Frequently Asked Questions Revised June 8, 2007 Stanford Community Discount Solar PV Program WHY IS SCRL FACILITATING THIS SOLAR PV PROJECT?
In response to successful community volume discount solar photovoltaic (PV) programs in Portola Valley, Woodside, and Mountain View, the same large local contractor, SolarCity, has offered to let the Stanford Campus Residential Leaseholders (SCRL) organization facilitate an identical community solar PV program to Stanford faculty and staff homeowners. The discount consists of an initial reduced community price, followed by a possible further community volume discount, if the total of homeowners' solar PV installations exceed a community-wide threshold. SCRL, as the on-campus homeowner representative body, is acting only as a facilitator to make this community discount program available to all Stanford faculty and staff homeowners living on or off campus. Neither Stanford nor SCRL has any financial interest in this program. SCRL strongly encourages you to do your homework to see if solar PV makes sense for your situation at this time, and if so, obtain an individualized estimate from SolarCity and consider securing at least one additional proposal from another local solar PV contractor for comparison. WHO IS ELEGIBLE FOR THE COMMUNITY VOLUME DISCOUNT SOLAR PV PROGRAM?
The community volume discount is available to all Stanford faculty and staff homeowners, living either on-campus or within 15 miles of the campus. IS THE COMMUNITY VOLUME DISCOUNT AVAILABLE TO CONDOMINIUM OR TOWNHOUSE OWNERS?
The community volume discount is available to Stanford faculty and staff homeowners of townhouses or condominiums, including for example, Peter Couts and Pearce-Mitchell homeowners. However, satisfying the additional CCR's (covenants, conditions and restrictions) of townhouse or condominium homeowner associations and more limited roof installation options prevent use of a simple "basic-system" community discounted price, as discussed later in this document. Instead, contact SolarCity for a specific community discounted price as part of a detailed quotation. The possible additional community volume discount offered by SolarCity will be applied to your quotation. WHEN IS THE COMMUNITY DISCOUNT SIGN-UP DEADLINE?
To receive the volume discounted price, SolarCity requires a contractual commitment by you no later than July 16th. Be aware, four other SolarCity community programs are underway in the Bay Area in June and July. Thus, if you are interested, you should schedule to obtain your solar PV evaluation and system cost proposal from SolarCity, and any other solar PV vendor, well before the deadline. 1 WHY IS THE COMMUNITY SIGN-UP DEADLINE SO SOON?
1) The solar PV energy rebate program from the state of California is structured to encourage early adoption and declines significantly as total state-wide solar contracts for installations increase. The original size of the rebate was $4500/KWatt several years ago. In September 2006, it was about $2600/KWatt. Today, it is about $2400/KWatt. 1 The next reduction likely will occur this summer to a bit less than $2200/KWatt. One forecast is that the state's rebate will decline to below $1900/KWatt by sometime in the late fall. 2) Supply and demand in the marketplace is becoming very tight: the surge of public interest in solar PV, fueled by press coverage, threatens to overwhelm manufacturing capacity for the panels, at least for the near term. This could lead to a lowering of the proposed overall community volume discount if the sign-up window is too long. 3) The time window for good-weather solar installations occurs over the next six months and SolarCity's queue of other installations is already affecting installation timetables. WHY WOULD I WANT TO CONSIDER A SOLAR PV INSTALLATION?
Essentially there are three reasons to consider solar PV now. 1) Reducing environmental impacts by replacing PG&E-supplied power with solar power, an environmentally clean source; 2) Possible financial savings in the long run for some, though not all, installations, especially if we are able to leverage our combined buying power with the additional community volume discount; and 3) The opportunity to have a general energy audit of your home, which may provide useful ideas for conserving energy (and thereby saving money), even if you eventually decide not to install a solar PV system. DOES SOLAR PV WORK FOR EVERYBODY?
Solar systems may not be cost effective, or less cost effective, in some situations, such as when a roof is heavily shaded by trees, faces in the wrong direction, or requires major structural reinforcement before solar PV panels can be installed. Also architectural aesthetics, or in the case of condominiums, the additional homeowners' restrictions, may limit the possibilities acceptable to you. Note that in some cases, panels can be installed on the ground or on a garden arbor. SolarCity and most other solar PV contractors will evaluate your potential site(s) and give you a quotation without charge. HOW DOES SOLAR PV WORK TO PROVIDE ENERGY SAVINGS?
