| Phil Mitchell | Jan 22, 2007 11:46 PM (UTC) (edited on Jan 22, 2007 11:46 PM (UTC)) |
A new member recently posted an action about renting a solar system.
It's a cool idea, and it's also based on pyramid marketing, which makes some people nervous. A different member contacted me privately to warn that this may be a scam. I've heard about Citizenre before, but haven't had time to investigate. Does anyone have solid information about the integrity/authenticity of this company and their plan to get solar panels on millions of rooftops?
| Phil Mitchell | Jan 23, 2007 08:56 PM (UTC) |
| Chloe Hill | Jan 29, 2007 04:50 AM (UTC) |
Hello, I'm that new member and I'd like to clear some things up.
Yes, Citizenre is based on network marketing in that one recruits people to sell and convince people to go solar, and those recruits remain under you. That process continues and all independent direct sellers seek to form teams of sellers. However, it differs in one major respect from most network marketing and pyramid structured companies in that no money is ever asked of any associate, none. As an independent direct seller I have never been asked to pay anything or give any money to anyone and I never will be as I move up the ladder to sales manager and onward. The only thing I have given so far is my time and I would literally volunteer to convince people to switch to solar power anyway - the money is just a perk!
In addition, Citizenre does not ask for any money from customers until an engineer comes to their house, determines the feasability of solar installation, designs the system, the customer likes the design and agrees to all the terms and conditions in the contract. They then pay a $500 deposit which is returned to them at the end of their contract. They will also pay monthly rental fees equivilant to their current utility bill, only instead of that money going toward the utility and dirty energy, its going toward the solar company and clean energy. Plus their rates will never go up. Engineers will begin making house visits around September when the solar systems are ready.
For those people who are skeptical I say wait. There will be plenty of solar panels to go around, and plenty of opportunities to get involved with the company as an independent direct seller. The only downside for homeowners if you wait is that you may have to be put on a waiting list to get your solar panel (over 4000 customers across the nation have already signed up) and you won't be locked in at the current (todays) utility rates. Rates may go up over the next seven months.
Chloe
| Phil Mitchell | Jan 29, 2007 06:22 PM (UTC) |
| Krishna H. Pushkar | Jan 30, 2007 01:25 PM (UTC) |
Please join the group. I hope you like top help me in anti-global warming companion. Thank you. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AntiGlobalWarming/
Best regards’
Krishna Hari Pushkar
| Phil Mitchell | Feb 14, 2007 05:34 PM (UTC) |
Apparently there's been a lot of industry buzz about Citizenre lately. Here's an analysis by Jeff Wolfe, CEO and co-founder of groSolar, one the nation's largest solar energy distribution and installation firms.
From what he says, it appears that Citizenre's offer may be wildly unrealistic -- it may just be impossible for them to deliver on the promise of what they're trying to do. Of course, he's a competitor, so take it with a grain of salt. But if you're interested, he does offer some pretty detailed analysis ...
| Chloe Hill | Mar 13, 2007 02:51 AM (UTC) |
In a brief response to this analysis by Jeff Wolfe, I would say that his worries about the solar industry being in jeopardy from Citizenre's potential to fail as a business is bogus. The fact is that less than 1/2 % of US homes use solar power. What are we trying to protect here! In other words, the US residential solar market is virtually non-existant and is quite pathetic. I appreciate those businesses who are offering solar and those few customers who are buying solar but, shortly put, the current state of solar is NOT DOING THE JOB!! Our climate, our lives and this beautiful planet are in real danger here. Citizenre is rocking the boat, a boat that needs to be rocked if we are going to survive as a species. There is a chance that Citizenre might fail but the fact is that this is a serious attempt to make this work. If Citizenre doesn't do it, someone else will because, not only do our lives depend on, it but there is money to be made (unfortunately a sentiment that resonates more with big business). Its not a question of if Citizenre or someone else succeeds at this, its a question of when, so why not get use to the idea now. I'm not saying, lets not ask questions, I'm just saying, lets band together to make this happen! I have been with Citiznere for 2 months now and I have confidence.
Chloe
| Phil Mitchell | Mar 13, 2007 07:50 AM (UTC) |
The amount of solar energy that falls on the Earth every hour is more energy than we humans consume in an entire year.
So, yeah ... the future is solar. The sooner the better. I hope Citizenre can pull it off!