WRT SolarCity, and solar generally, you spend something like $2,000 (haven't looked it up) to manufacture a panel that generates a kilowatt at peak, you wire it

WRT SolarCity, and solar generally, you spend something like $2,000 (haven't looked it up) to manufacture a panel that generates a kilowatt at peak, you wire it up, and you generate power (and revenue) every sunny afternoon for the next 25 years. "The thinking" -- or as I prefer to call it, "the physics" -- is that you create value over time.