Despite the “green” appeal of solar energy, the high up-front costs associated with the systems often act as a major deterrent ”“ particularly for individual homeowners without cash to spare.
However, with a recent change in the New York state regulations, third-party companies may now own and operate electrical systems within the state, meaning residents can take advantage of solar power without having to buy the panels themselves.
Under a new partnership between Mercury Solar Systems Inc. in Port Chester and SunRun Inc. in San Francisco, homeowners can essentially rent solar panels while paying only for the energy they generate.
David Sugrue, director of residential sales at Mercury Solar, compared the SunRun plan with the partnership between homeowners and their utility company. Just as consumers don”™t own the wires that carry electricity to their homes, “When you enter into this agreement with SunRun, you don”™t actually own the equipment on your home,” he said.
Under the SunRun plan, homeowners enter into a 20-year agreement with SunRun, after which they have the option of renewing the contract, buying the panels or having them removed. The plan is exclusively for residential customers.
One of the advantages to the SunRun plan compared to the alternative of owning a solar panel system is that SunRun will perform any maintenance work that is needed over the lifetime of the contract at no cost to the homeowner, Sugrue said. “If anything goes wrong in those 20 years, SunRun is on the hook for it.”
The two companies have already partnered to offer the plan to New Jersey residents, and Sugrue said he hopes for Mercury Solar to be installing 30 to 40 SunRun systems per month in New York and Massachusetts by the second quarter of 2012.
With a six kilowatt system, which Sugrue said is the average set-up that Mercury Solar installs for residential use, the payback period is between four and six years, after which homeowners would see major savings.
“A six kilowatt system is going to produce 7,200 kilowatt hours, which is going to save you about $1,600 per year. You”™re buying power and you”™re not buying panels, which is the real big difference.”
Under the 20-year agreement, homeowners can either pay a $1,000 installation fee combined with monthly payments, or they can pay the full value of the contract up-front without having to pay an installation fee.
