. Tesla uses an assumption of 2% increase in electricity rates for the next 25 years, which seems like a better assumption than 5%. Although rates have increased quickly over the last 3 years, I don’t think utilities will be able to get significant increases in the future for the following reasons:
All the examples in the rest of this article are in the Denver area. I’ll include Florida and North Carolina quotes in a future article.Tesla Cash Assuming 5% Annual Utility IncreasesIn this example, you can see the ~$12,000 cheaper quote of Tesla makes it the better financial decision for a person who has the money to invest in solar. The 12% rate of return for Tesla is better than the 7% rate for the local installer.
The local companies claim Tesla doesn’t have as good of service as they do. Is there any truth to that claim? I’ve checked with 3 people who have installed Tesla solar panels and they said it went fine. But I realize that is way too small a sample to be valid. I foundthat seems to do a good job of explaining Tesla Energy image problems.