INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY ... - PHOTON Info
INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY ... - PHOTON Info
INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY ... - PHOTON Info
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counted price on cash purchase and a fi-<br />
nancing option. 1Bog members choose<br />
between cash payments and residential<br />
power purchase agreements offered<br />
TM<br />
through SunRun, which include a low<br />
upfront payment and a fixed monthly<br />
electricity bill. According to 1Bog, for a<br />
cash purchase of a typical 3 kW system in<br />
San Francisco, 1Bog offers homeowners<br />
more than $5,000, or 22 percent, off the<br />
pre-incentive system price (see table). Of<br />
course, the final prices vary somewhat<br />
depending on the unique characteristics<br />
TM<br />
of each home and PV system. Under the<br />
financing option, SunRun purchases,<br />
maintains, and monitors the system.<br />
»The 1Bog discount gets fully passed on<br />
to the SunRun customer, either off the<br />
initial payment or off the fixed monthly<br />
rate that customers pay to SunRun for<br />
their electricity,« said SunRun’s Lesley<br />
TM<br />
Beatty in an email to <strong>PHOTON</strong>. The<br />
upfront payment is normally $1,000 to<br />
TM<br />
Breakdown of One Block Off the Grid’s (1Bog) group purchasing discount<br />
for a 3 kW system in San Francisco, California<br />
$2,000, but »can go lower than that with<br />
the 1Bog discount,« depending on how<br />
customers choose to apply the discount.<br />
SunRun didn’t provide specific pricing<br />
figures showing how the 1Bog discount<br />
impacts the financing scheme.<br />
After including federal and state<br />
incentives, GoSolar Marin’s group dis-<br />
count reduced the price tag on a 6.3 kW<br />
system from $31,617 to $26,237, or a sav-<br />
Without discount With discount<br />
Base price $7.76/W (DC) $6.09/W (DC)<br />
Gross price $23,280 $18,270<br />
California Solar Initiative rebate ($3,825) ($3,825)<br />
Federal tax credit ($5,836.50) ($4,333.50)<br />
San Francisco city rebate ($4,000) ($4,000)<br />
Payable tax on city rebate $1,120 $1,120<br />
Net price $10,738.50 $7,231.50<br />
Power in numbers: 1Bog offers a $5,000 group buying discount off the pre-incentive system price, or a savings of<br />
22 percent, for a 3 kW residential system in San Francisco, California. The net price savings is 33 percent.<br />
November 2009 57<br />
»<br />
ings of 17 percent. GoSolar Mar Vista’s<br />
deal works somewhat differently: For a<br />
2.44 kW system, there was only a $500<br />
discount off a $24,536 pre-incentive<br />
retail price – just a 2 percent savings.<br />
But SolarCity’s package includes a free<br />
monitoring service for the PV system,<br />
which usually costs $1,500. The com-<br />
pany also provides a free WiFi antenna,<br />
yielding approximately $300 per year<br />
Source: 1BOG