For years, a big obstacle to sticking solar panels on your roof has been coming up with the cash for it, with costs for a modest set of panels starting about $18,000 a pop.
SolarCity, which unveiled its residential solar program for Oregon homeowners Thursday, has a different approach: You get the panels for 10 years with no money down, instead paying SolarCity a rate for the electricity generated that's about the same as what you would pay your electric utility anyway.
In other words, said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive, cost-neutral, low-hassle green power: "In order to get more people accepting solar power," he said, "you have to make it easy for them."
Under SolarCity's "PurePower" program, the company sticks the panels on your roof but maintains ownership, pulls the construction permits, repairs any breaks for a decade — and collects the juicy tax credits for new solar installations.
You sign a 10-year "power purchase agreement," agreeing to pay SolarCity a set rate for each kilowatt of solar power generated. That rate is designed to be about the same as the rate you would pay for the electricity use if you didn't have solar panels.
SolarCity, which has installed panels at Intel in Hillsboro, is operating similar programs in California and Arizona, with about 4,000 residents and businesses signed up so far.
City of Portland officials, including Mayor Sam Adams, are on board. Lee Rahr, the city's residential solar coordinator, said SolarCity's offering is significant.
"I think they're really filling a void," Rahr said. "This is for people who are green-minded but just don't have the capital."
SolarCity's residential rates will be in the range of 9 cents to 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour, rising 2 percent a year.
Bruce Barney, a project manager for Portland General Electric, Oregon's largest electric utility, said the reduction from solar power use wouldn't reduce every part of PGE's bill — some charges are fixed. But it would reduce a homeowner's marginal costs for power, he said, and SolarCity's charge is comparable to PGE's on that score.
A 3.5 kilowatt system would cost about $30 a month, SolarCity says. That's enough power to knock off about a third of the electricity use in a typical home in PGE's service territory, Barney said.
The deal isn't risk-free. You'd be betting that SolarCity, founded three years ago, stays in business over the 10-year term. And if solar technology takes a big leap, you're committed to a lower-performing system for 10 years.
Rive says he doesn't think that's likely: Solar advances have been incremental over three decades. But if the technology does leap, he says, you're better off than if you bought the same solar system outright.
The monthly payment isn't fixed; it's dependent on the amount of power the cells generate. So SolarCity loses money if the panels don't work as advertised, an incentive for the company to keep the panels in good shape.
SolarCity makes money through the power payments from residents but also by collecting Energy Trust of Oregon incentives. It resells the federal and state solar tax credits on the open market, a financing scheme that's already in place for Oregon businesses that opt for solar.
The company, based in Foster City, Calif., plans to hire about 20 people in Oregon, mostly installers, Rive said. It will use panels from two manufacturers, First Solar and Evergreen Solar.
