SolarCity expanded services to northwestern Nevada in early 2015, but moved out of state this year after the Public Utilities Commission announced changes to it's net metering program that would make it more difficult for those installing rooftop solar panels to recoop their investment.
SolarCity, with 1,000 employees already in Nevada, is expanding service into the Reno-Sparks-Carson City area and helping to grow Elon Musk’s Northern Nevada footprint.
SolarCity, a publicly-traded corporation listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, began taking orders from area homeowners Tuesday for rooftop solar power. Musk, the force behind Tesla Motors, is chairman of SolarCity and holds millions of shares in it. The firm, at his suggestion, was started by Peter and Lyndon Rive, Musk’s cousins, in 2006. Musk is locating his Tesla Motors battery plant in northern Storey County east of Reno/Sparks.
“Nevada’s strong sun makes solar power more affordable and gives the state the potential to become one of the largest solar markets in America,” the San Mateo, Calif.-based solar company asserted in a news release. The firm also claimed Nevada’s solar jobs increased 146 percent in The Solar Foundation’s 2014 job census, which it said makes the Silver State first nationally in solar jobs per capita.
A Reno/Sparks-based office for SolarCity, which trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol SCTY, is going to be established by April this spring. The firm said it expects to hire more than 30 people as local staff over the next few months. Installation for homeowners will begin after the operations center is established, but orders can come be made immediately.
Homeowners with an interest in SolarCity services may visit the company online at www.solarcity.com or call 1-888-SOL-CITY, which translates from letters to the numbers 765-2489, for information and consultation. Candidates for employment, meanwhile, were encouraged to make contact online at www.solarcity.com/careers.
“SolarCity can allow area homeowners to go solar for as little as $30 per month with design, installation, financing, insurance and monitoring included,” the company said. On approved credit, according to the firm, a 3kW system starts at $30 or $40 per month with an annual cost boost ranging from zero to 2.9 percent each year for 20 years.
The firm said after area operations are under way, it will accommodate customers on a first-come, first-served basis but will initially to serve customers of NV Energy. A spokesperson for the firm said the 1,000 or so SolarCity workers already in the state includes sales personnel based in Las Vegas who serve other states as well as Nevada.
SolarCity on Tuesday closed the day in the market trading at $58.12 per share.