7 ms·
It's not financing. You'll never own those panels. You now have a permanent, physical relationship with the stupid solar company. Business models like that norm
by rcoveson 3y ago
It's not financing. You'll never own those panels. You now have a permanent, physical relationship with the stupid solar company. Business models like that normalize two things:
1. Everything should be absurdly, suspiciously cheap or even free.
2. You don't own things you buy, you just own the right to use them according to your lengthy legal agreement with the real owner.
These have become very popular ideas! So popular, in fact, that if you object you're stuck paying for specialty items that are dramatically more expensive than they would be if they could be produced at scale.
The unfortunate truth about living in a big economy is that everybody merely exercising their free choice really does affect everybody else. So we reserve the right to talk shit about annoying business models, in the hopes that we will make them at least a little bit less cool and less popular so the competitors with "purer" models (like, "build a thing people want and trade full ownership of that thing for money") have more of a chance to scale up.
- eep_social 3y ago> You'll never own those panels. There’s actually one scenario where you do — the panels reach end of life right around the time the lease is up. So you are now the proud owner of a removal and disposal liability that you’re going to want to handle before you sell the house.
- oldbbsnickname 3y agoAnd those sort typically don't include batteries or an ATS with the ability to generate during a grid outage. If a homeowner wanted a usable solar installation aligned with their interests, it's unlikely to happen without investing the capital to do so. So-called "free choice" coming from a reckless, hyper-individualist outlook imposing on others are externalities. This is where government must step in and mediate potential disputes between the boundaries of positive and negative rights of multiple parties.