What ever happened to the Citizenre Solar Panel Plant?

[European Socialist]

Supposed to be the largest in the USA. Already six months overdue. No good answer from Citizenre.

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Love or hate it, solar challenger Citizenre hits delays

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9748975-7.html

...

In February, company executives said Citizenre planned to announce a manufacturing site and financing in March.

Early this month, Erika Morgan, Citizenre vice president of communications, acknowledged that the company missed that deadline and shared a few details on its future plans.

She said that the company has secured financing for a planned manufacturing facility which will be in the northeast of the United States. Morgan also indicated the company is arranging financing that is separate than that for its planned manufacturing facility.

She said that an announcement on its manufacturing plans could come in September.

[European Socialist]

2. Thanks for the article--still would like more details, like a lot of others.

[Javaman]

3. I was really into citizenre and was wanting to become a seller, that is until

I read this...

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=47419

and this little gem jumped out at me...

"Author:
Todd Cory
Date Posted:
February 13, 2007

Here are some real world numbers:
A typical "good amerikun's" waste oriented home, consumes 35 kWh a day. A solar electric array will likely see a yearly average of 5 hours of sun of day. This means we need at least a 7 kW system to supply that much power. A typical 7 kW system, without publicly financed buy downs or other incentives would cost ~$60,000.00. It will produce (7 kW X 5 hours of sun a day X 30 days per month X 12 months per year) 12,600 kWh in yearly energy production. At 10¢ per kWh that is $1,260.00 per year in equivalent grid power costs. $60,000.00 ÷ $1,260.00 is a payback of 47.6 years.

$4.00 per watt (or $28,000.00 for the 7 kW system mentioned above) is the price "citizen BS" claims to be able to install solar electric for. This is a short term, avoided utility cost payback of 22 years! Why would the investors (they claim to have onboard) invest in a 22 year return on their money?

And some say this is not a scam?"

I read through all of the posts on that link and it doesn't add up. They have a interesting concept but lack a lot in the details and planning. I'm not saying it's a scam quite yet but it certainly smells like one and frankly, I'm not about to risk losing my friends to something that sounds to good to be true.

Since reading this information on this particular site, I have done other reading on citizenre and like the above poster, the numbers don't add up.

they keep delaying and delaying and won't say who their investors are.

Another thing that gets me is that another poster stated something about "just where is citizenre getting their raw materials from?" apparently due to the surge in interest in solar panels, the materials needed for producing the panels come at a high premium and unless they have suppliers already lined up, (which I believe they don't) they won't come even close to their projected 100k per year installations.

but read the site and decide for yourself. I'm not convinced that citizenre is a good bet.

[oldhippie]

4. I'm with you. I really wanted to see this work ..........

...... but I don't see how it can. As an EE with my own PV system, and two MBA's, I know a little about the technology and business models. I don't see how CRE's business model works. Plus, the claims they have made (and continue to make) just aren't realistic and don't pan out.

One other thing that bothers me is the long payback time and their contract structure. Since most people sell their homes long before the payback period would be over, they will have to negotiate the system's value with the buyers. I know we all think that a PV system on the roof and working is just peachy keen, but not everyone is going to value it the same. It would be a complication on every home sale that had a CRE system installed on it.

I'd really like to see this work, and maybe it will, but it's going to be awhile, and costs are going to have to come down first. If we can get the cheap, hi-volume thin film thing going it would have a chance.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. About moving...

... Since most people sell their homes long before the payback period would be over, they will have to negotiate the system's value with the buyers. ...
http://renu.citizenre.com/index.php?p=svc_h_ter

The Citizenrē Corporation would hope that all of its Forward Rental Agreements will reach Contract Completion. In this case, the termination of the contract provides the best departure relationship between Citizenrē and its valued customers. Nonetheless, Citizenrē realizes that that may not always be the case. Sometimes people are temporarily unable to meet their obligations or intend move and are therefore no longer able to enjoy the benefits of the REnU as it is attached to the old home.

To respond to each of these scenarios, Citizenrē will try to be as flexible as possible. In the event that a customer decides to move, the Company is willing to provide three reasonable options.

1) Our customer can simply call us and notify us of their intention to move, and furthermore, would like us to relocate the REnU to their new home. Citizenrē is willing to do this once – free of charge – for all 25-Year contracts. Thereafter, the Company will charge a reasonable relocation fee for each move; the Company is even willing to spread-out the payments of the relocation fee over the remainder of the contract. This option is not available for Year-to-Year contracts.

2) Our customer – as an alternative – can transfer the REnU to the new home owner, so long as all parties agree and the new mortgage is still willing to subordinate. This is quite possibly the easiest of the options and has the added incentive of a low fixed-price for electricity to the new homeowner. The original customer would, however, be giving up their rights to the contract rate and would in fact have to agree to a new contract rate if the customer chose to install a new REnU at the new home. All contract periods are eligible for this option.

3) Our customer, as a last resort, can notify us of their intention to terminate the contract prematurely with reason and will therefore only lose their security deposit. By choosing this option, the customer is demonstrating good faith to the Company by being forward and reasonable, and thus, will not be subject to a refusal period if the customer chooses to install a new REnU system in the near future. Again, all contract periods are eligible for this option. Citizenrē believes that these options are reasonable and fair for its customers and do not place a heavy burden on the customer if the customer becomes unable to meet the full obligations of any particular Forward Rental Agreement.

...

[corbett]

5. Delays Are Painful But

Ed Begley, Jr. does not endorse just any old platform. The latest is that the plant announcement is imminent. Of equal importance is the news item that the CitizenRe will be featured on the Living with Ed show on HGTV.