Solar PV systems are tied to the electric grid via a special "net meter" supplied by PG&E. The net meter provides time-of-day electricity pricing and will run backwards whenever your own electric power demand is less than the power supplied from the solar PV system. In addition, PG&E electric rates are tiered to an increasing price to encourage conservation, currently starting at 11.4 cents/KWHour and rising to as much as 37
1 The actual rebate per KWatt varies slightly from these averages depending on your particular installation's size, orientation, and PV efficiency. The exact rebate per KWatt you will receive will be provided by your solar PV contractor as part of your individualized solar PV evaluation, and assumes the contract is signed soon thereafter, i.e., before the then-current state rebate price drops. 2 cents/KWHour. The average PG&E homeowner currently pays about 23 cents/KWHour on the margin, and a net-metered solar PV installation can drive down that marginal price to lower-tier ones. Moreover, solar PV output is highest in the afternoons when time-ofday electricity rates are highest. Because of our mild Bay Area climate, solar PV homes are often net suppliers of power in the afternoons when the rest of California is experiencing peak electric demand (and prices) particularly for air conditioning. 2 In effect, a Bay Area PV solar system allows a homeowner to sell solar power to PG&E at high time-of day prices and consume electric power at other times when electric prices are low, leading to a partial credit against the overall monthly electric bill. In addition, an annual consolidation is performed permitting any solar power credits built up during the longer summer daylight hours to partially offset power costs in winter. However, it is important to size the solar PV system carefully to match annual household electricity demand; a large solar PV installation producing a net annual electrical power credit does not produce a payment from PG&E to the homeowner. HOW MUCH DOES SOLAR PV COST AND WHAT ARE THE TANGIBLE BENEFITS?
SolarCity's contracts will be written to allow for two discounted community pricing alternatives, with and without the additional community volume discount. The SolarCity basic system price offered to individual Stanford-affiliated homeowners will be $8400/KWatt ($8.40/Watt) of AC installed, and drops to $7900/KWatt ($7.90/Watt) if a total of at least 175KWatts is installed by the entire Stanford-affiliated homeowner community. Research suggests basic system prices are usually at least $9000/KWatt AC today. SolarCity claims recent basic system costs are closer to $10,000/KWatt AC in the Bay Area market. It thus appears the SolarCity discount offer to Stanford-affiliated homeowners is attractive even without the additional community volume discount. Qualifying for the additional volume discount depends on meeting the threshold of at least 175 KWatts AC in total installations for the Stanford on-campus and off-campus homeowner community, or roughly 60 homes if the average system is about 3 KWatt in size. The table below gives some rough "ballpark" estimates for different sized solar PV systems to help you decide whether to do further study. Accurate cost and energy savings estimates for your particular homeowner situation requires a site-specific analysis and quotation from SolarCity or other solar PV contractor. The table assumes a cash purchase and ignores any possible change in the market value of the home due to a solar PV installation. 2 In rare cases, a Bay Area homeowner might be economically worse off installing solar PV. This would occur if daily peak electricity demand for the home always coincides with PG&E's daily peak-load prices. In such a case, the time-of-use pricing required by the solar PV installation could lead to a higher overall electric bill compared to maintaining the average-use pricing supported by the simple non-time-of-use meters installed on most homes. An example of this rare situation might be an all-electric home with electric heating and/or air conditioning in which the highest heating demand or air conditioning demand happens to occur every afternoon when PG&E daily time-of-use prices are highest. Ask the solar PV contractor doing your individualized solar PV estimate if this case might apply to your home, and if so, whether time-shifting of your energy demands are possible to avoid this situation. 3 Note for Palo Alto Residents: Faculty and staff homeowners in Palo Alto are welcome to participate in the Stanford community volume discount program, but Palo Alto residents do not qualify for the CA state rebate which excludes Palo Alto and other non-PG&E cities with municipal electricity systems. The Palo Alto Utilities Dept. is considering a revision to its own solar rebate policy to match more closely that of the state with a decision occurring sometime after July 1. A phone call to them might help push that decision along to a favorable outcome. Note for the Federal Tax Credit: Taxpayers filing under the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) do not qualify for the Federal tax credit of $2,000(max.) because almost all such credits are disallowed under AMT. However, the Federal credit may be carried forward and taken later in any future year in which the AMT would not apply. More detailed on-line calculators, including estimated after-tax costs of financing the purchase with a home equity loan are at the following Web sites:
(ON-CAMPUS HOMEOWNERS: IF ASKED FOR A ZIP CODE OR CITY, SUPPLY 94025, MENLO PARK, BECAUSE 94305 OFTEN INCORRECTLY MAPS TO PALO ALTO'S LOWER ELECTRICITY RATES) http://www.sunpowercorp.com/homeowners/solar_calculator.html http://www.gridpoint.com/resources/tools/ http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/calculators/PVWATTS/ http://www.findsolar.com/index.php?page=rightforme A more detailed article summarizing the financial aspects of solar PV installations for California homeowners is given by: http://www.ongrid.net/papers/PaybackOnSolarSERG.pdf 4 HOW DO I KNOW THE COMMUNITY DISCOUNTED PRICE OF $8.40 PER AC WATT OR THE COMMUNITY VOLUME DISCOUNTED PRICE OF $7.90 PER AC WATT FOR A BASIC INSTALLATION IS A GOOD PRICE?
