Understand The Differences Between Energy Production And Consumption
The primary difference between your solar bill and your utility bill is that your utility bill is based on how much energy you consume, whereas your solar bill is based on how much energy you produce.
In general terms, energy consumption is the amount of energy you use or consume in your day-to-day life whereas energy production is the amount of power your Vivint Solar system produces.
Can I Make Use Of Vivint Tools With One More Business
The cams that Vivint offers are made specifically for usage with their very own tracking solution. They will certainly be denied by any type of various other video clip security system. They can not be taken control of by one more alarm system checking business. This indicates that the cams can not be required to various other tracking firms.
Dispelling The Biggest Myths About Rooftop Solar
Rooftop solar is an exciting new way to power your home with clean, renewable energy. Vivint Solar expanded into Massachusetts in 2012, and in the past six years its helped more than 14,500 homes go solar. In fact, Vivint Solar has installed more residential solar energy systems than any other company in the Bay State. Throughout Massachusetts, many of our customers are saving money on their energy bills and helping the environment by reducing air pollution and using a renewable energy source.
In conversations with homeowners around the greater Boston area, however, its become apparent there are some misconceptions circulating about solar power. This article addresses some of the most common myths about rooftop solar.
Myth 1: Theres no way I can afford solar panels on my budget.
Rooftop solar has become much more affordable as the cost of manufacturing solar panels has come down. Vivint Solar installs solar panels at little to no upfront cost with power purchase agreements, and sells systems at competitive prices. The company also has relationships that can help you finance the purchase or you can use your preferred lender.
You can also take advantage of incentives from the government for going solar by applying for state rebates or federal tax credits. For example, the federal solar investment tax credit allows you to deduct an amount equal to 30 percent of your systems cost from your federal tax liability, which typically represents thousands of dollars.
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Profiting From Solar Panel Installation
Most state governments offer some sort of tax subsidy or grants to encourage more widespread solar panel usage. As a result, the final cost after installation may be less than the sticker price. Furthermore, tax credits given for solar power could help reduce annual tax bills. However, the best way to profit from having solar panels installed on your roof is through net metering.
Net metering allows utility customers who generate their own solar electricity to feed some of the energy that they do not use back to the grid. This billing method credits solar customers against their electricity consumption, lowering their monthly bills. Most states have passed net metering laws, but differences between state legislation and implementation mean that the benefits of net metering can vary for solar customers in different parts of the country.
Savings from solar panels add up. According to EnergySage, homeowners in Washington will save about $12,905, on average, if they go solar over a 20-year period. In California, homeowners will save approximately $11,800 on average, and, in New York, homeowners can save $11,000 over 20 years. Some estimates put these savings at much higher numbers.
Technically You Wont Have A Lien But A Ucc Filing Often As The Same Effect
When you take out a mortgage to buy a home, youre not the only owner of your new home: the bank has a claim to it too, at least until your mortgage is fully paid off. The record of this claim is called a lien.
Solar panels that are under a lease or PPA arent owned by the homeowner, but by the solar company. The record of this ownership is called a Uniform Commercial Code-1 filing. This isnt a lien on your home, but a record of the solar companys claim to their equipment.
Both property liens and UCC-1 filing can be found when a bank or other entity does a title search on a property. This means that if you are applying for a secured loan, the UCC-1 filing may show up.
While the solar company will downplay the UCC-1, in fact it can cause problems when applying for a loan, as described in this article by Rocket Mortgage.
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What Types Of Complaints Do People Have About Vivint Solar
On BBB.org, there have been a total of 1,050 customer complaints that have been filed. They fall into the following categories:
- Advertising and Sales complaints: 70
- Billing/Collections: 176
- Guarantee/Warranty: 15
- Problem with a Product or Service: 760
Of these complaints, only 197 were resolved to the customerâs satisfaction, leaving 534 answered but unresolved complaints.
Hereâs a sample of complaints:
Door-to-door sales tactics
Out of a total of 1,050 complaints listed on BBB.org, 70 were related to advertising or sales. Vivint Solar uses door-to-door sales, and one disturbing thing mentioned in multiple complaints is the salesperson doing a âhardâ credit check of the homeowner on the spot. This is the type of credit check that shows up on your credit record. Too many checks in a short period of time can be a negative mark on your credit record.Source: BBB.org
Billing issues
The second most common complaint about Vivint Solar on BBB.org is about billing-related issues – 176 complaints in total. Many of these are customers complaining that the savings Vivint promised ended up lower than expected, or even that their bills were higher than before installing solar. Hereâs an example:Source: BBB.org
Product and service issues
With 760 complaints being service or product-related problems, this is the largest category of complaints on the BBB website about Vivint Solar.
