When Tesla announced the Powerwall, its home energy storage product, it was stated that SolarCity* would be offering the Powerwall to its customers in Hawaii and California. However, details were slim. Now,
SolarCity has officially announced “energy storage for new homes and a
special low, fixed-rate solar power offering for California homebuilders
and their buyers.”
The SolarCity Homebuilder Program, launched in 2011, is now taking orders for the storage product. Here are some more details: “The new energy storage service, in conjunction with solar power,
includes the Tesla Powerwall battery pack, advanced hybrid inverter,
monitoring and control systems and a warranty and service agreement.
While battery backup is the primary application, depending on utility
service territory, SolarCity’s management system may in the future
enable the Powerwall to be configured for a broad range of uses
including time-of-use shifting and grid response.”
The financing is, of course, part of the offering. SolarCity’s big
selling point to most of its customers is that it allows them to go
solar for little or no money down (without getting a loan) and then pay
monthly less than they’d pay the utility. There’s plenty of criticism out there that customers would save more by getting a solar loan, but that’s certainly not always the case,
and SolarCity’s key selling points (and selling tactics) have made it
far and away the home solar power leader in the United States. This is
the heart of SolarCity’s newest offering as well.
SolarCity’s Homebuilder Program now
offers solar energy through homebuilder partners at a cost equivalent to
the lowest standard residential electricity rates of California’s
largest utilities. This new program provides the benefits of solar
energy at no upfront cost to the builder or homebuyer. It also allows
new homebuyers who are customers of California’s largest utilities to
lock in a fixed solar energy rate for the next 20 years at the lowest
standard, tier 1 rate their utility offers at signing.
SolarCity makes it possible for
homebuilders to allow many buyers to go solar with no upfront cost and
no escalator on annual solar energy costs. The program can provide
homeowners in California with security from rising utility rates and
significant savings with solar power for the next two decades.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/07/03/solarcity-launches-its-california-energy-storage-solar-offering/