that are available today (sub $3..00 a watt) instead, and apply the incentives themselves.
The 30% federal tax credit alone brings today’s much lower purchase pricing at $3.00 per watt down to only $2.10 per watt installed. No solar lease or PPA company on the planet can touch that price. I’ve reviewed hundreds of purchase quotes from leasing companies and the lowest I’ve seen to date is $3.50 per watt after the ITC. That’s a big difference in price. Leases are typically over $5.80 per watt after the ITC.
And as for the 2.9% annual payment escalator, There is no reason for that other than pure profit. The leasing/PPA companies are already making plenty of profit with the 30% tax credit, any applicable cash rebate, accelerated depreciation and the 20 years worth of lease payments.
If people want to purchase a system then they should purchase a system.
If people want to lease a system then they should lease a system.
Are there bad leasing deals? Quite possibly. Are all bad? I doubt it.
Are there bad purchasing deals. Absolutely. Are all bad? Most likely not.
The fact that the leasing company get the subsidy allows them to offer a better deal than they could otherwise. If profits are too high for leasing companies the market will probably take care of that.
“And as for the 2.9% annual payment escalator, There is no reason for that other than pure profit.” No, when the financials for the lease are worked out that’s baked in as a way to make the payments lower in earlier years and keep the payments less than the utility bill would be.
“The leasing/PPA companies are already making plenty of profit” That would be speculation unless you have earnings reports for leasing companies and have compared them to other businesses.
Fair enough, I agree.