One Mountain View resident investigated this question by processing the applications for the California rebate and found the median price per AC watt that was actually paid for the 22 solar PV systems installed in Mountain View during 2006 and early 2007 was $9.87: 3 http://mvsolar.blogspot.com/2007/02/going-rate-for-solar-is-987.html DOES THE COMMUNITY DISCOUNT PRICE INCLUDE SALES TAX?
Yes. WILL A SOLAR PV SYSTEM INCREASE MY PROPERTY TAXES?
No, the California legislation excludes the cost of solar PV systems from property taxes. WILL A SOLAR PV SYSTEM INCREASE THE MARKET VALUE OF MY HOME?
There is some evidence that the energy savings, "green" benefits, and novelty of solar PV systems increase the market value of homes by about the net after-rebate cost of the solar PV installation. However, the supporting data are sparse, and a more conservative approach might be to ignore this in evaluating the economics of your solar PV decision. IF I WAIT, WON'T THE COST OF SOLAR PV SYSTEMS DECLINE OVER TIME?
The long-term trend in solar PV costs is indeed declining over time. However, the substantial California state rebate subsidy is declining even faster. Moreover, current demand for solar panels is growing exponentially, temporarily exceeding production capacity which may lead to some solar panel cost increases in the short-run. (Solar panel costs are significant, approximately half the total system cost.) Bills expanding the Federal tax credit have been introduced, for example, by eliminating the current $2000 cap. So, delaying might be preferable, depending on your assessment of the risks that system costs will not increase in the short run and that a possible increased Federal subsidy will more than offset the shrinking California solar PV rebate. IS THE CA SOLAR TAX REBATE CONSIDERED TAXABLE INCOME?
Not according to the SEIA Guide to Federal Tax Incentives for Solar Energy:
"The Internal Revenue Service Publication 525 (Taxable and Nontaxable Income) addresses this question on pages 29 and 33. PBI-type incentive. Energy conservation subsidies. You can exclude from gross income any subsidy provided, either directly or indirectly, by public utilities for the purchase or installation of an energy conservation measure for a dwelling unit.
3 Of course, this median price may be misleading as it includes some mix of both basic and more-expensive non-basic systems. The most reliable guide to the community savings under this program is to obtain additional estimates from other solar PV contractors and compare them to the community-discounted one provided to you by SolarCity. 5 Energy conservation measure. This includes installations or modifications that are primarily designed to reduce consumption of electricity or natural gas, or improve the management of energy demand. The State of California has a law that also excludes solar rebates from income tax. This is in the State's Revenue and Taxation Code Section 17138" HOW MUCH AREA IS TAKEN UP BY THE SOLAR PV PANELS?
It depends on the size of the system you select as it relates to the efficiency of the panels, the orientation of their mounting, and the average amount of shading the panels receive. This will be detailed in the individualized solar PV estimate you receive from the solar PV contractor. As a very rough rule of thumb, you can use an estimate of about 100 square feet per KWatt AC. HOW HEAVY ARE THE SOLAR PANELS IN AN INSTALLATION?
