Yes we did. I am a perfect example. The PPAs and leases pass the saving s on: that is how they are cheap.

I got a PPA through SunRun for my 3.15 KW system which would have been $19,000 with no incentives or tax credits. With the tax credits and rebate from PG&E it would have been something like $12,000.

With a PPA, you can pay monthly or pay it all upfront for 18 years of power. I chose that at 12 cents kwh to SunRun (which includes insurance, repairs, maintenance and inverter replacement when needed) Personally I chose to do it that way (pay all at once,) because I am uncertain about our financial future long term at our age, plus right now, we can’t use the fed tax credit so it would not have been as good a deal – but most people prefer the monthly payments because they are still much less than PG&E.

(Before solar, I was paying 29 cents a kwh to PG&E, so I get power for less than half that now. I still pay a little to PG&E, like $4-$9 a month, but used to pay $130).

The reason SunRun could offer my $19,000 system to me at $10,000 is that they were taking the fed tax credit and the rebate. So the money side comes out the same. (But people are free to pay upfront or with a bank loan too.)

Sadly, the rebates are now negligible anyway, only a few hundred off on a system. But that is the way CSI set it up. That as more people adopted it, the incentive stepped down.