Jestersix

Free Solar for SF residents... sorta

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sfsuphysics

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One of the local companies is offering free solar for "low income", now unlike PG&E and the Phone company their "low income" is somewhere around 65k/year for 1 person living there, 70+k for 2. The downside is you only get 5 - 235W panels, each however has it's own microinverter so upgrading would easily be possible in the future (you don't have to worry about your inverter. The upside is if you own the residence they're your panels to do with, and you pay nothing ever on them. They simply use the San Francisco and some PG&E rebates that you would get if you put them up and they get the money as a result. Now ~1200W x 3-4 hours of sunlight (if that *LAUGH*) might not be much, but hell if there's is that much sunlight that will basically cancel out my lights on my tank, and if it knocks me out of a tier range I'll be happy, plus it wasn't like I had an immediate plans to put panels on my roof, so seems like a win win. And yeah I am saying I make less than $70+K a year.. big shocker I'm a teacher ;)

I don't have the pamphlet handy, but if there is any SF residence interesting it (sorry only SF residents), let me know and I'll find it later and forward the information to you.
 
Dude, that's completely awesome, keep us informed of any "fine print" !!

You can't say no to free stuff of that magnitude...you can't!
(heck, come to think of it, I don't say no to whatever the Costco free sample givers are handing out and shove it in my mouth without even thinking about it. Me: "Blagh! This sample tastes terrible!" Them: "Sir, that was a sample of lens cleaner" Me: "Well then call me when it's in strawberry!")

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Vince, yeah the fine print is really pretty bold, all rebates (PG&E & SF) for solar go directly to them, which is something on the order of $12k worth he told me as they get stacked on top of each other "low income" "SF based installation crew" etc, and since that will more than easily cover cost of materials, and the labor is really a loose number that does not reflect the actual cost of labor it really can be free if you qualify. And who knows maybe they get a huge tax break themselves because they're doing this "for free". The SF rebate is a one time shot, however california & federal rebates are not (assuming there's still money), so if you want to upgrade the money is still available (assuming programs are there).

The company is called Skytech Solar, I couldn't find a google page on them, I have to run off to work but I'll look for that pamphlet that got shoved in my doorway later tonight/tomorrow. They are pretty backed up as far as getting back to people, it's been a little more than a week to get back to me, apparently lots of people want free solar :D
 
Ok here's the web address of the company, http://skytechsolar.com/about.html they have an email & phone if you want to give them a buzz.

Chris: Most of this is because San Francisco has it's own solar incentive deals.. so all residents are paying for this whether they want to or not :) Apparently all the money is gone, and ONLY low-income residents can qualify for further benefits.
 
Well depends how much over the qualification levels you'd be... the difference between being $1000 over and not getting 10k of free solar panel/installation done and being $25000k over, and doing it your self is quite substantial :D
 
sfsuphysics said:
Ok here's the web address of the company, http://skytechsolar.com/about.html they have an email & phone if you want to give them a buzz.

Chris: Most of this is because San Francisco has it's own solar incentive deals.. so all residents are paying for this whether they want to or not :) Apparently all the money is gone, and ONLY low-income residents can qualify for further benefits.
Click to expand...
 
Just had my meeting with the guys, and they laid it all out, they don't do any work until they get all their funds secure so you're not left with a dinked up roof and no panels. However due to how many requests they've been getting won't probably get around until August/Sept to do the work, which is fine as long as they get it before rainy season! They can even increase the size of the system (at your cost), but you pay for materials mostly because labor is already doing stuff, however at $6/watt its still quite pricey, but there is a 30% federal rebate out there still. $10,750 from the city of San Francisco, only like $1000 from the state. Man I guess if I've already been paying for these I might as well get them on my house! :D
 
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