Weight varies across panel manufacturers, but the following is a rough guide. A 2.8KWatt DC installation, producing about 2.4KWatts AC, consists of 16 panels, each weighing 33 lbs and having an area of about 14 square feet. The entire system will require about 225 square feet on your rooftop and weigh 528 lbs. A larger 3.8KWatt DC installation, producing about 3.3KWatts AC, consists of 24 panels, each weighing 33 lbs and having an area of about 14 square feet. The entire system will require about 338 square feet on your rooftop and weigh 792 lbs. Add to these numbers the weight of any special mounting hardware, such as the tilt-up racks for a flat roof installation. One source recommends using the following conservative rule of thumb for system weight, including the panels plus their mounting: 400 lbs per 100 square feet. To put that into perspective, composition shingles weigh 200 to 400 lbs per 100 square feet and clay tiles weigh 500 to 1,200 lbs per 100 square feet. HOW WELL DOES A SOLAR PV SYSTEM WORK IN THIS AREA?
You can review graphs of the daily and weekly electricity generation performance of one mid-sized (3.1KWatt) installation in Mountain view at: http://slacy.com/solar/ WHAT ARE THE MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS OF SOLAR PV SYSTEMS?
Very little maintenance is required, being limited primarily to periodic cleaning to remove dirt or bird dropping deposits. As far as we know, SolarCity is the only contractor offering life-of-system remote monitoring of system performance, requiring only that homeowners provide a connection to their Internet DSL or digital cable modem. Any significant loss of performance caused by these or other factors will be detected by and reported to you by SolarCity for the life of the system. IS THERE A MINIMUMUM SOLAR PV INSTALLATION SIZE?
The community volume discount prices for basic installations offered by SolarCity apply only for installations of at least 2.5KWatts. Because of the fixed costs, smaller basic solar 6 PV installations than this will have a higher discounted price. This will be contained in the SolarCity evaluation and cost estimate for your installation which you can compare with other solar PV contractor estimates you might obtain. IS THERE A WARRANTY FOR SOLAR PV SYSTEMS?
SolarCity offers a 10 year system's warranty. In addition, the manufacturer's limited warranty on each panel is 25 years. Each installation has an inverter device that converts the panels' DC output to AC. The inverter is warranted for 10 years. DOES A SOLAR PV SYSTEM WEAR OUT?
Solar PV panel output efficiency declines on average by about one-half of a percent per year. So, after 20 years the panel power output, and thus, system power output, will have declined by about 10%. Homeowners should also plan on an inverter failure and replacement at around year 15. At current prices, a replacement inverter would cost about $500/KWatt of system size. WILL THE SOLAR PV SYSTEM PROTECT AGAINST DAYTIME BLACKOUTS?
No. The solar PV system is connected to the PG&E grid and thus must shut down during a blackout for safety reasons. Off-grid systems with batteries and automatic disconnect from the grid are available at extra costs of about $6,000 to $12,000, depending on system size and location. ARE PROPOSALS FROM COMPETING SOLAR PV CONTRACTORS EASILY COMPARED?
Not necessarily. In particular, the power rating of proposed systems varies, depending on the definitions used. The quoted power may be the nominal rating of the solar panels or the tested output of the solar panels, and may or may not adjust for system losses, such as introduced by the inverter. Insist on having the contractor supply the CEC (California Energy Commission) rating as used for calculating the state rebate. This is the delivered AC power rating after adjusting for internal system losses. Such losses are often about 15% of the nominal panel DC power rating. All of the wattages used in this document assume the delivered AC wattage. HOW MUCH PAPERWORK IS REQUIRED?
