SolarCity Enters New Mexico with New Center

By Anca Gagiuc, Associate Editor

Albuquerque will have a chance to shine again. Even though Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk chose another location instead of the Duke City for a lithium-ion battery factory, he observed another advantage the city offers: the shining sun. With his two cousins, Lyndon and Peter Rive, they are bringing to New Mexico one of America’s largest solar power provider.

SolarCity, a publicly traded company headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., is already present in 15 states. It announced that it will open its first center in Albuquerque by the end of March. Albuquerque Journal reports that location has been chosen, renovations are underway, and orders are already being taken.

The company’s offerings for Public Service Co. of New Mexico customers will launch immediately in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and surrounding areas. More regions will be added afterwards. SolarCity will hire up to 50 employees for sales, PV installation and related tasks.

With the new center a new finance program will be launched, allowing homeowners to install solar photovoltaic systems with no upfront costs. MyPower program enables homeowners to access direct loans, without the usual third-party entity. Through this program homeowners can finance their systems with fixed 30-year loans, carrying interest rates of 4.5 percent and no upfront costs.

The program is designed to leverage risk: loan repayment is calculated on a per kilowatt hour production basis with the payment rate set up at up to 20 percent less than what the utility charges per kilowatt hour so if the system produces less than it is supposed to, the customer pays less per kilowatt hour. Once the loan is paid, the customer owns the system.

Photo courtesy of SolarCity.