Palmetto is committed to operational excellence and providing a pricing framework that supports customer value and safeguards against price gouging. Throughout the month of May we will introduce state-based price caps on PV-only base price per watt to protect consumers and enable homeowners to benefit from electric utility savings with solar. We will roll this launch out in waves.
When feasible, price caps are set where customers can expect to break-even on a solar system investment within 25 years. The Palmetto base price per watt cap will be applied upfront and will not apply to dealer fees or adders, such as roofing.
We are establishing the caps to protect as many consumers as possible, but we are not setting caps to require 25 year savings as a hard requirement. At Palmetto, we believe that consumers have the expectation that they will achieve savings year 1, and this is not always feasible based on pricing or market conditions. We believe that setting the caps above the 25 year savings requirement threshold is just a starting point.
This is an example of the error you will see if the base price per watt exceeds the price cap for that state
State | Base PPW Cap |
CA | $6.00 |
MA | $6.00 |
RI | $5.25 |
CT | $4.50 |
NV | $4.50 |
CO | $4.25 |
MD | $4.25 |
NM | $4.25 |
AZ | $4.25 |
FL | $4.25 |
IL | $4.25 |
OH | $3.75 |
PA | $4.50 |
SC | $4.25 |
TX | $4.50 |
WI | $3.75 |
VA | $3.75 |
DC | $4.25 |
MI | $3.75 |
MO | $3.50 |
NC | $4.25 |
UT | $3.25 |
GA | $3.75 |
Why are we implementing price caps?
We are beginning the process to assure our customers understand that Palmetto and its partners are placing the customer’s best interests at the forefront of their solar experience. This is the first step of many, as we look to provide a more efficient, transparent, and cost-effective process, ensuring a long-term relationship with our customers.
At Palmetto, we believe that consumers have the expectation that they will achieve savings year 1, and this is not always feasible based on pricing or market conditions. We believe that setting the caps above the 25 year savings requirement threshold is just a starting point.
What are the price caps and how are they applied?
This is a cap on the base price per watt entered into Alchemy by the sales rep, before dealer fees and adders are applied
Lender price caps are based on GoodLeap requirements and apply to the all-in customer price-per-watt
Linked here
What's the difference between Palmetto price caps and lender caps?
Palmetto price caps are meant to protect consumers from unethical pricing practices
Lender price caps are based on the underwriting requirements of lenders, such as GoodLeap
How will this impact me?
We expect in most markets, sales reps will not see a difference. The caps are set to be loose enough that they are only impacting outlier situations where commissions and sales org margins are out of line with what is market comparable.
The product will help you understand if you have exceeded a cap before you are able to finalize pricing, this will not cause issues after the initial proposal creation
What about dealer fees?
Dealer fees are not enforced as part of the cap. They are applied after the base price per watt is entered.
This is so that we are not penalizing reps as the Fed continues to increase interest rates, resulting in higher dealer fees
What about adders?
Adders are not meant to be enforced by the cap
For example, the roofing soft quote toggle in the pricing calculator bypasses the enforcement on the base price per watt field
Adders created by Palmetto’s design & site approval team are not controlled by the cap
We will look at enhancing the sales platform to include more toggle-on adders over time, so that reps do not have to buffer their PPW as much for unexpected adders