Solar Leasing Programs Growing

A solar lease is one of the absolute worst ways to finance the rental of a solar system. First of all you have to forfeit the 30% federal tax credit which is worth about $10,000.00 on a typical 6 kW system. You’ll also have to forfeit any cash rebate. The leasing companies will tell you that they will apply the tax credit and cash rebate to the system price so that you’ll lower the acquisition cost but the leasing company’s pricing is so over inflated that the tax credit and rebate as large as they are will hardly make a dent in their price. Instead of an expensive solar lease or PPA, consumers are now getting $0 down solar loans that require no equity, that offer tax deductible interest and allows you to keep the 30% federal tax credit and any other incentives and own your solar system for a much greater return on investment than any lease or PPA. And good luck ever selling your home with a lease attached to it. What homebuyer will want to assume your lease payments on a used system, when they can buy and own a new state of the art system for less than $3.15 a watt, installed, before incentives? Search the Internet and you’ll find many articles concerning homeowners who are having difficulty selling because they have solar leases attached to their homes.