Solar Questions?

Sure, it’s boring, but this webinar that we recorded explains EVERYTHING about the 1BOG/HelioPower Coachella Valley Solar Program.

All possible adder costs are itemized here. Also, if for whatever reason you decide you must have a particular panel or inverter that HelioPower can sell but that is not part of our program, don’t worry you can speak with them separately about that and they will be able to help you. 1BOG is completely transparent about our campaign costs, even our online solar estimation tool will take into account all additional costs that we can see (fortunately we can’t see INSIDE of your home from satellite photos, so things like electrical service upgrades we wouldn’t know about until someone visited your home).

Is there a goal associated with the program and how does that change the rate per a watt?

Our goal is to get 50 homes to go solar in Palm Desert/Coachella Valley in this program. We were able to negotiate a fantastic price up-front because the installers we were working with were familiar with our past success in other programs. Thus, there is no “if we get this many people we get this price, or if we get that many people we get that price,” it’s just one very solid deal straight out of the gate. Most of these tiered structures are for marketing purposes, and we figure if it’s a really good deal people will naturally tell each other anyway.

Does the solar installer require complete 12 month kW history?

Yes. In order to design the best system the most important piece of information you can give an installer is how much power do you use. You don’t have to do this at the time you sign up at 1BOG (although it makes things a lot quicker) but you’ll at some point either need to gather up 12 months of bills (or whatever you have if you have recently moved in) or login to your utility online and gather the information there. The number you are looking for is how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) do you use in each month.

Can the solar installer do land mounted systems? For how much?

Yes, ground mounted systems are an option and are an extra $85/panel (because you have to build the rack/tilt infrastructure they stand on instead of putting them directly on the roof). Also, trenching to your meter, if needed, is $16/foot. Again, all possible additional costs are itemized here.

What are the boundaries of the program? What if I’m outside?

There is a map on the Campaign Details page. If you are outside the boundary, that should stop you from signing up. If we get enough people in the area we can push to have you included fairly easily, or if a ton of people sign up we will maybe run an additional new group purchase campaign.

How much of a deposit is required by the solar installer at the time of signing the contract?

A thousand dollar deposit paid to HelioPower if you decide to pull the trigger.

Are there any financing options (loans, leasing, PPAs)

SunRun financing will be available during this program. I’d suggest viewing the webinar above for more detailed info.

What if I am interested in a business going solar instead of my home?

If it’s a small business we can simply include it in the program very easily. It will be much smoother if you own the property (otherwise you will need to work out a tricky arrangement with your landlord). If it’s a big business we can still help but you’ll want to let us know. HelioPower has a large commercial installation division.