Yeloha
= a solar sharing network
URL = http://www.yeloha.com/
Description
1.
"Yeloha has come up with a shared solar business model it says can open up the market for photovoltaic systems to all those who rent housing, as well as others that don’t own or have access to sufficient or well-sited rooftop space or land area.
Yeloha and others working along the same lines appear to be on to something big, something that proponents and supporters of community solar have been promoting for years." (http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/05/airbnb-solar-israeli-transplant-launches-solar-sharing-network/)
2. BY DAVID WHITFORD:
"Yeloha combines the power of social networks and the appeal of the sharing economy. Its goal: to remove some of the constraints that make solar power inaccessible to so many. "We'd like to let anyone go solar," says Rosner. "No matter where they live, no matter what their income level is."
Yeloha will have two sets of customers. The first, which Rosner calls "sun hosts," are people who live under a suitably sunny roof and want to go solar but can't afford to buy or lease the panels. Yeloha will install its own panels on those people's roofs, at no cost, and give them a portion (generally one-third) of the electricity they produce, absolutely free. Bottom line: The homeowner pays nothing for the hardware and pays less overall every month for electricity. Less is not nothing--you'd have to have a very big roof to get all the electricity you need from one-third of your system's production--but it's still less.
And the excess production? That's where the "sun partners" come in. Those are people who want solar power but don't have the right roof for it. They'll be able to buy solar credits from Yeloha in any amount they choose and pay less than they would for electricity generated by other means. Not a huge discount--about 10 percent for those who buy a year's worth of supply, Rosner promises; more for those willing to commit to three years or 10--but a discount nonetheless, which is key. "While they save money, they also save the world," says Rosner, "but this is the order of priorities we see. We don't want to speak only with tree-huggers. We love tree-huggers, we are tree-huggers, but there aren't enough people who care. So we want to drive positive change through what matters most to people."
Partners can choose their hosts, if they want, and hosts can assign their excess capacity to specific partners. Everybody will have access to online tools that measure production and consumption, and help build a sense of community. Yeloha is "the conductor of the orchestra," Rosner says--overseeing the system, selling power to the grid, and brokering solar credits. "The ones who do everything are the people." (http://www.inc.com/david-whitford/built-from-passion-yeloha.html)