Solar Financing Options 2026: Loans, Leases, PPAs

Last updated: November 2026

Solar financing changes who owns the system, when you pay and which obligations remain when the property is sold. A low monthly payment alone cannot identify the best offer. Compare the cash price, total payments, energy assumptions and contract terms on the same basis.

For U.S. homeowners, the federal residential credit cutoff is a central 2026 change. The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit is unavailable for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Commercial and third-party ownership claims require a separate eligibility review; they are not a universal replacement discount for the homeowner.

This guide covers cash purchases, loans, leases, power purchase agreements (PPAs), property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing and commercial structures. It retains worked examples to show the arithmetic, but their rates, costs and production inputs are illustrative rather than market quotes.

SurgePV publishes this post and sells solar design software.

Solar Financing Options Overview

Start by deciding whether you want to own the system and how much upfront cash you can commit. Then compare actual written offers, including the utility bill that remains after solar.

A cash purchase means you pay for the installation directly. A loan finances a purchase. A lease charges for use of a provider-owned system, while a PPA charges for electricity under the agreement. PACE uses a property assessment repayment mechanism where an applicable programme is available.

The comparison below summarizes the structures discussed in the CFPB’s August 2024 solar-financing report and its PACE consumer guidance. The report predates the residential credit cutoff, so use the IRS update in the next section for 2026 tax treatment.

No row guarantees zero upfront cost, no maintenance exposure or tax eligibility. A deposit, service exclusion, insurance requirement or lender fee can change the result. Ask for those terms before comparing a headline monthly payment.

Keep the proposed equipment and installation scope constant. If one quote includes storage, a service upgrade or a longer workmanship warranty, separate those differences from financing. Otherwise the cheaper financing option may simply fund less work.

Time horizon matters, but there is no universal number of years after which ownership wins. Model an expected holding period and an earlier sale. For the sale case, use the actual loan payoff, transfer or buyout provisions rather than an assumed increase in property value.

The 2026 ITC Update: What Changed for Homeowners

The IRS Residential Clean Energy Credit page states that the credit is unavailable for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. A new 2026 homeowner-owned installation should not be modeled with an assumed Section 25D credit.

This is different from claiming or carrying forward a credit associated with an earlier qualifying installation. The relevant installation history and tax return should be reviewed separately. An old tax-credit balance is not an incentive attached to a new quote.

Commercial credit eligibility depends on project timing and other conditions. IRS Notice 2025-42 says the accelerated termination applies to applicable wind and solar facilities placed in service after December 31, 2027, when construction begins after July 4, 2026. Starting before that construction deadline is therefore not the only potential route to eligibility: the placed-in-service date also matters.

Do not read either date as automatic qualification. Beginning-of-construction evidence, continuity, eligible property, taxpayer status and other applicable restrictions need project-specific review. A signed sales contract or a deposit should not be represented as proof that a tax construction test has been met.

For a lease or PPA, the provider may have its own tax position. That does not mean the customer receives a stated percentage credit or that the provider passes through all tax value. Compare the offered payment schedule and contract obligations, not a speculative benefit in the provider’s model.

Keep Tax Benefits Separate From the Purchase Price

Record the gross installation price first. Add each potentially available benefit as a separate line with the programme name, eligible recipient, calculation basis, timing and evidence. A tax reduction, a grant and a bill credit are different cash flows.

If the applicant’s eligibility has not been established, show a case without that benefit. Where a proposal includes a conditional incentive case, explain the condition beside the result. Do not use the conditional case as the only number on the page.

For a loan, check whether the payment schedule assumes a future principal reduction. A projected incentive is not the same as cash available to make that payment. Ask what the payment becomes if the expected amount is delayed, reduced or unavailable.

Solar Cash Purchase

A cash purchase avoids loan interest and financing fees, but it still commits capital and leaves the owner with the responsibilities in the installation and warranty contracts. It is a useful comparison baseline rather than an automatic recommendation for every household.

Ask for an itemized cash quote with the equipment, installation work, permit responsibilities and exclusions. Identify any roof work, electrical service upgrade or site remediation that must happen before installation. Include those costs if they are necessary to deliver the system being evaluated.

Illustrative Cash-Payback Calculation

Assume a $24,000 installed cash price and 8,500 kWh of annual production. For a deliberately simplified example, assume every generated kilowatt-hour produces $0.16 of bill savings, with no maintenance, degradation or incentive cash flows. Annual savings are 8,500 × $0.16 = $1,360, so simple payback is $24,000 ÷ $1,360, approximately 17.6 years.

