Tesla Solar Rental - No removal cost in Sept

woodburyowner

Well-known member
Anyone see the updated offer from Tesla?  Now for the month of Sept., the $1500 fee is waived if you choose to remove the solar panels.  For a small system 3.8kW, the numbers are

monthly cost $65
generation value $1000-$1400
net gain $250-$650

Seems almost too good to be true.  Anyone else looking into this program?  The only downside I can think of is if Tesla raises the monthly rental fee.  However, the risk is mitigated since Tesla knows some people would just have the removed when the numbers don't make sense.
 
Tesla still at $2.85/watt
Not bad for a publicly traded company.

Local solar still at $2.70/watt or lower.
 
So I can have Tesla install this for free, pay them $65 per month, then pocket between $250-$650 per month?  Anything I?m missing here?
 
$65 cost is per month.  The other #s are annual.  You don't pocket anything, you just pay less than you otherwise would have
 
I think only potential downside might be if you can't shift your bulk energy usage to after 9PM.  If you can do that, this rental program should negate more than $65 off your electricity bill. 

My bill is always more than $65 and in months with AC usage, over $120.  I think I just talked myself into signing up.
 
aquabliss said:
So I can have Tesla install this for free, pay them $65 per month, then pocket between $250-$650 per month?  Anything I?m missing here?

How does one pocket 250-600$? Sorry, I am not very familiar with solar costs.

 
Is 3.8kW enough? The 7.6kW and 11.4kW are $130 and $195... I'm thinking the medium one is where most SFRs will fall and that number is just above of what many spend on their electricity bill.
 
3.8kW is not enough for a SFR...need at least 7.6kWs.  Anyone know what kind of inverters and panels Tesla uses?  I never got a quote from them since their pricing was too high when I was vetting installers.
 
solaredge string inverters was used by solar city 4 years ago.  Now I don't know, but probably still solar edge since it's cheaper.


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akkord said:
3.8kW is not enough for a SFR...need at least 7.6kWs.  Anyone know what kind of inverters and panels Tesla uses?  I never got a quote from them since their pricing was too high when I was vetting installers.

The calculation is a bit different for this rental program since you pay a fixed monthly fee.  If you size the system too big, you might end up losing money each year if you don't use enough electricity.  Medium system is $130/month so $1560 a year.  If your bill is < $1560 per year, it makes no sense to rent a medium system.  For a small system, the cost is $65/month or $780/year.  Most SFR people will have bills higher than this so it's pretty easy to make the rental work.  This is where the $200-$600 net gain comes from.
 
as mentioned earlier, this seems like a great deal. however, section 3 is your big kicker:

3. Changes to Subscription Price. Your Monthly Subscription Payment is subject to change. If your Monthly Subscription Payment is changed, Tesla will provide you with an updated Price Sheet electronically and/or through your Tesla portal. If you do not reject the updated Price Sheet within thirty (30) days and cancel your subscription, your next invoice will reflect the updated pricing.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/CA_Energy_Subscription_Agreement_08132019.pdf

what's your downside?  they could install the system today at $65/month, increase the price to $100/month tomorrow, you cancel and they agree to remove the system for free, then you're at the mercy of whether the contractor didn't damage your roof and sufficiently sealed all of the penetrations.
 
I don't know about you, but I'm conservative with AC and electrical usage in a SFR and once anyone gets solar their usage should probably go up, I'd blast my AC, leave my outdoor lights on longer, not go turning off random lights the kids leave on, etc. 

Say the $65 rental covers part of your electricity (assume average SFR is $100-120), you're still going to pay the difference on usage, I'm not sure where the gain is here. Is that $65 going to cover ~$100/m worth of electricity?  (100-65)*12=420 in net savings, the middle of your $200-600 gain?  I don't believe that small of a system can cover $100/m SCE bill, and like you said it would be worse going to TOU from tiered before SCE forces you to.

How does one calculate break even/ROI on this if its a solar rental?  Doesn't it make more sense to purchase or finance a system if you plan to stay in the home long term?  I'm trying to understand how a rental is better. 

