I-Team: Hidden Camera: How to spot a solar scheme
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- čas přidán 26. 10. 2015
- If it's hard to imagine solar panels on nearly every Georgia roof, remember it wasn't long ago people laughed about the idea of computers inside nearly every Georgia home.
A new law allowing homeowners to lease those solar panels rather than buy them is expected to generate big sales…. but also big complaints.
State regulators predict that new law will attract solar power marketers who use sales gimmicks to fool the consumer.
Little did they know the FOX 5 I-Team was already on the case.
Our hidden camera visit with Solar Sale USA captured their national sales director saying this to our undercover producer:
"Depending on your size family, your consumption and what your lifestyle is, somewhere between there and you'll probably zero out on your electric bill."
That's what the solar salesman said - no electric bill if you buy his system. Wouldn't that be nice?
Wouldn't that be… impossible?
"There's great advantage to all that, to having rooftop solar, but that's not going to be the end of all ends," said Georgia Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise.
I had a salesman give me this same pitch. When I asked him to take me to his home and show me his solar set up, he refused.
I have a Ground mount with a solar time tracker in Michigan, In the summer I do NOT have a ELECTRIC BILL.I've owned it over five years and it's paid for itself.With a grid tie system no BATTERIES I use my power I make through power through the day. I make extra power and use it at night I make 240 VAC at the solar panels. I LOVE WHAT SOLAR DONE FOR ME
Also they aren't pointing out the random changing charges we see on our bill throughout the year.
But this WILL help the climate for our kids and grandkids
The only way to go solar is to install a system that allows you to COMPLETELY cut the power company cord!! That means sufficient battery bank to run your house 24/7 365! And the solar panels to recharge them! Selling back power is needless!
Rule #1: If anyone is at your home trying to sell you a product or service without you calling them first then it is a scam.
Yes mine zeros out every month
50,000 is too much you can get a 5.3KWH system for 9,000 (not incl install) 20 panel so 18k for 40 panel
They didn't even discuss the possible difficulties in selling a house that comes with leased solar panels where the new owner is now responsible for paying. Leasing solar panels is a very bad idea. Buying them outright is far better if other factors also line up, such as your house having a southern facing roof.
Those energy prices are soaring now. Changes the equation?
What they DON'T tell you when they SELL you this crap is,,during those 14-18 it takes to break Even,,you will have to REPLACE panels, some of the interface components that stop working in High temp Weather and Batteries. Not to mention, putting this things on you ROOF does NOT give enough Air circulation to Cool them properly and they either slow down production of Current or stop all together until it cools off. And, during those HOT DAYS is when you REALLY Need the power to run your A/C. In Short,,you NEVER BREAK EVEN...EVER. And why can I say that with confidence. For the last 38 yrs of my life, I was a High Voltage Electrician (AKA LINEMAN) for a large power company that also SOLD these things. Oh. and the power companies and states do NOT pay for these items and its installation as a lot of he claims SAY they do,,they give you a Tax Credit. Which only means you can Deduct that from you income tax. Which of course means you get a SMALL percentage of what you PAID for these things in your Tax Return. FACT.
Ironic, now 2022, 100% increase in 1 year! yes rates have doubled here in Missouri.
yes it's crazy and we can't do anything to stop it. I'm pretty sure this news channel got paid by the power company to "informed" the ppl.
You can store your generated energy from solar with battery packs.
You suggest pointing the panels direct south which is peak sun, but it is a bad time for the utility - the Duck Curve. Panels pointed south west generate during peak usage times when utilities are least affected by too much sun power at noon.
The solar power system can zero your local electric bill IF you use a large enough battery back up, enhance your system with wind power and have a backup generator. The largest problem I discovered is the difference in value of the electricity you sell to your local power company and what they charge you. Expect your local power company to charge you an even higher rate once you begin using solar power. The expect them to pay you roughly 10% of what they charge per kwh. So what this means is you cannot sell your excessive power to the local power company, then purchase your power back at a fair market value. Instead you will be met with a SCAM. Notice this news company did not tell you this SCAM.
Nope battery bank runs at night.
Bet they wish they got solar 6 years ago 🤣
Realisticly is about 4% in Florida not 2%
That's solar "scam", not "scheme".
Does Georgia have net metering? If it does then you can have no electric bill if you buy enough solar.
you can still have a connection fee and what not it will come to 5-10$
When the solar company comes out to throw you his pitch check your state website find out how long the corporation has been in business that’s how long your warranty is going to be 1 to 2 years until they change their name to something else
Then you’ll remember that promise they made about coming out and taking off the solar panels and replacing them for free when you need a roof
Best place is to put your panels on the side of the roof facing directly south? Oh really? Not true for solar panels in the southern hemisphere which should be on the north facing roof side. Also, when computing the "break even" point, you also have to factor in the loss of investment opportunity. For example, if you pay $20K up front for a solar system in 1 lump sum, you have to figure what profit you would have lost from possible investments (stocks for example), in that period, so that actually makes solar LESS attractive. For example, if person A bought $20K of solar outright and at the same starting time, the neighbor B invested that $20K into stocks and earned 12% a year on average and just paid their electric bill, who would be better off after 10 years? $20K with a 12% RoI (Return on Investment) would actually pay for $2.4K a year of electric from the grid which is $200 a month on average. I can easily get MORE than 12% a year RoI so why would I ever want to use solar for anything other than just playing around as a hobby?
the goal is to use the money (you already paying and forever will pay to your power company) to fund for a solar system and make monthly payments (less than your average monthly payment to your power provider) and zero out of pocket, no upfront cost. and of course the panels should produce the same or a bit more energy than your average usage and to get that calculation they see the last 12 month of your useg to design a system based on your needs. in conclusion, when it's done correctly it doesn’t cost you a penny and you will actually save money.