Those assumptions are not a typical system quote or a forecast for a location. In particular, exported electricity may have a different value from electricity consumed on site. A fixed utility charge may remain even when annual generation equals annual consumption.

Simple payback ignores when savings occur after the break-even point and does not discount future cash. Use a longer-term cash-flow model when comparing investments with different service lives, maintenance costs or capital requirements.

Ownership Benefits and Obligations

Do not insert an assumed home-value premium into the base financial case without relevant evidence. A buyer’s valuation depends on the property, system condition and local market. The original post’s fixed dollar and percentage premiums were not a reliable substitute for an appraisal.

Cash also has an opportunity cost. Choose a discount rate that reflects the owner’s objectives and risk tolerance, then show how the conclusion changes at another reasonable rate. Avoid comparing an uncertain solar cash flow with an unrelated investment return as though they have identical risk and liquidity.

Before paying, agree the milestone schedule and evidence of completion. Ownership is useful only when the contract clearly identifies what will be delivered, when payments become due and how defects or delays are handled. Keep the financing decision connected to that installation contract.

Solar Loans Explained

A solar loan funds a system purchase and creates a repayment obligation. Compare the amount financed, interest rate, annual percentage rate (APR), fees, payment schedule and total payments. Approval and pricing depend on the lender’s actual offer, not a universal credit-score table.

Secured vs. Unsecured Loans

A secured loan pledges collateral; a home-equity product may put the home at risk if payments are not made. An unsecured product lacks that specific collateral structure, but it is still debt with contractual consequences. Read any security-interest language rather than inferring it from the marketing name.

Do not assume a home-equity product always has the lower rate or that interest is deductible. Obtain a quote and review tax treatment for the actual use and borrower. An advertised rate for a different customer or product is not an available offer.

Dealer Fees and the Cash-Price Comparison

The CFPB’s 2024 report found that some solar-loan arrangements included markups that increased principal by 30% or more above the cash price. That is a dated finding about some arrangements, not a universal 2026 dealer-fee range.

A dealer fee should not be described simply as a commission the lender pays the installer. The practical customer question is how the financing programme changes the quoted price or principal. Request the cash price and financed price for identical work, then ask the provider to explain the difference in writing.

For illustration, if a $30,000 cash price receives a markup equal to 20% of that cash price, the financed price becomes $36,000. If a contract defines a fee as a percentage of the final loan amount, the arithmetic is different. Read the denominator before calculating a fee.

A higher financed price can also reflect changed scope or other charges. Do not label the entire difference a dealer fee without checking. Keep the quote comparison at line-item level so financing, equipment and service differences remain distinguishable.

Corrected Repayment Example

For a level-payment loan, monthly payment equals principal × monthly interest rate ÷ [1 - (1 + monthly interest rate) raised to the negative number of payments]. This amortization calculation uses the contractual interest rate. A disclosed APR may also reflect fees and should not automatically be substituted for that rate.

The following examples assume a fixed nominal annual interest rate, monthly payments, no separate fees, no prepayments and no balloon payment. All amounts are USD. Totals use unrounded monthly calculations, so multiplying a rounded displayed payment may produce a small difference.

These are arithmetic comparisons, not lender offers. Case B has both a lower principal and a lower rate, so the difference cannot be attributed to a single fee. Compare actual offers with the same equipment and all contractual charges included.

Loan Term Trade-Offs

A longer term reduces the level monthly payment at the same rate and principal, but increases total interest. The example below holds principal at $30,000 and nominal annual interest at 7.5%, with the same assumptions used above.

The longer term may fit a household budget while costing more overall. Evaluate affordability and total cost separately. Also compare the loan end date with equipment warranties, expected replacement costs and the planned period of property ownership.

Re-Amortization and Early Payments

Re-amortization recalculates scheduled payments after a qualifying principal reduction, if the contract permits it. A normal extra principal payment may instead reduce the term or interest while leaving the scheduled payment unchanged. Ask which treatment applies and whether a fee or minimum payment is required.

Do not calculate a new payment by subtracting a lump sum from the original principal after several years of repayments. Use the outstanding balance at that date, the remaining term and the applicable rate. Include any scheduled step-up payment if the borrower does not make the expected reduction.

How to Compare Lenders

Request dated written offers with the lender’s eligibility criteria, contractual interest rate, APR, fees and payment schedule. Advertising or a lender rating alone cannot show the cost of the financing available to a particular applicant.

Ask each lender for the amount financed, APR, rate type, total payments, security interest, late-payment terms, prepayment treatment and sale or refinance requirements. Check whether approval is conditional on a particular installer, equipment package or completion milestone.

