This is not one of those cold callers offering! It is as legitimate as could be, from the power company no less! What a deal you too can have solar energy with “shared solar without any of the hassle, upfront cost or maintenance of a rooftop panel installation.”
Wow what a deal! Too good to be true? Hmmm?
If Victim is chosen via a random selection, he/she/it can sign up and lower your energy cost “over time!!!”
Ah but the devil is in the details! Your subscription earns Bill Credits that grow over time, you know like a Ponzi Scam? You can sign up for any number of “blocks” per month, up to the level of your average usage over a year. For example, if you averaged 1000 kwh each month, you could “subscribe” for 1000 “blocks!” And your subscription is conveniently added to your electric bill.
Cost per block? ONLY $8.35!!! So your thousand would be $8350.00. Per MONTH!!!
Would I be wrong to call this an AlGore style GreenScam?
Thank you Woody… Yes you do have a point and that makes it a lot less ridiculous than it appeared.
The subscription page does indeed say that a “block” equals 1 kW so per your math, 4 of those units would supply most of a thousand kwh damand in a month.
The details on the pay back though are very sketchy. The only thing certain is that a 4-unit subscriber sees his bill jump around $34/mo. I think I would like to know if that “investment” would break even in my lifetime. Supplier ain’t saying
I like how you purposefully misunderstand the program to make your ridiculous point.
$41.75 is the monthly fee, but you get a credit every single month, starting at $41.14. The third column above, shows the average monthly net savings in the 1st year is -$0.61. So call it a $10 net cost in year 1. In year 5, you’re saving 3 cents a month, and in year 10, you’re saving $2.37/mo. So the payoff is likely about midway between year 5 and year 10, which is similar to estimates I’ve seen for solar panels.
I still wouldn’t sign up for it unless it’s transferable. I don’t ever expect to live anywhere for the rest of my life, which you’d want to do (and have a long life expectancy) to maximize value.
It’s easy to jump to conclusions because of one’s biases, I think there’s a good chance that is what happened in this case. As a matter of fact that could very well be the case in your conclusions as well.
I think that we’ll all benefit if we try and look at things beyond the conclusions we immediately come up with and consider the real possibility that our initial reactions are often inaccurate and offer flawed guidance.
We all have biases and we can all be fooled by innocent intent and the effects of randomness. If you feel it’s right “in your gut,” you are probably wrong.
One way to cut costs is to use a system such as LegionSolar. They have systems which do not do net metering and as such may not require you to work with the local utility at all.
A big cost saver is if you do not have to place the panels on your roof. Having a yard with panels takes some space but eliminates roof mounting costs and possibility of leaks.
There are some neighborhoods around here where the local utility has stopped adding new net metering. Apparently their system for accepting the generated power is near capacity. The company is scrambling to find a way to increase the power acceptance and the customers are unhappy that they added solar and cannot sell the excess power. Also, I have read that some utilities are issuing 1099s to customers for the purchased power. So, one needs to take that into consideration when running the numbers.
One person in the article I read said they had ordered 2 power walls a few months ago and were still waiting for them. He said his installed cost, after tax credits, would be $13-14K.
This offer seems concerning with potentially high costs. For a more affordable and sustainable energy solution, consider RV solar panels. They offer clean, independent power for your RV, reducing costs and environmental impact.