I need help i am a victim os Solarcity. I went from paying. 30 to 60 a month to 85 a month im now behind and cannot pay my bill. CAN SOMEONE HELP
... what type of help do you need ??? 😝
So, the salesman would definitely be off base with 10% a year... I am not sure that I heard him say that. Maybe he did and that would be crazy. However, if it is 2% a year, over 10 years, that would be a 21% increase (1 x 1.02^10); however, the actual numbers cited are 3.7% a year, which would be an increase of nearly 44% over ten years (1 x 1.037^10).
There are plenty of things to watch out for, though. You do need to ensure that you get enough nearly direct sunlight and have enough area to get it. Estimating 6-8 hours per day of full sun for a particular area is a good conservative estimate. And yes, you either need to produce extra during the day and then have net metering to pay for your evening usage (which would eventually need to change if everyone did it), or have some energy storage solution. Also, reducing energy consumption can go a long way towards improving the situation, too.
I'm a Solar PPA customer (in Massachusetts, which has the best net-metering policy of all states) since August of '17, and so far everything is exactly as agreed upon. I pay only for the energy provided by the sun, and the monthly bill is (within 5 or 6 cents) the price I expect to pay, calculated by energy produced.
Today, I calculated the 2.9% increases that I can expect to pay over the life of the 20 year contract I have. My contract started at .159 (or 15.9 cents) per kWh and at the end of 20 years, that number will slowly increase to approx. 28.3 cents.
I looked at an electricity bill prior to being on solar, and calculated the cost of the *entire* bill (*all* delivery charges, etc. added in), divided by the kWh usage, and came out to 28.3 cents per kWh, today.
I expect that the grid electricity will go up over the course of 20 years, so I'll always pay less for the energy created with my PPA agreement than what grid electricity will charge. Also, there are no taxes or fees. I pay exactly the rate (which will increase slowly year to year) times the energy produced, and nothing more.
A small added benefit: The energy I sell back to the grid gets credited to me currently at the rate of 22 cents per kWh. As mentioned above, I pay 15.9 cents. So, for every 100 kWh I get credited for, I'm making $6.00 more than I paid for it. And when grid electricity goes up, I'm sure the credit back to me will increase. Not too shabby.
I have a plug-in hybrid car, and the solar rates are very agreeable. Before I realized how much grid electricity cost (currently approx. 28.3 cents) I was charging my car and learned that I was paying roughly double the price of gas. Charging my car with solar rates costs a little less than gas, and I love driving all-electric when I can.
Satisfied customer here. Not a shill or employee.
Is it Vivint?
Wait, we have technologies to cope with the rainy days or nights, they're called batteries... Any home with solar panels should have battery packs to store the energy, it just makes sense!
Statements containing the words any, all, never, always... are usually WRONG 99% of the time because only 1 exception need be shown to make the statement false. Many successful solar systems do NOT have or need batteries. For example, someone might want to use the power directly from the solar panels into an appliance (such as a heater) in a cold climate. They can series connect multiple panels to generate 120 VDC and connect that to a heating coil (such as from a single burner). When the sun comes out, the burner goes on. No batteries are needed. That solar setup could provide additional heat to a house withOUT batteries, and then just use normal grid power at night for heat. Simple and it proves your statement wrong!
If in US U will get the same grow rate as we have here in the EU , well..... hang on. couse we are already at 80% price rise!
GO online and check out solar time tracker
Why does the journalist keep discussing up front costs in the thousands, when this change made LEASING possible - which has zero upfront cost. Amazing how much info is wrong in this.
Now we have the new scam artist Lumio
Solar IS NOT AN INVESTMENT.... LIKE YOUR UTILITY SERVICE... or What is the ROI of your utility bill?
There is so much bad information about solar panels. One example is their wattage output. They provide pamphlets stating 6 KW, the "KW" means kilo watts, however to properly understand the power one requires you must understand "KWH" meaning kilo watt hours. When you buy electricity from your provider it is sold by KWH, not KW. Normally 6 kw should mean 6 kilo watts per DAY. HOWEVER, the seller can make ANY claim in the duration it takes to produce 6 kw. 6 KWH means in optimum sunlight over the course of 1 hour it will produce 6 kilo watts of electricity. Next, the sales of your electricity to your power provider is greatly lower than what they sell to you. This means the local power company is profiting from your solar power even more than You !
People spend 30k and pay 130 a month on these solar panels to save 50 bucks a month for the next 15 years. Is this really considered a good investment?
of course!!! Because the goal is not to come up with $30k upfront not even a penny upfront, the goal is to use the money you are already paying to your power provider to fund the solar system for your house. and after 15 years you don't have to pay for your system anymore bc it's gonna be paid in full and now you have free electricity for many more years to come, not to mention all the money you save during that timeline bc you have a locked rate that will never go up rather than pay more to the power company due to inflation, not to mention the tax credit some homeowners get, like I said in another comment it's really a win win for everybody if it's done correctly but unfortunately there's always bad apples in every industry that ruin the business and leave a bad taste so makes it harder for us the good guys to educate future clients.
How much will the increase be in California? Hehehe
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Our solar, we pay Nothing to Edison at all this Video is completely off with the facts. Our Financing payments for the system is 1/4th of the Original Electric bill
yours was donde correctly and I'm hapy to see more ppl getting the real benefits from solar systems.
So misleading
Don't lease your panels its simple.
This video is horribly misleading..
They laughed about computers in every home in the 1950s......what a stupid comparison.
VRAU.many. MEJ.ches.99900000000000.milliarde/£/data/6/SEPT.2022.