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Tesla has launched a new rental option for its solar panels in an effort to revive its solar home business in decline. The company is proposing the new lease plan in six states – Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico – and the price of this program will be only $ 50 per month (plus taxes) with no fee. 39, initial or long term installation. Contract. The monthly payment also includes assistance, maintenance and any "other necessary materials", although renters are obliged to pay tax incentives or discounts to Tesla.
The new rental option is launched just months after Tesla reduced prices on its solar panels. Taken together, both decisions show how Tesla is trying to rejuvenate its domestic solar panel business, which has declined in three years since the acquisition of SolarCity, the market leader. In July, Tesla announced that it had deployed fewer solar panels in the second quarter of 2019 than in any other quarter since the SolarCity acquisition. The drop in sales has now placed Tesla behind two other residential solar companies.
Tesla's sales pitch for choosing the rental option is that it will be cheaper, faster and cheaper for homeowners to install solar panels on their roofs from the start. The company promises a "one-click" experience that is much simpler than the normal process, which usually means, according to Tesla, "lengthy consultations and piles of paperwork".
In each eligible state, with the exception of California, Tesla will charge $ 50 per month for a "small" 3.8 kW solar panel system producing an average of 10 to 14 kW of energy per day, $ 100 per month for a 7.6 kW "medium" system producing 19 to 28 kWh, or $ 150 per month for a "large" 11.4 kW system producing 29 to 41 kWh per day.
Monthly rates are higher in California; the rental will cost $ 65, $ 130 and $ 195 a month for small, medium and large systems, respectively. It costs around 10,000 USD, 20,000 USD and 30,000 USD to buy small, medium and large capacity systems, respectively, at Tesla (installation included), depending on the state. (The Tesla Powerwall home battery must always be purchased separately and can not be added to the solar panel rental, says the company.)
Although the contract is not long-term, there are some restrictions. Customers must own their home for the panels to be installed. They can cancel the rental at any time, but a fee of $ 1,500 will be charged. According to Tesla, the full payment will go to the cost of uninstalling the panels. ("Tesla does not make a profit with this," writes the company.) Plus, Tesla will charge a fee of $ 1,500 if a homeowner decides to move from a bigger system to a smaller one. Owners may also purchase the system five years after commissioning, in accordance with the agreement.
Monthly rental rates can also be increased at any time, depending on the language of the contract of subscription. Tenants will have up to 30 days to accept the change or cancel their subscription.
As with solar panel rental plans (or more complex "power purchase agreements"), tenants of Tesla's solar panels have to surrender "all tax credits, incentives, rebates and certificates" to the society. In Arizona, for example, this means that Tesla will earn between $ 4,021 and $ 10,063 per facility in the form of combined federal and regional tax incentives.
The federal tax credit for solar panels currently covers 30% of the total cost, although this incentive begins phasing out over several years starting January 1, 2020. But even without the federal tax credit, customers who have the money needed to buy Tesla's solar panel systems ultimately spend less on the life of the panels. Depending on where they live and the system they purchase, Tesla solar panel tenants will spend more than the actual purchase price after approximately 12 to 18 years of payment of the monthly subscription fee (if not do not change).
SolarCity once offered a solar panel leasing plan, which allowed homeowners to rent solar energy at lower cost. This is one of the features that Tesla has phased out after the company's acquisition and, overall, sales of solar panels have steadily declined in the years that followed. The company also closed installation centers and reached an agreement with Home Depot in 2018, which helped to market and sell its solar panels.
Tesla has spent the last few years touting a more futuristic (and more expensive) "solar roof" concept, which involves replacing a whole roof with photosensitive shingles. But the company is still stuck in the design and testing phase and has deployed a minimum of solar roofs. In the meantime, Tesla has developed a significant commercial energy production and storage business, which has helped to offset lost revenues due to lower sales of residential solar panels.
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