Google to finance home solar systems

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JONATHAN FAHEY

NEW YORK (AP) - Google wants to buy solar panels for your house.

The search giant announced Tuesday that it will provide $75 million to build 3,000 residential solar electricity systems across the country. Google will own the panels, and get paid over time by customers who purchase the electricity the panels produce.

Google is creating a fund with a San Francisco company called Clean Power Finance that local solar installers will be able to tap so they can offer financing plans to prospective buyers. The plans allow homeowners to install a $30,000 solar electricity system on their house for little or no money up front. Instead, customers pay a monthly fee that is the same or less than what they would otherwise be paying their local utility for power.

Google will earn what it calls an attractive return on its investment in two ways. It gets the monthly fee from homeowners, and, as the owner of the systems, Google will get the benefit of federal and state renewable energy subsidies.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110927/D9Q108180.html

[SixthSense]

1. How do they shrink them ... ?

There's no way I could fit an Oort cloud in here!

[slackmaster]

25. I want at least THREE ringed planets in mine

:nuke:

[customerserviceguy]

2. Ok, if the homeowners are going to pay Google the same as they'd pay a utility

What's in it for them? A warm fuzzy feeling?

[WhiteTara]

4. The rebate and the residual monies from

the electric companies. :shrug:

[quakerboy]

11. I doubt it

If Google owns the panels, they would presumably be the recipients of any rebates/tax credits.

And another unaddressed question would be if the system ever reverts to the ownership of the property owner, or does google continue to own it for the life of the system?

[No Elephants]

15. I'm guessing it will be like my cable box and remote. I expect to keep renting them until I die

or give up watching TC, whichever comes first.

If I live long enough, I may end up (literally, end) having paid more to rent them than houses cost in some areeas of the U.S.


But, the opportunity to watch all the reality shows sure makes it all worthwhile. :sarcasm:

[quakerboy]

27. That would be an aweful long life, or a very poor neighborhood.

Those are what, $10 a month?

After writing the above two lines, I decided to look. A while back, when I had a job and cash, I was looking at the prices in the Detroit area, and it seemed like you could get a place for 15/20k. Which had me drooling. But that would be 166 years of cable box payments, give or take.

There seem to be a fair number of Chicago houses in the 2-4k range. Which is still 33 years of cable payments.

Man. That and its implications make an interesting commentary on the state of things here now.

I found one listing for 7,500, stating that they had been receiving $1132 section 8 rent. Why would anyone sell something where they make more than the sales cost each year. Why would the government be paying that much. Why would anybody rent at that price when 20% down is barely more than a months rent, and the (housing payments can only be 33% of your income) clause for a loan (even at Credit card rates of 30%) would be met as long as you made 750 or more a month(or 25 hours at minimum wage)?

I know. Section 8 is not for people with money to invest.

But play with the numbers a little. If the government were to buy, say, 100 of these houses in the 2k range, and completely rebuild them(bet they could find out of work tradesmen pretty easy who would love to do that work) I bet they could do it for under 20k a building. Which means that the government ROI to have section 8 participants living in government owned refurbished buildings would be under 2 years. After which the costs of that government program could go down, and It could still serve more people. For a 2,200,000 investment, the government could save 1,358,400 per year for a whole lotta years. But that would be socialism, as well as job creation, and we cant have that.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Owning a 30,000 solar unit that would be transferrable to the next owner?

[customerserviceguy]

18. Sounds like they're renting it from Google

Maybe in the mouse print, there's a clause allowing transfer of ownership for a fee. I wouldn't put that past Google.

[drm604]

9. customers pay a monthly fee

that is the same or less than what they would otherwise be paying their local utility for power. In other schemes I've seen like this (Google isn't the first to do this) the customer is guaranteed a set price per kilowatt for a large number of years. It's usually less than or equal to what their local utility is currently charging. They're protected from price increases, although in theory they could lose out if the local utility lowers their prices.

[JDPriestly]

12. Doing something for the environment and freeing themselves from

the uncertainties of increasingly scarce fossil fuel energy sources.

[customerserviceguy]

19. I'm more of a fan of owning it yourself

Instead of making loans to places like Solyndra, why not make cheap loans available to homeowners to put up solar systems that they own? Let the buyers decide which solar companies win and which ones lose. And keep ownership of the system with the person who has to look at it as they head up the driveway every day.

[librechik]

26. Westinghouse Solar Introduces New All-In-One Rooftop Solar Kits

http://solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.8774

MUCH cheaper--tied into the grid

[quakerboy]

28. Kuz thats socialism. Why you want big gubermit?

[Thor_MN]

3. I call the one with the diamond planet!!!

Dibs!!

