The CitizenRe Corporation, a new “no money down” solar manufacturer and installation company based out of Wilmington, Delaware, has set out to provide free residential solar installations, provided consumers are willing to pay the company a locked in rate for the energy provided by the Citizenre-owned installation.

Although CitizenRe is not the first company to offer such a plan, the company has ignited quite a bit of discussion in the blogosphere, with some pointing out the stink of multi-level marketing (aka “pyramid scheme”) while others have provided analysis that seems to invalidate the current pricing model proposed by CitizenRe. Furthermore, the company seems to have oversold its contracts, with “Ecopreneurs” (CitizenRe’s sales force or MLM workers) selling contracts that will allegedly fall short of the stated September 2007 instalation date.

Amidst the Internet buzz on CitizenRe’s business plan and marketing tactics, the company’s strategic discussions have recently been leaked in a memo detailing “Excessive unethical behavior driven by lack of training, skewed incentives, and lack of controls”.

Given the mis-steps by CitizenRe’s and its Ecopreneurs, one should not dismiss the business plan as a whole, as several other companies offer similar plans sans the uproar. Will these and other companies find a way to offer the “free installation” model on a large scale, thus creating a national grid of mini solar power stations under one “utility” provider? Or will informed consumers prefer to incur the materials and installation costs on their own?