In need of new kitchen counters, I visited a home show looking for the company I had seen at previous home shows. I had forgotten its name, but I knew that I would recognize it once I saw it again. And, of course, this was the case.
While in search of this company, it would have been impossible to ignore the many solar energy companies that had set up booths, all offering a free estimate. My electric company is one of the biggest rip-offs in the country so I said, Why not?
After listening to the rep’s blather, I am greatly shocked that anyone actually buys into this. In the first place, he tried to sell me a system that, as I found out later, was way more than I needed. The cost: around $85,000. Not to worry, though, there was a rebate of about $20,000, which he believed was taxable, but wasn’t sure. (He should never have been sent out without knowing.) So just to begin, I might have had to declare another $20,000 on my taxes. No savings there.
Next, where was I going to get the other $65,000? If I was independently wealthy, I wouldn’t have been looking into solar energy in the first place. I would simply pay the bills as they came in without worrying about the cost. Not my circumstances, so my only alternative would be to borrow the money. Since no one is going to lend me $65,000 because I have a nice smile, I was looking at refinancing or taking out a second.
With interest rates, even fully amortized over 20 years, I was looking at a payment that was substantially larger than my electric bill. So, not only would I not be saving anything, I would actually be paying more. Instead of eliminating my electric bill, I would have simply traded it for another mortgage, complete with a lien against my house.
What if circumstances force me to move? I still would have to pay off that loan, regardless of how much use I had gotten out of the system. The rep told me that I could take the system with me. How much to move it? How much to install it at the new place?
I was told that as long as the sun was shining, the system would store power and that my meter would actually run backwards. What about when the sun isn’t shining? How long would the stored power last before the meter began running forward again and I was not only paying on the loan, but was again paying the electric company. He had no answer and neither did his company.
The final death knell was when he told me that it would take 45 years for me to fully recoup my investment. Perhaps I could have the system installed at my grave.