What To Know About Solar Sales
12 Solar Sales Tips Have great install teams! Customers remember the 3 days the installers are there more than they remember the sales process Have great install teams = more referrals. Consider demand management. Do due diligence. Know solar. Monitor and follow up. Ask questions. Be honest. Follow the golden rule.
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Knock Knock Solar Company Wins Converts Going Door To Door
8 Min Read
LAKE FOREST, California – On a sleepy suburban street near Los Angeles, Reno Mendenhall walks up to a modest home and knocks on the door. The tall, blonde, 31-year-old is so clean cut that he says he is sometimes told he looks like Britains Prince William.
A woman comes to the door and Mendenhall, dressed in gray shorts and a bright orange polo shirt that says Vivint, begins his sales pitch. Hes tried two blocks of houses without success.
Mendenhall began knocking on doors a dozen years ago, dressed more formally – he was a missionary for the Mormon Church in Brazil. These days he is a foot soldier in the small army of salesmen who pitch Vivint Solar, the fast-growing rooftop solar installation and financing business owned by Blackstone Group LP.
Im kind of numb to rejection, Mendenhall said, describing what he learned in two years pounding the pavement for the church. It helps you talk to people. I think other people who have served missions would say the same.
In fact, Vivint Solar, a startup founded by an entrepreneur and former Mormon missionary, finds members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who knocked on doors as part of their own missions are among its best salespeople, making up about half the salesforce.
Vivint and its backers own the systems, and the company is able to keep customers costs low thanks to the confluence of government subsidies and falling prices for solar equipment.
How Much Money Does A Solar Panel Salesman Make
The average pay for a Solar Panel Sales Representative is $67,920 a year and $33 an hour in the United States. The average salary range for a Solar Panel Sales Representative is between $39,799 and $85,403. On average, a High School Degree is the highest level of education for a Solar Panel Sales Representative.
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Roof Leak Warranty Might Be Only A Year
One of the biggest concerns with a home solar installation is whether it will cause your roof to leak. With a conventional shingle roof, the racking for the solar panels is attached to the building with bolts. This means holes in your roof, but a competent installer will ensure that are waterproofed correctly.
A good installer will also back this up with a warranty. Some of the installers in the Solar Nerd network offer a 25 year leak-free warranty with their work – basically, they promise that your roof will never leak with your solar installation.
However, some companies that offer leases and PPAs offer something much shorter. For example, Vivint Solar is known to give only a one year leak warranty. That simply isnt enough. A leak may not show up right away, or you might not notice it until significant damage has been done – and that can take more than a year.
Does Vivint Have A Trial Period
Yes, but it lasts only three days! While most companies offer 30- or even 60-day trials, you have mere three days to test a Vivint system and see if it suits you. If you dont cancel within that period, you are automatically locked into a paid contract. Vivint contracts are among the longest in the industry, lasting for 4260 months, and are auto-renewed until you cancel.
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Vivint Solar: A Quick History
Vivint is a home automation company that was started in 1999. It was originally known as APX Alarm Security Solutions and rebranded itself to Vivint in 2011.
Back then, its main product was home security systems. Alarms are still a primary part of its business, although it has since expanded into other home automation products such as doorbell cameras.
In 2011, in addition to rebranding itself, Vivint spun off Vivint Solar as a standalone company. While operating separately, the solar division does retain some things in common with the original company, especially the use of door-to-door sales.
APX Alarm was plagued by misconduct allegations for pushy and deceitful sales practices – an astonishing 4,600 complaints are still listed on BBB – and similar allegations dog Vivint Solar today.
What Happens To My Vivint Solar Stock
As previously announced, Vivint Solar shareholders receive 0.55 shares of Sunruns common stock for each share of Vivint Solars common stock that they hold immediately prior to the consumption of the acquisition. The merged company will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Select Global Market under the RUN dot symbol.
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Solar Energy Systems And Product Sales
Revenue under this segment mainly includes proceeds from the sale of solar panels, inverters, racking systems, and other solar-related equipment to resellers. The company also receives revenues from customer leads to third parties, including Sunruns partners and other solar providers. The customer will own the solar system and would be eligible for federal tax credits, incentives, and state tax rebates.
Extension of ITCs for investments in solar energy has been key for the rapid expansion of downstream solar companies like Sunrun, Vivint Solar , SolarCity , and SunPower .
In the next part of the series, well know about various tax credits, incentives, and rebates available for owners of solar panels.
Vivint Smart Home Products
One of the ways Vivint is trying to separate from the competition is by positioning themselves as more of a home automation solution.
Customers can use either Vivints SkyControl Panel or Google Home as a hub to control and communicate with all their smart home devices.
The great thing about the SkyControl Panel is that it uses two-way audio to communicate with Vivints monitoring team, so customers have instant access to support.
Vivint products include:
- Water Sensors: $50
To control smart devices remotely, homeowners can use the Vivint Smart Home app.