[Cool Logic]

5. Well, Google is creative and innovative...and the People's money is not at risk...

Rather than subsidizing politically connected companies like Solyndra, the fedgov should get the hell out of the way and let the People pick the winners. For that will ensure the success of the companies with the best products, rather than the companies with the best best lobbyists.

[Odin2005]

6. Funny ambiguity, there, LOL!

[Voice for Peace]

7. kicking - this is brilliant.

[toddwv]

10. From another site:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/09/google-will-finance-rooftop-solar-installations.html

That's where Clean Power Finance comes in. They've developed an open platform that connects installers with investors like Google to provide financing to homeowners. Solar installers sign up with Clean Power Finance to get access to the company’s comprehensive sales solutions, including consumer financing from investors, like the Google fund. This enables installers to sell more systems and grow their business. The installer builds the system, the investor owns it (in this case, Google), and homeowners pay a monthly payment for the system, at a price that’s often less than paying for energy from the grid. Maintenance and performance are taken care of by Clean Power Finance and its network of installers.

[No Elephants]

16. Many poeple who have solar and live in sunny places get a refund. So paying

less for electricity than getting it off the grid costs is not as big a deal as it may sound.

If people could get reasonably priced financing to switch to solar, they could really do well, while helping the environment.

But, then, how would Google become even wealthier than it is?

Better for Google to benefit from whatever the government has to offer in terms of solar/green energy incentives and benefits.

Let's not ruin the U.S. tradition of making the rich richer.

[drm604]

20. This makes it possbile for people to have solar with 0 invesment or risk.

How is that a bad thing?

[toddwv]

23. I can understand your objections.

How many people have the cash to install a $30,000 solar power system on their property even with proper financing?

Some people will do this because lower cost power is attractive. Others will do this simply for the bragging rights. Google is ostensibly doing this because they can't purchase green power for their data centers across the country.

The simple fact is that the more of this tech that is installed, the more COMFORTABLE people become with it and the more prevalent it becomes, the more people are willing to purchase it. Alot of people simply wait until others do something before they take the leap. The more willing people are to take the leap, the more companies are willing to get involved. This includes companies that are willing to provide funding.

This initiative by Google presents an opportunity to get the tech out there and making it common instead of extraordinary.

[Uncle Joe]

24. This also helps to keep the solar installation industry competitive.

Solar financing plans are offered by a handful of large solar companies such as SunRun, SolarCity and Sungevity, and they are growing in popularity. Google established a $280 million fund with SolarCity in June to help SolarCity expand its offerings.

But Google's new fund will flow instead to small, local installers who would otherwise not be able to offer these financing plans. Google says there are 1,400 solar installers in all 50 states.

[JDPriestly]

13. We might be interested. This is a great idea for older people

who don't want to or can't make a long-term investment in the panels.

[left on green only]

14. Would you ever bring in your automobile to be repaired by a brick layer?

Then why would you ever want to purchase your home's energy supply from a media provider? The fact that Google would be trying to enter into a means of making money that is foreign to them tells you one or two things about them as a company: Numero Uno; either they are not very profitable at being a media provider, so they are attempting to branch out into a foreign field, or Numero Duo; their lust to create, more wealth for themselves includes any method they can use to dupe you into forking over your dollars into their pockets. In the case of the former, if they are not very good as a providing source of media for you, then how well do you imagine they are going to be at supplying an energy service for your home that they have absolutely no experience in providing? And in the case of the latter, if they are so greedy as to attempt any means of providing greater wealth for themselves, then what does that say about their genuine interest in the new field in which they are now soliciting your business? I guess it makes about as much sense as E-Bay hawker Meg Whitmann presenting herself as qualified to be the CEO of Electronics HP, or even Governor of California. Some people/corporations display absolutely no shortage of ego.

[lunatica]

17. If the energy you need comes from the installed panels what are you paying for?

The electricity you have in your home gets brought in by the power grid which is supplied by hydro power or nuclear power plants or natural gas so it makes sense to pay for it. But when all the company has to do is install solar panels and do no more than occasional maintenance work on them why pay just as much for that power? It's supposed to come directly from the Sun without any extra work from anyone.

That would be like oil companies installing solar panels on cars to power them and all you have to do is pay them as much as you already pay for gas now. It may be smart business, but what real benefit to the consumer who's already feeling the considerable pinch at the gas pumps. Jeez, Sometimes at the end of the month I have to borrow money to buy gas to get through to payday. Why should I have to do that when the power source, the Sun is absolutely free?

So it's screw the consumer no matter what? The new normal. Bend over.

And what about those who can't afford to pay the cost of electricity now? How are they supposed to be able to pay for it with solar panels if the price is the same?

[Javaman]

21. How many planets can I get? nt

[Uncle Joe]

22. This is a win win situation all the way around on multiple levels, for the people, solar industry,

Google, the environment and the economy.

Thanks for the thread, Omaha Steve.:thumbsup: