Solar Power Cheaper than Utilities for First Time in Northeast

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-21-2009/0005009627&EDATE=

BOSTON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Alteris(TM) Renewables and SunRun announced a breakthrough program today for powering Massachusetts homes with clean, renewable solar energy. Through its partnership with SunRun, Alteris Renewables is turning home solar into a monthly service, like cable or any other utility. With this new program, upfront costs plummet from $30,000 to as little as $1,000 for customers to be able to install solar electric systems on their homes. Customers will enjoy savings from day one with locked-in rates for the next 18 years - a valuable protection from future electric rate increases. They can also make a good return on their initial investment.

This is the first time that SunRun, a game-changing solar service, is available on the East Coast. Because homeowners do not need to maintain, repair or insure their systems, solar becomes virtually risk-free. Customers can even get all the new tax advantages available for installing solar without any of the paperwork, making it the easiest way to get a solar electric system on the home.

"For the past 30 years and with more than 2000 satisfied solar customers, we've been a leader in providing solar to the Northeast," said Ron French, president of the Solar Business of Alteris Renewables. "Now, with SunRun, we've made it as easy as paying your electric bill, only cheaper. For consumers with a sunny home site, there's no longer any reason not to join in helping preserve the planet for our children."

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Experts have long projected that solar electricity would eventually be on par with electricity from the traditional electric utility. Now that cross-over point has been reached for Massachusetts homeowners. Electricity rates in Massachusetts have nearly doubled over the last 20 years. If these trends continue, a typical customer could recover their upfront payment in as little as 2 years and see an after-tax return on their investment of as much as 60% or more.

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are still way too high for mass market adaptation.

I don't have $30K. Home equity credit lines are drying up faster than the aquifers. The tax credits are recouped over 5+ years.

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2009/04/22/new-solar-leasing-programs-in-the-northeast-make-solar-affordable/

You have no evidence, of course, that solar powered rooves will last 18 years, although I'm sure you've been wandering the work free bourgeois for at least that long telling the world about how solar power is about to get cheap.

I'm sure that <em>your</em> trust fund has the money in it - although I'd guess that Mom hasn't actually installed a "cheap" solar plant on her roof.

The per capita income on this planet - not that there is one bourgeois brat in the "solar will save us" religious cult who gives a rat's ass about poor people - is something like $10,000 per annum.

It's a snake oil scam, like the rest of the solar chicanery like that bullshit about how Germany was going to go solar and cut dangerous fossil fuel emissions.

Since 2002 all the renewable energy produced in Germany couldn't keep up with the increase in just one dangerous fossil fuel that the anti-nukes like to ignore, dangerous natural gas.

We've heard this crap year after year after year after year after year after year here, and still solar PV energy has not produced even one exajoule of energy anywhere at any time.

By the way, the scammers here don't seem to be interested in mentioning the life time of a solar inverter, which NREL hopes will reach 5 years <em>some day</em>.