Solar leasing coming to Maryland
Ever thought you'd like to have solar panels on your house but been put off by sticker shock? Well, that may be about to change. A California company that specializes in leasing pricey solar energy systems to homeowners and businesses is expanding to Maryland.
SolarCity, which claims to be the largest solar service provider in the country, announced Monday it has acquired the solar installation unit of Clean Currents, the Rockville-based independent energy company that has been marketing wind and solar power across the mid-Atlantic region. It has a Baltimore-area office in Catonsville.
SolarCity sells and installs photovoltaic systems on homes and businesses, just as about 100 other contractors do in Maryland. But the San Mateo-based company also peddles a zero-down 20-year lease, where the homeowner pays nothing up front, and instead pays rent for the use of the system. SolarCity says the savings customers realize from the electricity generated by its panels more than offsets the lease payments. Homeowners typically realize a 10 percent savings per kilowatt-hour consumed, company officials say.
"Given a choice, homeowners will buy clean power as long as it doesn't cost them an arm and a leg," says SolarCity's CEO, Lyndon Rive.
The company plans to start offering its zero-down, 20-year leases sometime in February. It now operates in more than 1,500 communities in five states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Texas. Maryland and the District of Columbia would be its first East Coast venture. The firm has about 1,000 employees and expects to add 30 in Maryland in the first year, according to Rive.
SolarCity also is investing in Clean Currents, which says it has more than 6,000 residential and 500 commercial customers in Maryland, DC, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
If the lease idea catches on, it could significantly boost the spread of solar energy among homes. The high upfront cost of purchasing and installing photovoltaic panels - $30,000 or more for a typical home system - is a major hurdle to broader adoption of the technology.
Homeowners can get grants from the state to help with the cost - $500 per kilowatt, up to $10,000 - and Maryland Energy Administration officials say the agency has given out more than 1,200 such grants in the past year and a half. Homeowners leasing solar panels can still take advantage of the state grants, at least indirectly, according to MEA's Kevin Lucas. The company installing them has to apply and would get the grant, but can factor that into the rental payment.
(Solar panels covering roof of Fells Point house, 2003 Baltimore Sun photo by Doug Kapustin)
Comments
The state of Maryland has mandated a percentage of all energy generated by the year 2022 come from renewable energy sources, but the state in its infinite wisdom is attempting to do this with wind generation.
The problem with this is that there is not enough wind in the state to generate the quantity of electricity mandated by the law. Furthermore, there is an effort to construct off-shore wind turbines which would be prohibitively expensive to build and maintain and will nullify any savings by using the wind generation.
It is about time that the state get serious about creating tax breaks, incentives and rebates for homeowners and businesses to put solar to work for them. The solar panels are very high tech these days and often come with a 25 year warranty by the manufacturers.
Furthermore, the use of solar is less intrusive than building huge wind turbines in the mountains or off-shore. States like New Jersey and California are at the forefront of this trend and you can see that practically every utility pole in New Jersey has a solar panel on it. Why can't we do that in Maryland. Instead, it was reported in the Sun yesterday that the state is dimming street lights in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and lower its costs. This seems to be an easy solution, but it appears that no one has done their homework on this.
Solar is an inexpensive (in comparison to building a new nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs, which those costs WILL be passed on to its customers) alternative and since the sun will be shining for millions of years still, the energy generated is clean, efficient and cheap.
Come on Maryland, wise up and get on the solar express!
Posted by: Kayaker | January 26, 2011 11:38 AM
I like any program that leads to people utilizing renewable energy. I like the idea of the local area government offering to pay for project up front and earning the money through the property tax increased from a $30,000.00 and up system. This offer would trump any other state from reaping the benefits of other citizens from another state. Anybody buying or building for resale would not have to pay for the system individually, this allows the actual users of the energy system to pay, instead of seller. This will help every states economy not just California. I will link to this page & voice my opinion their in case this comment isn't published.
Posted by: 14u2trust | January 27, 2011 7:49 PM
There are several companies offering this, Sungevity is another one and they partner with local installation companies.
Sungevity also does not spread misinformation that they are the only company offering Solar leases.
Posted by: Robert Reichel | July 12, 2011 2:33 PM