Not much. SolarCity does all the paperwork to obtain the California rebate for you and floats the cost of the approximate 5 month delay until the rebate is received; this amounts to an interest-free loan to you of the rebate amount to cover the rebate delay. Otherwise, you are responsible for submitting the form they supply for the Federal tax credit. Oncampus homeowners must obtain Stanford Faculty/Staff Housing's approval ($10 fee), and obtaining Santa Clara county's permits which consist of plan approval ($200), building permit ($120) and planning fee ($60). For on-campus homeowners, Faculty Staff Housing supplies a form: "Residential Subdivision Project Application Instructions". Solar projects, like any substantial oncampus property improvements, require that this form be complete and approved before 7 the County will accept an application for a building permit. The form can be obtained online; click at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/fsh/homeowners/improvements.html Santa Clara County maintains an on-campus office at 655 Serra Street, occupied by a building inspector, Al Alciati, telephone 725-3873. The initial fee of $200 for a plan check and approval will be charged. Office hours are limited: Mon, Tues., Thurs., and Fri., 12:30-2pm; please call ahead. Off-campus homeowners will have similar city and county building-permit procedures. Ask your solar PV contractor about the process and fees when you obtain your solar quotation. Normally, these administrative procedures are expeditiously carried out, consistent with current thinking on the necessity of energy conservation measures. WHAT IF NOT ENOUGH STANFORD-AFFILIATED HOMEOWNERS SIGN UP?
SolarCity's contracts are written to allow for two community discounted pricing alternatives, with and without the additional community volume discount. The non-volume community discounted installation price is $8400 per KWatt for a basic installation while the volume discounted price is $500/KWatt less, or $7900 per KWatt for a basic installation. (Homeowners with non-basic roofs, e.g., ones with flat, tile or shake roofs, should add an average of about $1000/KWatt to these two prices.) The SolarCity proposal you receive will quote a firm price for non-basic installations which will then receive an additional $500/KWatt volume discount, if the 175KWatt threshold of total installations is reached. That is, qualifying for the additional volume discount depends on the Stanford-related homeowner community meeting a threshold of 175 kilowatts in total installations. Once you sign the SolarCity contract you are committed to pay at least the non-volume discount price quoted in the contract; if the 175KWatt threshold is met by the community, your quoted price will be given the additional $500/KWatt volume discount. Research suggests basic solar PV system prices are usually at least $9000/KWatt today. SolarCity claims recent basic system costs are closer to $10,000/KWatt in the Bay Area market. It thus appears the SolarCity community discount offer to Stanford is attractive even without the additional community volume discount. If the threshold is not met, or for other reasons after signing the contract, you elect to cancel your contract, you will be charged 2% of the system cost as a cancellation fee. If the analysis of your monthly electric bills and the capacity of your proposed installation show attractive enough electricity and other "green" savings, you might decide to opt in even with no guarantee of the additional community volume discount. If your installation would be less clearly an economic win, you might choose to obtain a SolarCity quote but then wait and watch until closer to the July 16 deadline before opting in or out. Portola Valley, Woodside, and Mountain View exceeded the 175KWatt threshold to obtain their community volume discounts, but in all three cases many participants waited until the last week to sign their contract. Be aware, however, that the state rebate is likely to shrink by about $200 per KWatt sometime this summer, and your rebate amount is not fixed until you opt in by signing the contract. 8 The SolarCity Web site has a link to track the volume of sign-ups at http://www.solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=234 , and SCRL will e-mail notify all interested parties if/when the additional volume discount is triggered. To receive emails about the community solar program, be sure to register your interest and add your email address to the form at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=429743761613 (Your email address will be used only for communication about the status of the discount solar program and will not be shared with any vendor.) HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT THE STANFORD-AFFILIATED HOMEOWNERS WILL REACH THE 175KWATT THRESHOLD TO GET THE ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY DISCOUNT?
Frankly, we have no idea, largely because our Stanford-affiliated faculty and staff homeowner community is smaller than the three communities who successfully completed their volume discount programs. Your best approach may be to assume Stanford will not make the threshold and justify installing solar PV based upon the $8.40 per watt basic system price, plus the cost additions your individual proposal will have, if any, for a nonbasic site. If in comparison to other solar PV proposals you might receive, the SolarCity proposal is preferred, then consider the additional community volume discount of another $.50 per Watt as just a possible "windfall" bonus that might occur. Remember, you can monitor our Stanford-affiliated homeowner progress toward reaching the community threshold for the additional discount on the SolarCity Web site at http://www.solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=234 before deciding, and, even after signing, the 2% cancellation fee is relatively small should you change your mind. Moreover, do not forget that sitting on the sideline awaiting everyone else to decide can lead to collective inaction, at least until just before the deadline. This happened in all three community programs to date in which the "tipping" of contract signing by large number of homeowners occurred in the last days of the program. Unfortunately, this summer you face an additional risk by such procrastination, as the California rebate may suddenly fall by another $200 per KWatt or more during the interim. You can only lock in the amount of the state rebate by signing the contract. WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ON THE OTHER COMMUNITY VOLUME DISCOUNT PROGRAM EXPERIENCES?
