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> Your local electricity grid regulator will have published rules for the local wholesale electricity market. Learn those and how to interact with them. You sho

> Your local electricity grid regulator will have published rules for the local wholesale electricity market. Learn those and how to interact with them. You should probably be aware that for most markets the minimum bid size is in the order of megawatts, which is enough for about a thousand homes. And for reference, a MW of Solar panels costs close to $1M - so this is not really a feasible industry for the average Joe to enter.

hammock 4y ago
Why not? Many of the most common franchise businesses have entry costs around $1 million
- AussieWog93 4y ago
  I don't think that's what "Average Joes" are getting into, though.
  - notsapiensatall 4y ago
    NYC Taxi medallions used to cost about $1M before ridesharing companies arrived. People would take out loans to afford them, or rent them from the real "franchise owner". Not everybody aspires to a unicorn exit. Predictable returns are worth a lot too, even small ones. The drivers who took out loans for their medallions really got screwed when Uber came in, but if the demand for electricity drops catastrophically, we'll probably have bigger problems than a bit of debt.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  1) that's just the cost of the panels. 2) you might need to have 10x that much (in just panels). 3) I'd be amazed if you could find financing for this.
- qualudeheart 4y ago
  Why not just make a startup for that money. You can train a GPT-3 clone for that money. You can hire a few ML grad students to make some dangerous AI the big companies think is unethical. Or you can do a deep tech startup like mini Varda. $1MM can get you far enough that you attract VC money and that’s all you need.
  - im3w1l 4y ago
    Solar panels are much lower risk. Electricity is a well known product. It's a straightforward process from building it to getting cash in your account.
- dotcoma 4y ago
  Are there opportunities to become a “Solar franchisee” ?
  - hammock 4y ago
    That’s an awesome idea. I don’t know. It might look more like a micro financing idea than a franchise. Most of the commercial-scale solar installations today are built by a developer and then either a) held in their portfolio or b) sold to a utility

hammock 4y ago

Why not? Many of the most common franchise businesses have entry costs around $1 million

AussieWog93 4y ago
I don't think that's what "Average Joes" are getting into, though.
- notsapiensatall 4y ago
  NYC Taxi medallions used to cost about $1M before ridesharing companies arrived. People would take out loans to afford them, or rent them from the real "franchise owner". Not everybody aspires to a unicorn exit. Predictable returns are worth a lot too, even small ones. The drivers who took out loans for their medallions really got screwed when Uber came in, but if the demand for electricity drops catastrophically, we'll probably have bigger problems than a bit of debt.
onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
1) that's just the cost of the panels. 2) you might need to have 10x that much (in just panels). 3) I'd be amazed if you could find financing for this.
qualudeheart 4y ago
Why not just make a startup for that money. You can train a GPT-3 clone for that money. You can hire a few ML grad students to make some dangerous AI the big companies think is unethical. Or you can do a deep tech startup like mini Varda. $1MM can get you far enough that you attract VC money and that’s all you need.
- im3w1l 4y ago
  Solar panels are much lower risk. Electricity is a well known product. It's a straightforward process from building it to getting cash in your account.
dotcoma 4y ago
Are there opportunities to become a “Solar franchisee” ?
- hammock 4y ago
  That’s an awesome idea. I don’t know. It might look more like a micro financing idea than a franchise. Most of the commercial-scale solar installations today are built by a developer and then either a) held in their portfolio or b) sold to a utility