Rent Solar Energy for your house

[Mod5]

Check this out.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

This is a site that rents solar panels for your personal use. The panels and installation are essentially free and they charge you a flat per Kw rate for usage. I don't understand the "net metering" business, but if this looks interesting contact a rep and get your specific questions answered.

My guess is they make money on excess energy that they sell back to the electric company, which is what you would do if you spent beau-coup bucks to buy panels and own your own system.

[Ben Burch]

25 year contract is what gives me pause.

[Mod5]

25 year contract is what gives me pause.
I don't believe that you must have a 25 year contract, and you can cancel at any time. I'm actually looking into this for my own/landlord's house and for a couple of my clients. I will have more details later.

The guy I spoke with on the phone on Saturday said the way it works is the company, with solar panels at your location, sends (sells) energy to the grid. When you need energy, particularly at night, you pull back from the grid.

So, as I see it, they are making money on the energy they sell to the grid and a small percentage per Kw on what you use.

[Ben Burch]

Well, let me know how it goes.

I also wonder if Elgin will allow a solar installation? They are really weird in terms of being "neat police" in their building codes here. You'd be amazed.

[Mod5]

Well, let me know how it goes.

I also wonder if Elgin will allow a solar installation? They are really weird in terms of being "neat police" in their building codes here. You'd be amazed.
Yeah, I can see some of those "planned communities" getting their panties in a wad over solar panels.

And by the way, the thing that really appeals to me is the flat rate over the life of the contract. PG&E currently has a stepped rate--costs more per Kw after a basic use level... which is pretty low. I can hardly ever stay within the first level and I don't use a lot of electricity--you know, one light on at a time, water heater at its lowest setting and all that. Unfortunately my house is all electric.

[Ben Burch]

Well, Elgin is not a planned community... The neat police shit is an attempt to force out poor hispanics who cannot afford to bring their homes up to those standards. Like they now have an on-street parking ban JUST in this one hispanic neighborhood. And they know full well that since several adults share one home there quite often, and that the on-alley garage usually can accommodate only one car, and parking on the back lawn is illegal that they make it impossible for these people to have anywhere to put the vehicles they need to go to work.

Pure racism.

In fact the mayor of Elgin was on record in the Tribune as saying (paraphrasing) "Keeping Elgin middle-class and white is not a bad thing." Which is JUST what he needed to be saying with HUD already investigating the city for overt racism in code enforcement. Idiot.

[Mod5]

Well, Elgin is not a planned community... The neat police shit is an attempt to force out poor hispanics who cannot afford to bring their homes up to those standards. Like they now have an on-street parking ban JUST in this one hispanic neighborhood. And they know full well that since several adults share one home there quite often, and that the on-alley garage usually can accommodate only one car, and parking on the back lawn is illegal that they make it impossible for these people to have anywhere to put the vehicles they need to go to work.

Pure racism.

In fact the mayor of Elgin was on record in the Tribune as saying (paraphrasing) "Keeping Elgin middle-class and white is not a bad thing." Which is JUST what he needed to be saying with HUD already investigating the city for overt racism in code enforcement. Idiot.
Holy shit, that's nasty. Well, planned communities do the same thing for the same (unspoken reason). I used to delight in visiting a friend in a planned waterfront community in my 25-year-old, yellow-orange and rusted out Toyota truck. Loved to stay overnight. There was no place to park it except in the driveway. You could hear panties twisting several blocks away. :rofl:

However, solar panels out in the boonies where I currently live are a welcome sight.

[Ben Burch]

Holy shit, that's nasty. Well, planned communities do the same thing for the same (unspoken reason). I used to delight in visiting a friend in a planned waterfront community in my 25-year-old, yellow-orange and rusted out Toyota truck. Loved to stay overnight. There was no place to park it except in the driveway. You could hear panties twisting several blocks away. :rofl:

However, solar panels out in the boonies where I currently live are a welcome sight.

Here is the exact quote;

"We’re trying to have balance in our residential housing market. We’re losing white middle-class residents because we don’t offer the full range of opportunities." . . . It’s Not Racist to Want to Keep a Portion of the Community White and Middle Class. I think that’s healthy." (Ch. Trib., 12/22/99, "Mayor Defends Upscale-Home Plan; Builders, Housing Groups Say It Is Discriminatory.")

[Ben Burch]

In fact, I just added that lovely quote to the Elgin Wikipedia page; [Only registered and activated users can see links]