Comments on: Kleiner Perkins backs solar sales & marketing startup

By: Ucilia Wang

Ucilia Wang — Wed, 23 May 2012 05:07:59 +0000

Thanks for reading the story!

By: ardevelopments

ardevelopments — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:55:07 +0000

I admire the way you express yourself through writing. Your post is such a refreshing one to read. This is such an interesting and informative article to share with others. Keep up the good work and more power. TownHouse Thanks!

By: Ucilia Wang

Ucilia Wang — Sat, 19 May 2012 07:38:41 +0000

RT: Thanks for the note. But you are describing something that is different that how Sunrun describes its PPA and lease (which is how I explained it to Jeff). In a PPA, you pay for the electricity produced, so there is no such thing as “free” electricity. If a system produces X KWh each month, then you pay for that much KWh. In a lease, you pay a fixed amount of money each month, regardless of how much energy the solar panels produce (you can get the “free electricity” in this case): http://www.sunrunhome.com/solar-lease/leasing/.

By: RT

RT — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:05:11 +0000

@Jeff & Ucilia, I work for Gen110 & to clarify things the agreement is actually called a PPA and the homeowners agree to purchase a fixed rate of electricity back from us or more specifically SUN RUN each month. They do not own the panels and will not eventually own the panels unless at the end of the agreement they wish to purchase them at fair market value, which will essential be close to 0. So we technically don’t describe this i a lease and explain it as a PPA. We view ourselves as a alternate “power utility” to the consumer who is buying electricity from us at an equal of lower fixed rate to what they are currently paying.

@C: We guarantee customers an average rate of electricity each month from the panels. If the panels produce more than what we guarantee and your using more than you intended, than you receive the additional electricity at no cost. (Free)

Hope this helps- RT

By: Ucilia Wang

Ucilia Wang — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:12:20 +0000

Or you can look at it this way: Gen110 finds customers (which isn’t easy) and acts as a coordinator between financiers, contractors and whoever else is involved to complete a sale/installation. I don’t know if Gen110 is better than others in the same line of business. But Centrosolar tells Reuters that nearly $1/watt is spent on customer acquisition: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-solar-installers-idUSTRE81G27520120217

By: Christopher Williams

Christopher Williams — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:36:17 +0000

This is interesting.

So, correct me if I’m wrong.

Gen1110 is sales and marketing engine. They’re just great at getting clients, keeping them, selling them, and they pass of all the work to other people?

Chris

By: Ucilia Wang

Ucilia Wang — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:39:54 +0000

@Jeff: I’m right. You pay a monthly fee for solar electricity. What else are you paying for — the satisfaction of having solar panels on your roof? I think what you are getting at is that lease typically involves a flat fee while PPA deals with a rate x KWh produced. And in some cases you can’t offer a PPA because of local regulations, so you do a lease. But all these are details that are not needed for this story.

By: C

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:42:46 +0000

The differences between residential leases and PPAs are not really that significant when you factor in the production guarantees that both give. Only effective difference is that in a lease, you get to capture any additional, unplanned for production for free. In a PPA, you pay for everything the system produces.

Both protect you from underproduction (at least a good one should – read the fine print).

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:39:05 +0000

“In a lease, consumers typically put little or no money down and pay a monthly fee for the solar electricity generated.”

False, This is a PPA, not a lease