Does Leasing Solar Panels Save Money

Technicians from solar source install solar panels on a house in dunedin florida.

Does leasing solar panels save money.

Most lease providers provide the option to buy the panels at the end of the lease term at a discounted price. Solar leasing is a lot like a lease on a car. The steep up front costs for a residential solar system can make a leasing company s sales pitch sound pretty appealing. You make monthly payments for the panels and are entitled to all the electricity they produce.

Leasing solar panels for your home is not a good idea from a financial perspective. The benefits of a solar lease. But the true cost of solar panels and whether they ll help you save money depends on a few key factors. Most of them involve hiring a good contractor to design and install a system on your roof and unfortunately most of them involve spending a lot of money up front on the system and installation.

Solar leasing and ppas allow homeowners to go solar without the upfront costs of installing a system which can range up to 30 000. If you buy a solar panel system you own the system either outright if purchasing with cash or after repaying your solar loan. An affordable new way to get solar panels. At the end of the contract the lessee can renew buy the panels outright often for a discounted price or have the panels removed.

By leasing a solar power system you can reap the benefits that come with it without having to pay a lot of money upfront to get it. You lease the solar panels and receive all the energy they produce but do not own the panels. How to save money going solar. According to doug snower president of an alternative energy company wind free the discussion of buying versus leasing in solar technology is not much different from the same discussion we have around leasing.

From 2015 through 2017 homeowners in the united states installed 6 909 gigawatts worth of rooftop solar panels which was double the amount added in the previous 10 years 5. On average installation and the system together can run between 15 000 and 25 000. Make sure your homeowners insurance company will insure solar panels. Advantages of leasing solar panels.

If you re interested in solar energy you aren t alone. The main practical distinction between buying and leasing a solar pv system is in ownership. Solar leasing and ppas account for over half of this total and there are some excellent reasons why solar leasing has. If you lease the system or sign a power purchase agreement ppa a third party owns the solar panel system.

In most cases you ll save much more money in the long run by exploring other financing options like an fha title 1 loan or a traditional loan from your personal bank. Lease or what s known as a solar power purchase agreement.