Dynamic:
I've just submitted an inquiry and will advise of progress. It would have to be a very strong case for me to sign up.
Had a half hour phone call with the rep today including a short personalised powerpoint presentation via GoToMeeting. The guy was knowledgable and helpful. It did not feel like a pressured sales pitch, though the 'call to action' was immediate.
It's interesting that you are 'buying the power' that the system generates, and not buying the system itself (though that is an option). This means all faulty equipment repair costs are theirs. It looks like the little 'solar hub' appliance they want placed near the broadband router feeds information to them about the system's use and supplied pretty graphs for the consumer to view.
The small 10 panel system they have sized for us (based on minimal information supplied by me and an average $175 power bill) does not include a battery and projected savings (based on what appeared to be reasonably conservative figures including a 3.5% annual increase in grid power costs when the increases since deregulation of the power companies is over 5% IIRC) at face value are $30 per month averaged over the 2 years. The 2kw output available from the inverters in this 10 panel system would initially be only a few $ per month, but the price we pay for that 2kw of capacity stays fixed at $80 per month for 20 years, whereas 2kw of power from the grid is going to go up significantly over that next 20 years.
I think its a good offer. I can see no obvious misrepresentation. I would like to see some real-world generation data.
The rep is due to call me back next week. I'm about 30% interested at this point, and thinking the return of an average of $400 per year is not enough (for me, with the biggest savings coming later in the life of the agreement) for a 20 year commitment.