Articles on the successful Portola Valley and Mountain View experiences with the SolarCity community volume discount plan are available at: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Technology/story?id=3018981&page=1 http://www.mv-voice.com/story.php?story_id=2821 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/06/HOGVMNCB361.DTL http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-3-12-mp-solar http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/773396/solarcity_collective_power_progra m_successfully_concludes_in_portola_valley/index.html http://www.mv-voice.com/story.php?story_id=2581 http://www.mv-voice.com/story.php?story_id=2837 http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6839799951743666982/posts/default http://solar.rain-barrel.net/suncity-co-op-with-mountain-view-california/ 9 I AM PLANNING A MAJOR REMODEL OR RE-ROOFING THIS SUMMER.
Most solar PV contractors will charge additionally for their time if the solar PV installation must be coordinated with other contractor activities. For example, SolarCity may charge an extra $1,000 in such cases. MY ROOF IS FAIRLY OLD; SHOULD I RE-ROOF BEFORE INSTALLING A SOLAR PV SYSTEM?
Ask your solar PV contractor about this when you obtain your solar PV evaluation and cost quotation. Depending on the cost to de-install the solar panels in a few years to allow re-roofing followed by re-installing them, it may make economic sense to re-roof now before going solar. CAN I SIGN UP AND THEN DELAY THE SOLAR PV INSTALLATION?
Yes, provided the installation is completed within 12 months; otherwise you will lose the California rebate. Fortunately, the California rebate amount is determined at contract signing. So, installation delay does not expose you to the risk of further rebate reductions. WHAT ARE MY NEXT STEPS IF I AM SERIOUSLY INTERESTED?
(1) Please let us know your level of interest in the proposed Community Solar Volume Discount Program for Stanford-affiliated homeowners by answering three questions on the form at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=429743761613 One of the form's questions asks about your interest in attending a Stanford community meeting this summer to answer solar PV questions you may have. (Oncampus homeowners attended one on May 23 that was very informative and SolarCity has offered to hold a second one.) The location and timing of the meeting will be announced by e-mail to those registering by the above survey link. (2) You can view the recent May 23 on-campus homeowners community meeting held by SolarCity by downloading the one-hour video of it to be listed on SCRL's Web site: http://www.stanford.edu/group/scrl/ under "News" (3) You can view a recent community meeting held by SolarCity for the now-closed Mountain View community discount program by watching this one-hour streaming video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6560917915065519844 WHAT IS THE TIMING OF ACTIVITIES FOR THOSE WHO SIGN UP?
SolarCity consultants have already begin visiting interested Stanford-affiliated homeowners to provide detailed house-specific proposals of costs and energy savings. For those who opt in, a 10% deposit is required, and installations, first-come-first-served, would start in July or August and continue through October, or even later if demand is 10 high. Note: Homeowners giving an additional 20% deposit will receive higher priority in installation timing; ask SolarCity for details when you receive your system cost estimate. WHAT IF TOO MANY HOMEOWNERS SIGN UP?
SolarCity has a comparatively large staff, but a successful volume discount program at Stanford combined with the other community volume discount programs they have pending in the other Bay Area cities could mean installations might not take place for several months. The good news is that rebates are secured at the level then available once you sign a contract. HOW DO I REQUEST A SOLAR PV EVALUATION AND COST QUOTATION?
Visit http://www.solarcity.com, or phone 888-765-2489. Be sure to mention you are participating in the Stanford homeowner community volume discount program. IS SOLARCITY THE ONLY CONTRACTOR OFFERING A COMMUNITY VOLUME DISCOUNT?
As far as we know, yes, SolarCity is the only one, and having done it for Portola Valley, Woodside, and Mountain View, is the most experienced local contractor in offering community volume discounts of this size. However, it is only prudent that you consider additional diligence by investigating one or more other solar PV contractors. A list of Santa Clara county solar PV contractors, including in some cases, user ratings, is available at http://www.findsolar.com/index.php?page=findacontractor 11