Financing Solar Power System – Part II
Some of you may remeber the post I have written in August about a different way to finance a solar power system by basically giving the power company the right to place their own solar panels onto your roof and you then buy the electricity generated by these solar panels at a slightly higher cost.
This way you are able to generate a large part of your electricity need from the sun without needing to pay for a large upfront cost.
In August I also talked about how such deals seemed not to be available in Australia.
I am happy to report that a similiar deal has now become available in Australia from at least one company named Earth Utility.
Earth Utility is putting a slightly different spin on this type of deal though. As Earth Uility is not an electricity supplier you don’t pay more for your electricity and you get the same benefits on your electricity bill you would get if you own the solar power system outright.
Of course the solar power system is not provided free of charge but at a modes $75 per quarter (source) your savings on your electricity bill are probably more than paying for the quarterly cost for the solar power system. As a bonus you even own the system after 20 years of service.
If you have been wanting to get a solar power system on your roof but have not been able to to afford it until now, I encourage you to have a look at Earth Utility and see if their way of financing a solar power system would suit you.
Earth Uility also provides similar types of financing options for solar hot water systems.
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Mark and Rosalba are building a strawbale house!
October 7th, 2008 at 10:26
So, instead of paying a simple sum to the electric company, you pay another company a lease on their solar panels to save what you would normally save had you purchased the solar panels outright?
Your system and the Earth Utility system seem pretty cost-ineffective to me. You’re paying more in either case. Rather than forcing currently inefficient solar power on people with a higher cost, why not wait until solar power is effective enough (through market economics) that it becomes the norm? Until alternative power becomes a viable alternative to current systems, cost to efficiency to supply, the likelihood of anyone actually taking it seriously seems pretty slim.
October 8th, 2008 at 8:40
Financing Solar Power System in Australia…
There have been a number of different models for financing a solar power system available in the US. Finally there is an alternative to buying outright available in Australia as well….
October 8th, 2008 at 21:01
@TehCrim: No one is forcing anything onto anyone. This is just another option of being able to have a solar power system installed on your roof.
Also, if you would have taken the time to check out the Earth Utility offer you would be aware that the system they would install is a grid connected system which will give you the same benefits financially with your electricity bill as if you owned the system outright. And it is estimated that your electricity bill would be lower be more than $75 each quarter, which makes this kind of deal pay for itself pretty much straight away…
So, I don’t understand what’s not to like about spending less money on your electricity and doing something for the environment as well.
October 12th, 2008 at 20:37
Thanks for the heads up on this Mark. I’m going to check it out.
Lightenings last blog post..Brillante Blog Award
October 18th, 2008 at 20:48
It’s great to have this alternative than having to purchase outright and the more people look at these options and take them on board, the cheaper solar power will become.
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January 19th, 2009 at 12:02
I bought a Solar Hot Water system outright from Earth Utility about a year ago. Have saved about 30% on my elect bills already – I reckon this is pretty good as we know carbon emmission trading will come in so my saving will get bigger. Also, you never know how long these great rebates are going to stay for.. Had a good story with my install so I decided to jump in and buy a Solar Power system from them as well. All good so far – just waiting for my AGO $8000 rebate comes through…
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:32
I have found dealing with earthutility extremely frustrating, dishonest and incompetant.
I ordered two solar hot water systems which they never delivered. Worse than this they withdrew the cost of one of them from my credit card and failed to refund me. I had to contact them regularly and even after threatening them with action they did nothing. Eventually I was able to retrieve the money. As to the systems, they first said there will be a short delay, which turned into 1 month – 6 months later still nothing. This company is happy to take your money but reluctant to give you what you paid for.