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Ask HN: Would you want to buy direct, fractional ownership of a solar farm?

9 pointsby shaburnover 2 years ago
Hypothetically speaking, not a solicitation.

21 comments

bombcarover 2 years ago
No. Because if they’re offering it to me they’ve been turned down by millions of more qualified investors for some reason.
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janalsncmover 2 years ago
It depends where the solar farm is, how new it is, how much a share costs, what the management is like, and what the company’s financials were like. So maybe.<p>I believe the standard legal vehicle would be a corporation so that investors aren’t liable for any debts or lawsuits. Just issue shares.
luosover 2 years ago
There is already a company which is doing similar thing in the UK for Wind Farms. I can&#x27;t find the name right now though, they were featured on the Fully Charged youtube channel.<p>I am not in the UK, and I&#x27;d gladly invest in a solar farm as a &quot;community member&quot; to cover my own usage but in my country noone is doing it - and probably I would not trust them either (eastern EU). I was actually looking for this a few weeks ago, and the only thing I found is that I can sponsor some African farms through some EU scheme.<p>In any case, if someone knows some good solar farms which have this community ownership model, I&#x27;d be happy to check it out.<p>I think the Wind Farm was this one from Ripple: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=65rlHr6ey4I" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=65rlHr6ey4I</a>
nocoinerover 2 years ago
Insufficient data. Do I get a preferred return on my investment? What does the sponsor’s promote look like? What’s the fee structure?<p>These are the first few threshold economic questions that need to be answered before I could even begin to start considering this investment (and this obviously disregards any of other threshold questions around the project itself and the sponsor).<p>Actually, I do have sufficient data to answer this question for me personally - no. This type of investment is only going to attract dumb money, and if I’m going to invest as dumb money (which I most certainly am, in just about any passive investment I can imagine), I’m going to put it into index funds where I pay fees of ten bps or less. Not in an undiversified single project subject to all kinds of uncorrelated risks.
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hedoraover 2 years ago
I’d like our local utility to support community net metering.<p>Some neighbors live under trees, and spent 2x more on solar than us for less production than we get. Half our roof is panel free. There’s clearly some efficiency being left on the floor in the current billing set up.<p>(Also, people in apartments don’t have roofs.)
ALittleLightover 2 years ago
Does it pay dividends? What are the risks and earnings projections? Are there similar projects? Has the developer done similar work before?
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paulkrushover 2 years ago
Well, can I also remotely use the energy? I would like to buy 1KW with battery storage along with 999 other people to remotely operate 1MW machines 1&#x2F;1000 of the time. Like remote 1MW robotic steel forging presses. Or to remotely drive around a 1MW bulldozer. I would like to light up 1MW of GPUs from time to time. It would be lovely to do some 1MW resistive heating Photonicinduction style: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;@Photonvids" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;@Photonvids</a> It be really cool to fire up a 1MW ECM machine from time to time. A little rock crushing would be fun and of course such a fractional ownership should include access to a 1MW arc furnace. So yes! you have my vote for fractional ownership of a solar farm, but only if it includes access to an industrial fantasyland folly-plex.
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farseerover 2 years ago
There are several apps doing the rounds, offering exactly this on the PlayStore and promising regular returns. I&#x27;d ask for their previous track record, including in-person visits to the sites they have already setup before parting with any money.
swidiover 2 years ago
Hell no. I can smell the scam from here.
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t-3over 2 years ago
No. Centralized solar seems like the worst of all worlds to me.
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_448over 2 years ago
This reminds me of Ponzi schemes that once mushroomed in India. The scheme went something like this: A company would ask people to invest in a (rubber&#x2F;teak&#x2F;sandalwood) plantation project. The investors had to pay the company to buy and plant trees on their behalf; and the investors would get the return after, say, 20-30 years once the plantation started generating profits.
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rdtwoover 2 years ago
It depends on how taxes work. And how much it generates in power. If theoretically you could get it to a point where I could buy just the power that I use and It could be paid in power therefore not generating taxable income you could end up getting some advantage. Otherwise no
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codingdaveover 2 years ago
Need more info - are you talking about ownership of the real estate and hardware? Or ownership of the company operating the system on that infrastructure? Those are very different models with different considerations as investment vehicles.
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beckingzover 2 years ago
Community Solar is becoming fairly common!
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galfarragemover 2 years ago
For the right price every investment is good. The difficult part is to know what the right price is.
Ferrotinover 2 years ago
If it’s a publicly traded company and the price is right.
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djbebsover 2 years ago
Depends on the price and conditions.
YuriNiyazovover 2 years ago
No.
t312227over 2 years ago
it depends.
poopypoopingtonover 2 years ago
yes
shaburnover 2 years ago
Yes or no.