SolarCity Corporation was a publicly traded company headquartered in Fremont, California, that sold and installed solar energy generation systems as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company was founded on July 4, 2006, by Peter and Lyndon Rive, the cousins of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016, at a cost of approximately US$2.6 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ) and reorganized its solar business into Tesla Energy.
SolarCity heavily focused on door-to-door sales of leased systems, where customers would pay no upfront costs, but agreed to purchase the power generated by those panels from the company for 20 years. The business model became the most popular in the US and made the company the largest residential solar installer, but it caused SolarCity to have over $1.5 billion in debt by the time of its acquisition in 2016 (equivalent to $ billion in ).[2]
Prior to its acquisition by Tesla, the two companies had a co-marketing relationship, announced in the 2006 first Tesla master plan. Tesla CEO Elon Musk served as the chairman of SolarCity, SolarCity offered free charging to Tesla Roadster owners at its charging stations, and SolarCity became one of the first installers of the Tesla Powerwall home energy storage battery.
History
SolarCity was founded in 2006 by South African brothers Peter and Lyndon Rive,[3] based on a suggestion for a solar company concept by their cousin, Elon Musk, who was the chairman and helped start the company.[4] By 2009, solar panels it had installed were capable of generating 440 megawatts (MW) of power.[5][6]
In 2011, the company launched their expansion to the East Coast with the acquisition of the solar division of Clean Currents[7] and groSolar.[8] Following the acquisitions, SolarCity expanded operations on the East Coast and opened in Connecticut,
Products and services
Solar leasing
In 2008, SolarCity entered the solar leasing market with a new solar lease option for homeowners: leasing rooftop solar to customers who would pay no upfront costs. In exchange, customers paid for 20 years for power generated by those panels.[42] SolarCity's solar lease allowed some homeowners to pay less each month than they previously paid for electricity from the utility company.[43][44]
The "no-money-down solar" business model became the most popular in the U.S.[45] and increased installations, but it also added considerably to SolarCity's debt, accounting for about half of the company's over $3 billion debt in 2016.[46]
Giga New York
In 2014, SolarCity announced plans to build a new manufacturing facility (now known as the Gigafactory 2) in Buffalo, New York, in coordination with the SUNY Polytechnic Institute, after acquiring Silevo, a maker of high-efficiency solar modules. The initial manufacturing complex would be a 1.2 e6sqft facility that would cost $900 million and employ 1,500 workers in Buffalo and 5,000 statewide.[74] With a planned capacity of one gigawatt of solar panels annually by 2019, the new plant would be the largest solar plant in the U.S.[75] Groundbreaking for the project occurred in September 2014 with a target completion date of early 2016.[76]
The facility would be the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.[77][78] Panasonic
Lawsuits and investigations
Buffalo Billion
Buffalo Billion is a billion-dollar program launched by the administration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to revitalize Buffalo, New York. One of the main features of the program was the solar panel factory to be leased by SolarCity in the High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend. The state appropriated $750 million in funding for the hub. According to Daily Energy Insider, "The facility will have one gigawatt of annual solar capacity when it reaches full production and is expected to produce about 10,000 solar panels per day."
On April 29, 2016, then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (of the Southern District of New York) began an investigation into state construction projects and contracts, including the Buffalo Billion. SolarCity was not the subject or focus of the investigation and was not involved in the vendor selection or contracting.[92] SolarCity said that it was cooperating with federal agents who had been in contact with the company.[93]
According to The New York Times, Buffalo Billion would benefit "a tangle of well-connected players – including developers and frequent donors to the governor – who have feasted on Buffalo Billion money".
The Checks and Balances Project
SolarCity indirectly funds a political advocacy group known as the Checks and Balances Project. The project has criticized the elected members of the Arizona Corporation Commission (the regulatory body that oversees electricity and utilities in Arizona) for being too well-connected to utility companies. The Checks and Balances Project has filed several requests for public records from the Arizona Corporation Commission. In July 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed the head of Checks and Balances as part of a larger criminal investigation into the financing of certain Arizona statewide races in 2014.[112]
Project financing and the Google Fund
SolarCity partnered with banks, large corporations, and the asset-backed[113] market to create project finance funds to finance its lease and power purchase agreement (PPA) options. Among SolarCity's better-known financing partnerships was a $280 million fund created with Google to finance residential solar installations in June 2011. The Google Fund was the largest fund of its kind in the U.S., and Google's largest investment in clean energy.[114]
Trade organization and collaboration
The company is one of the founding members of The Alliance for Solar Choice, or TASC, which is a rooftop photovoltaic power station solar trade organization.[115]
Government-funded collaboration
The SunShot Initiative is a national effort to support solar energy adoption to make solar energy affordable for all Americans. It is run by the US Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office and funds research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects. It is a collaboration of private companies, universities, state and local governments, and nonprofits, as well as national laboratories. The program began in 2011 with the initial goal of making solar energy competitive with traditional forms of electricity by 2020. By 2016, the program achieved 70% of the progress towards the 2020 goal.[116]
In the fiscal year 2012 Congressional budget, the program was appropriated $457 million. According to the US Department of Energy's appropriation request for that year, "The program also encourages Systems Integration by developing radically new approaches to reduce the cost and improve reliability and functionality of power electronics and supporting industry development through test and evaluation standards, and tools for understanding grid integration issues."
See also
- Charging station
- Efficient energy use
- List of energy storage projects
Further reading
External links
References
- Management Team at SolarCity solarcity.com, retrieved March 15, 2014^
- SolarCity vs. First Solar: Fierce Competition in the Solar Power Market Investopedia, retrieved 2025-12-25^
- Bryan Walsh. The Environment Time, 2008-04-17, retrieved 2024-07-06