CitizenRE is still burning up the web as folks try to decide if this is a scam or a legitimate business offering. CitizenRE is signing up energy customers to contracts ranging from 1 to 25 years on the concept of leased solar energy for their home. For nothing up front, they deliver and install the equipment, and you pay what you would normally for your monthly power bill. This in and of itself is not a problem, as leasing things from air conditioning, to elevator service, to floor coverings are excellent business models, especially for companies interested in sustainable operations.

 

The problems with CitizenRE are more of age-old business problems than those relating to solar power—a lot of hot air up front and little if anything on the delivery side. There are some serious red flags about CitizenRE claims:

 

•    CitizenRE states that they will start installations September of 2007—yet they have not even broken ground on their proposed PV plant, claimed to be the largest in the world. In fact, they have not even named a proposed location for the plant.

 

•    They say they will install 100,000 systems per year—but with no manufacturing plant, this seems to be a problem off the bat. Additionally, they’ll need to train thousands of installation people and inspectors across the country, which has yet to occur.

 

•    The company claims it will use a low-purity silicon in hopes of lowering manufacturing costs. But, not only is the material in short supply world-wide, it also has no proven success in the marketplace.

 

•    CitizenRE says it will also build its own inverter plant, which has the same problems as their PV plant, mainly, no plant today or on the horizon (inverters convert DC power produced by solar panels to AC power that your house can use).

 

•    CitizenRE is getting people to sign contracts ranging from 1-25 years in length, all with nothing that shows they will be able to meet their promises.

 

•    The company is set up as a multi-level marketing company, meaning they get their customers and salespeople to buy into different levels of the company, then pay them based on recruiting others. This is potentially a pyramid scam scenario, especially with no tangible assets or actions to date.

 

•    On top of all that they claim they will achieve “25% net electricity generation by 2025,” which is only assumed to be in the U.S. market since they have not stated otherwise.

 

 

Why wouldn’t CitizenRE start small, build a smaller plant, outfit a smaller number of homes, then market and leverage that success? Instead they are making promises bigger and better than any company in the market today, while it appears they have delivered nothing. Is this a sustainable business practice? You tell me.

 

If any of you have any information that would clear up some of these questions... let us know.