Vivints app is highly rated in the Apple app store and Google Play . With the app, you can control and see the following:
- Arm and disarm home security
- Lock and unlock your front door
- Check the status of your window and door locks
- Open garage door
- View live feed on doorbell camera
- Use two-way audio with doorbell camera
- View live feed on indoor and outdoor camera
- Turn lights on, off, and dim
- Adjust smart thermostat
- View smoke detectors
Vivints home automation system is compatible with common smart home hubs, such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa.
For environment controls, Vivint sells both the Element Thermostat and Nest Thermostat.
For lighting, Vivint integrates with Philips Hue LED bulbs that you can control the brightness levels of with your voice or mobile app.
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How Long Does It Require To Terminate Vivint
How Lengthy Does It Require To Terminate Vivint? As soon as Vivint obtains your Notification of Termination, youll obtain a phone call from the business concerning the termination and also choices for ending your agreement. Keep in mind that Vivint just permits customers to terminate their agreement within 3 days of obtaining your tools.
Investing In Solar Stocks
The Solar Investment Tax Credit , introduced in 2006, has created an average annual growth rate in solar of 52%, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Moreover, as the supply glut from Chinese production is met by increasing demand, the profits of solar companies are likely to increase.
One of the most convenient ways to invest in the solar energy sector is through the Invesco Solar ETF . The ETF’s goal is to track the MAC Global Solar Energy Index. It includes companies that produce solar power equipment and products for end users, companies that produce the equipment used by solar panel producers, solar installers, and companies specializing in solar cell manufacturing. YTD, March 2, 2020, the fund had a return of 17.91% and a 65.65% return in 2019.
Investors seeking individual companies may want to consider the following companies:
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Financing Options Through Vivint Solar
As a provider focused only on residential solar installations, Vivints financing options revolve more around solar leases and purchase power agreements . Its still possible to purchase a system through Vivint, but most of its salespeople are known to encourage PPAs. Here is the full spectrum of financing options available through Vivint.
| Cash Purchase | |
|---|---|
| Vivint Solar | Vivint Solar |
It is important to remember that when you get your solar through a lease or PPA, you will have two monthly energy bills one from your utility company and one from Vivint Solar. Most companies issuing solar leases have a guarantee written into the contract that your total monthly energy payments will be below what they were previous to installing solar. Vivint does not offer this same guarantee.
How Does Chargepoint Make Money
ChargePoint makes money by selling charging hardware, through cloud service subscriptions, as well as maintenance services.
The business model of ChargePoint is predicated on accelerating the adoption of its network as fast as possible.
Not only can it monetize its network through supplementary services but it secures critical locations for decades to come .
Additionally, ChargePoint is not dependent on one single EV manufacturer or customer type . Instead, its solutions can be plugged into almost any available EV, which vastly increases the utility of its charging networks.
To that extent, the company has begun to focus on interoperability by partnering with a variety of other charging operators such as Greenlots or FLO.
These partnerships are based on the Open Charge Point Interface , an independent, open-source protocol that allows network operators to exchange necessary information.
Without further ado, lets take a closer look at each of ChargePoints revenue streams in the section below.
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No Paper Copies Of The Contract
The lawsuit states that Vivint Solarâs door-to-door sales staff use electronic tablets to present the PPA contract to customers. The tablets are also used to get an e-signature on the contract from the customer. One of the key points in the lawsuit is that the customer never has an opportunity to read a paper version of the PPA, making it difficult to see important details such as the annual 2.9% price escalator.
One consumer noted that when agreeing to the Vivint contract, he was ânever shown the full document.â Instead, the Vivint Sales Manager showed the consumer the first two pages of the contract on a tablet, then flipped to the last page to get the consumerâs signature agreeing to the contract. The consumer had no idea that the contract he signed consisted of more than those three pages and he was never provided with a physical copy of the contract or physical copies of the cancellation notice.
About 30% Of Home Solar Systems Are Obtained Using A Lease Or Ppa Even Though They’re Popular The Contract Details Often Aren’t Well Understood Before You Sign One Here Are Some Things To Look Out For
Solar leases and power purchase agreements are similar ways of getting free solar panels with no money down. Theyre marketed heavily by big installers like Sunrun, Sunnova and Momentum.
Leases and PPAs offer a compelling pitch to consumers: with no upfront cost, you can get solar power for your home. You pay a certain amount of money every month, but how you are billed is where leases and PPAs differ. With a solar lease, your monthly payment to the solar company is fixed. With a PPA, you pay according to how much solar electricity the panels generate.
Because theyre so popular, Ive written a lot about ) before. I think theyre almost always a bad deal for consumers, partly because the companies that sell them – like Vivint and Sunrun – have problematic customer service records.
Read the intro article first if youre new to this topic, but this post will cover some specific things you need to look out for in the contract before you sign on the dotted line.
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