Medium System of 7.6 is $1560/y (10 year rental) = $15600 (not taking into account any price increases)
To buy a 23 panels at 330 watts which is a 7.59 system at 2.60/watt = 19,737 (30% tax credit back) = 13,814 (this is probably using better materials than the Tesla rental too)

After your break even after 5/6 years average, it's all ROI, but you'd still be paying on a rental.

woodburyowner said:
The calculation is a bit different for this rental program since you pay a fixed monthly fee.  If you size the system too big, you might end up losing money each year if you don't use enough electricity.  Medium system is $130/month so $1560 a year.  If your bill is < $1560 per year, it makes no sense to rent a medium system.  For a small system, the cost is $65/month or $780/year.  Most SFR people will have bills higher than this so it's pretty easy to make the rental work.  This is where the $200-$600 net gain comes from.
 
akkord said:
Say the $65 rental covers part of your electricity (assume average SFR is $100-120), you're still going to pay the difference on usage, I'm not sure where the gain is here. Is that $65 going to cover ~$100/m worth of electricity?  (100-65)*12=420 in net savings, the middle of your $200-600 gain?  I don't believe that small of a system can cover $100/m SCE bill, and like you said it would be worse going to TOU from tiered before SCE forces you to.

How does one calculate break even/ROI on this if its a solar rental?  Doesn't it make more sense to purchase or finance a system if you plan to stay in the home long term?  I'm trying to understand how a rental is better. 

with a rental, you take the spread between what you would have been charged by the utility and your rental cost per month (your avoided cost being your savings).  with a 3.8 kW system in socal, you should be able to expect about 6,000 kWh per year.  if you're paying $65/mo, that's $780/year and $0.13/kWh (assuming no change in the $65/mo price).

most residential customers are paying around $0.15-$0.20/kWh.  assuming you're looking strictly at your avoided cost based on 6,000 kWh per year, your savings would be $900 - $780 = $120 per year at $0.15/kWh and $1,200 - $780 = $420 on the high end (though if you're closer to $0.20/kWh you're likely in high usage so you'd purchase a bigger system).
 
Kings said:
most residential customers are paying around $0.15-$0.20/kWh. 

The 3 tiers on my SCE bill are - .19, .24, and .42/kWh.  Where you are getting that most residential customers pay .15-.20/kWh from?
 
woodburyowner said:
Kings said:
most residential customers are paying around $0.15-$0.20/kWh. 

The 3 tiers on my SCE bill are - .19, .24, and .42/kWh.  Where you are getting that most residential customers pay .15-.20/kWh from?

you're right, i'm living in the past a bit with my numbers.  most customers today will be in the low $0.20/kWh range.
 
akkord said:
How does one calculate break even/ROI on this if its a solar rental?  Doesn't it make more sense to purchase or finance a system if you plan to stay in the home long term?  I'm trying to understand how a rental is better. 

Medium System of 7.6 is $1560/y (10 year rental) = $15600 (not taking into account any price increases)
To buy a 23 panels at 330 watts which is a 7.59 system at 2.60/watt = 19,737 (30% tax credit back) = 13,814 (this is probably using better materials than the Tesla rental too)

After your break even after 5/6 years average, it's all ROI, but you'd still be paying on a rental.

You are correct with your rental vs. purchase analysis.  The biggest factor is whether you stay in the house long enough to make it worth while.  That's usually a big unknown for something 5-7 years down the road.  For me, I can't get over that unknown so the question is whether I should do nothing or rent from Tesla.  Renting seems like it guarantees savings from day 1 without any huge capital outlay.

Another thought I had was whether I can really squeeze more benefit out of this program by pausing my Tesla solar rental subscription during the winter months when solar generation is at a low and reactivating it during spring.
 
Renting the panels with no strings attached might be a better option. But the potential monthly increase is also a factor.
 
Getting thrown into TOU before you're actually forced into it by SCE should also be factored in. With a smaller system and 41cents during 4-9pm during the summer is going to eat into any gains since the household will probably use more than what the system generates with AC usage.  Doubt a small system is going to generate much NET metering credit that one may get with a larger system.

eyephone said:
Renting the panels with no strings attached might be a better option. But the potential monthly increase is also a factor.
 
Got the proposal today for a 3.78kw system.  Uses Solar Edge single phase inverter + power optimizers due the panels being installed on multiple areas of my roof.  Panels are Hanwha Q Cells.  Total expected generation is 6100 kWh annually.

Looks like I can also plug in an EV directly into the Solar Edge single phase inverter.  Saves me the cost of getting an EV plug installed.
 
woodburyowner said:
Looks like I can also plug in an EV directly into the Solar Edge single phase inverter.  Saves me the cost of getting an EV plug installed.

This is a bonus. So would this pull from the grid at night?
 
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