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Others have already made this point[1] but to me, SolarCity has some aspects that make it look like more of a of a tax-arbitrage business than a solar panel retail business. It reminds me a bit of the ethanol blending tax credit, which led, in some cases, to companies mixing ethanol with petrochemicals solely for the tax benefit.

[1] http://www.newsmax.com/BradleyBlakeman/solar-kroll-subsidy/2...

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You are probably right but (1) SolarCity would be foolish as a business not to take advantage of tax incentives (2) the primary purpose of these incentives in the first place should be exactly this - to encourage businesses like solarcity (3) over the long term of course the business model assumes panel prices reduce and become more efficient so the tax thing isnt required in the long term to prop them up

There's taking advantage of tax incentives, and then there's this:

"According to the Kroll report, SolarCity reports solar system costs when claiming tax credits that are 75 percent higher than solar system costs disclosed to investors in the company’s quarterly investor earnings call."

That's a legal tax loop hole though, they are allowed to file based on retail prices they sell their panels for even though they buy them at wholesale bulk prices

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