Solar Zero-buy outright or subscription?

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Cruciblewrecker

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#315884 27-Aug-2024 18:38

We're looking at getting a Solar Panel and Battery system installed possibly from Solar Zero in the near future and a couple of my co-workers at work (husband and wife who both work at our Auckland HQ/Showroom/Factory) had one installed by Solar Zero and when I asked them they said Solar Zero were fantastic.

Anyway I looked them up and they say you need to invest $20,000-$30,000 if you buy outright and Westpac has a Greater Choices Home Loan at zero percent interest for five years up to $50,000 but Solar Zero also offers a subscription option.

So I would appreciate a rundown of both options pros and cons.

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#3275894 27-Aug-2024 19:08

Remember to read all the fine print and understand what you are getting into.

Once Solar Zero is installed, you are committed. If you sell your house, buyers must join the scheme. Otherwise, you are responsible for paying the remainder of the agreement or moving it to your new home.

Also, you are locked into one electricity supplier and can't change it if prices increase or a better offer comes along.

More information: SolarZero: is it worth it? - Consumer NZ

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dpf81nz

66 posts

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#3275905 27-Aug-2024 21:25

as has been said, you are at the whim of whether or not the next buyers want to take your contract over or not if you dont buy up front. If they dont you have to get the panels ripped off and pay the balance before you sell

richms

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#3275909 27-Aug-2024 22:10

If they are investing money into giving you solar, they want a good return on it. Much more than low interest rates that you could borrow on a mortgage to get the stuff installed and have all the savings to yourself.

Richard rich.ms

aj6828

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#3275913 27-Aug-2024 22:32

make sense to buy it outright as said above you got a lot of freedom not locked into a contract most banks do 1% interest anyway for solar .. just remember there is no such thing as a free lunch ..

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Ge0rge

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#3275915 27-Aug-2024 22:36

There was also a thread on here a few months ago about a company with a similar business model to Solar Zero. Their parent company in the US went bust, and took the servers that ran everything offline. People in NZ who had the panels on their roof were left with no ability to generate power. I am not sure what happened subsequently, but it was another nail in the coffin for that business model in my opinion.

elpenguino

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#3276048 28-Aug-2024 10:26

richms:

If they are investing money into giving you solar, they want a good return on it. Much more than low interest rates that you could borrow on a mortgage to get the stuff installed and have all the savings to yourself.

I got a quote from them or a similar crowd and decided on the same thing.

Your benefit is limited (in my case to $200 / month maximum. If you have access to capital then you can get all the benefits such as when you generate a lot of power or when power prices change.

In my case, there was no requirement to pay off the system if the house was sold.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

boosacnoodle

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#3276076 28-Aug-2024 11:50

Go have a look at the Solar Zero Survivors group on Facebook then come back to us.

RobDickinson

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#3276080 28-Aug-2024 11:52

I think you have to be nuts to lock yourself into a solar zero deal like this

empacher48

366 posts

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#3276090 28-Aug-2024 12:37

I’ve had solar zero installed for about the last 5 years. Started off paying it monthly, but have recently “prepaid” the balance of the term. Paying off the balance of the term is done at a discount rate of 6%, so with 15 years remaining, our bulk payment was $10,000 vs $20,000 of monthly repayments.

We are free to choose who we buy power from, usually shop around every year to see who has the best rates, but at the moment ecotricity give you lines chargers plus 8c per kWh regardless of the time of day, which still is considerably cheaper than other providers for us.

We’ve had our power bill during winter go from $500 a month to $300 a month including the solar zero monthly charge. That also includes having 5 heat pumps and a car to charge (which we didn’t have when we installed the system).

Any problems we’ve had with it has been fixed promptly and of course part of the service. Downside is that you can’t control when the battery is charged or discharged, but it works with a ToU plan.

KiwiSurfer

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#3276222 28-Aug-2024 14:16

Interesting that you can choose who to get your power from. This doesn't seem to be the case for other SolarZero customers -- why are you different @empacher48 or are you mistaken?

RobDickinson

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#3276223 28-Aug-2024 14:17

I think they bought themselves out of the contract?

empacher48

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#3276230 28-Aug-2024 14:39

KiwiSurfer:
Interesting that you can choose who to get your power from. This doesn't seem to be the case for other SolarZero customers -- why are you different @empacher48 or are you mistaken?

It’s not part of my contract. I’ve been with ecotricity, pulse, octopus, now back to ecotricity.

When you pre-pay the funds you don’t buy yourself out of the contract. You just don’t have to pay them monthly. The panels and battery and are still theirs, I still get all the benefits.

Handle9

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#3313252 26-Nov-2024 19:46

Aaaaand they are going into liquidation.

https://solarzero.co.nz/blog/important-business-update-

fastbike

201 posts

Master Geek

#3313313 26-Nov-2024 21:58

Crikey, I hope the OP did not mortgage 25 years of future solar PV production to the Blackrock cr**ks.

Otautahi Christchurch

wellygary

8206 posts

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#3313314 26-Nov-2024 22:10

Handle9:

Aaaaand they are going into liquidation.

https://solarzero.co.nz/blog/important-business-update-

And we've got $80 million taxpayer dollars in this thing, courtesy of a last gasp decision from the previous government just in September 2023, days before the election

https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/350075091/170-million-government-backed-fund-will-help-finance-solar-power-installations

Although why exactly they needed govt money, given they have the backing of one of the major global vampire-squid Private equity behemoths (Blackrock) baffles me...

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