Don't know about that company but know quite a bit about solar. Like he said you're trading one payment for another. The panel life span is shorter than claimed. They put holes in your roof to install them and it winds up leaking. It makes it an absolute nightmare down the road when you do want to sell the home.

Sounds like he had a good presentation but I would avoid.

Would definitely shop around and vet people before going with a door to door pitch company.

I am seeing more and more installations on my inspections. Particularly in the first time buyer starter home segment of new homes. These are the small pretty efficient houses.

I have yet to see a roof leak from an installation and most of the ones I have seen seem pretty clean, are using the proper fasteners and haven't messed up the visible shingles around the array.

I think people fall into two basic categories - not judging or suggesting anything negative.

Actually spoke with a young couple about it Friday on a starter home like described above. He flat out admitted that he liked setting the cost of his electrical so it was easy to budget for. That is category one. Not worried about long term financial questions, interest, ROI, resale, etc. Their typical bill is fairly low to begin with because of the smaller newer pretty efficient house. Let's say their bill ranges from 75 to 150. They like the idea that they can set their payment at 120, budget for it consistently and run a net zero usage from the provider with their system. It also appears that many of this group fall in locations that are supplied by Co-ops and cannot shop their plans. Presumably that means their price per Kwh is higher than those of us who can shop around can find.

Group two are more the skeptics, like the people that posted above and honestly me.

For the heck of it, I recently quote some quotes on a system for my house. The number that stood out to me was it being around 16cent/Kwh. I know the "experts" keep saying that prices are going up, but I just do not see it. I had the bad luck of having to renew my contract in June of last year. I went from 8-9 cents to 16. Could only find 16 at a 3 year contract. Followed advice on here and picked one with a lower cancellation fee. In January I was able to find a 3 month plan for 9 cents. Broke the contract and moved. Just signed up for a 12 month plan for 10 cents starting at the end of the 3 month plan. I just do not see support for the claim prices are only going up to justify locking into a 20 plus year commitment at 16cents! Not saying they are wrong or that it will not happen, I'm just not seeing it yet.

That is my first no before even looking at the monthly numbers, ROI, etc. My hope is that the tech will continue to improve and eventually it will make sense to people like me. Does seem to make a lot of sense to make use of all that sun and all that roof space here in Texas. But i am not jumping in yet. But I cannot say I would not think and do the same as the young couple I met Friday if I was in their situation.

Teacher_Ag said:

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Anyone in DFW used them for solar? A sales guy stopped and chatted with us for about an hour a few days ago and honestly his pitch made a lot of sense but I can't say I know enough to pull the trigger just yet. We'd owe nothing up front and our monthly payment would be slightly higher than our current elect bill, but as he pointed out, these payments would be locked in an electric bills will climb in the next few years. With the tax credit we could pay for a decent chunk of it over the next few years. Anyone got any good advice for us? For now it seems like we will be in this house for at least 10-15 years.

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Number one rule of home ownership, if a salesperson comes to your door and they aren't selling girl scout cookies, then it is a scam. If they are a roofer and want to give a free roof inspection, they are after the insurance first check and then they are outta there. If they sell magazines, carpet cleaners, want to look at your foundation--its a scam.

Get some recommendations from friends, but don't trust anybody door to door selling stuff.