Comment by danans | Hacker News Reader

Comment by danans | Hacker News Reader

@yepnopemaybe

Say I want to invest in solar to generate revenue to pay for charging my EV driven 15k miles a year, or about 3750kWh (@250Wh/mi).

In my area, that will require about 2.6kW of PV, which at local rooftop PV rates of about $3/W would be $7800 pre Federal tax credit, or $5772 after the Federal tax credit.

Meanwhile, 3750 kWh purchased from my utility will cost me about $1000/year at today's electricity rates. So the payback time for my hypothetical rooftop PV array is about 6 years, give or take, after which I get free miles.

If I instead chose to invest in a group solar scheme like this, what is the upfront investment required to generate a guaranteed $1000/year. Extrapolating from the 7.3% rate of return on your website (the tool only allows 10 panels to be selected), it seems line that would require a $13698 investment.

For my rooftop solar example, the rate is return is 17% annualized, and the investment is $5772.

Other questions:

After 25 years when the panels are performing at 85% capacity can I keep using them?

Can I claim depreciation on the panels, since they are a purely depreciating investment (both in physical and in financial terms)?

What if a worker accidentally damages my panel(s). Does your insurance pay for that or mine?

My questions are sincere, not an attempt to shoot down the idea.

I'd much prefer to own PV in a field somewhere instead of more attached to my house (I already have enough PV to provide for domestic electricity), and not much more roof space.

Wow, those are all amazing questions.

We are going to structure the investment so that your returns will be post tax-equity and post-depreciation. We would be opening up a can of worms if each retail investor's return were dependent on their particular tax situation (although we are now working with accredited investors who are availing themselves of MACERS and ITC).

We could never guarantee any amount of generation since this is an equity investment, but to generate 1K worth of power on a facility that returned 7.25% would require about a 14K investment. Of course, if you really wanted to get technical, you would also incorporate the dirtiness of the grid you were selling to into your equation. I hope to one day build those types of tools, too.

For sure, if you can build rooftop solar or use some sort of community solar arrangement, you should do that first before considering Legends Solar - it will likely have a strong financial benefit. But you can only offset as much as you consume using those tools, so if you still have an appetite or would like to offset your non-utility consumption, you might still consider us.

For people who live in the city or who rent and don't have access to those tools, or people who like a good product and just want to understand what they actually own through their investment, you might consider us sooner.

Sorry I can't answer with more detail - I really love quantifying and contextualizing the carbon you'll offset and financial returns you can earn in detail, but I'll need to break out my spreadsheets to really get into it.

Thanks for the thorough reply!

"3750 kWh purchased from my utility will cost me about $1000/year at today's electricity rates" - that's 26c per kWh. In most states, electricity is under 15c per kWh.

If you need electricity in an area with high electricity prices, and you're getting a tax credit, and you're cutting out the middleman, it would be expected that a local system would have a better rate of return.

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