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Vivint

Care for solar panels with your home security alarm?

Home security company Vivint is entering the solar panel installation business with financing model that avoids the upfront cost.

The company, which used to be called APX Alarms, said today it is offering financing for solar through a plan in which the panels are installed for free and consumers purchase the electricity they produce at a 20 percent discount from the retail electricity rate.

Vivint Solar has secured $75 million in financing from US Bancorp that it will use for about 2,400 installations, as a complement to its home security and home automation services. Vivint has started in New … Read more

Energy app comes to home security via cloud

When it comes to making the electric grid smarter, utilities are sometimes on the sidelines.

Home security company Vivint today announced a deal with Tendril to fill out its home security offering with enhanced energy-management features. The deal shows how home automation systems can be expanded through cloud-based smart-grid services.

Vivint earlier this year rebranded itself (it was called APX Alarms) and launched an energy-management package to complement its home monitoring service. For $57.99 per month--an additional $8 a month over the security service--a customer gets a wireless thermostat, a smart plug to control lights or small appliances, and … Read more

Home security packaged with energy and solar

Vivint is a home security company looking for growth in home energy and solar installations.

The company, formerly called APX Alarms, today is scheduled to announce its new name and strategy to expand into home automation. It now has about 16,000 homes using a combined home alarm and energy management system, which it expects to grow to about 100,000 customers this year, according to CEO Todd Pederson.

Many utility-run smart-grid programs give consumers the ability to monitor their electricity usage and program appliances to run at off-peak times to save money. But similar energy management functions are being … Read more