A bank, credit union or installer-arranged lender can each be part of the comparison. No channel guarantees the lowest cost or the absence of fees. Keep installation and financing agreements available together so a cancellation or delay can be evaluated across both contracts.

Solar Leases and PPAs

Leases and PPAs separate use of the solar system from ownership. They can reduce the customer’s initial capital requirement, but the contract determines payment, maintenance, transfer and termination obligations.

Lease vs. PPA Differences

A lease generally charges for use of the system, while a PPA charges for electricity using the agreement’s billing basis. Do not assume a PPA bill follows household consumption: it may be based on system generation, including electricity the household does not use directly.

The amount paid to the provider is only part of the energy budget. Model residual utility purchases, fixed charges and export credits. A lower provider rate than the retail tariff does not automatically mean every generated kilowatt-hour saves the difference.

Escalators and Buyout Options

An escalator increases a payment or rate over time. In an illustrative contract starting at $0.14/kWh with a 3% annual escalator, the year-20 rate after 19 increases is $0.14 × 1.03^19, approximately $0.2455/kWh. The anniversary convention matters: year 20 is not automatically 20 increases.

Compare that contractual escalation with several utility-price scenarios. A provider’s escalator can be fixed while future utility prices remain uncertain. Include a flat-utility-rate case so the projected savings do not depend entirely on rising retail prices.

Read any buyout option as a separate financial decision. Identify the eligible dates, price formula, valuation method and fees. A future fair-market-value purchase is not the same as a known fixed buyout price, and ownership should not be included in the base case until the terms support it.

Performance Guarantees and Service

A performance guarantee is only as useful as its measurement basis and remedy. Check the guaranteed period, production baseline, exclusions, reporting process and credit calculation. A bill credit may not compensate for every lost saving or repair inconvenience.

Ask who handles inverter replacement, roof access, panel removal for roof work and damage claims. Identify the responsible service entity and what happens if it changes. Third-party ownership does not remove every customer obligation or every counterparty risk.

Early Termination and Property Sale

Before signing, request the transfer, early termination and purchase provisions. Determine whether a buyer must qualify to assume the contract and whether the seller can instead prepay, buy out or remove the system under defined conditions.

Give the agreement to the relevant property and mortgage advisers before a sale or refinance. Do not assume that a particular filing always blocks a transaction, or that owned equipment always transfers without paperwork. The actual loan, title and contract records determine the steps.

Prepaid and Lease-to-Own Arrangements

A prepaid lease trades a larger upfront payment for reduced later lease payments. It does not automatically transfer ownership. Compare the prepaid amount with a cash purchase while accounting for service obligations, end-of-term treatment and provider risk.

For lease-to-own, identify precisely when ownership changes and how the purchase price is calculated. Check whether payments are credited toward that price and what happens after early termination. The marketing label is not enough to model the outcome.

Leases and PPAs deserve comparison when ownership is not essential or the customer prefers a service contract. They should not be described as automatically available to poor-credit applicants, renters or people planning an early move. Eligibility, property rights and contract transfer rules still apply.

PACE Financing

PACE is repaid through an assessment collected with property taxes. The CFPB explains that it is not paid for or insured by the U.S. government and warns that missed payments can put the home at risk.

How It Works

Where a programme is available, review the assessment contract and the local programme rules. Identify the financed amount, fees, interest, payment frequency and collection mechanism. An absence of an upfront payment does not make the improvement free.

Check how the assessment interacts with the existing mortgage, escrow account, property sale and refinance. Do not assume the obligation transfers smoothly to a buyer simply because it is attached to the property. Ask the programme administrator and relevant lender what must happen at each transaction.

Residential PACE

Check availability for the actual address and programme. Obtain the provider’s eligibility rules, fees and proposed assessment terms before comparing this route with a conventional loan.

Compare the assessment with an ordinary loan using the same installed scope and repayment horizon. Obtain the annual assessment schedule and convert it into a household budgeting view without hiding fees or variable terms. Confirm who explains and approves the affordability assessment.

Commercial PACE

Commercial PACE may be considered for eligible property improvements where the jurisdiction has an operating programme. Verify project eligibility, mortgage-lender consent, assessment priority, term and recourse with that programme’s documents.

Do not assume every commercial offer funds all costs, requires no personal guarantee or has identical lien priority. A programme’s maximum permitted structure is not necessarily the financing offered to this property owner. Keep the actual term sheet in the model’s source record.

PACE Decision Checklist

PACE should be compared as financing, not as a grant. Review the installation contract and assessment agreement together. If the work is delayed or disputed, establish whether assessment payments still become due and which process resolves the dispute.

Solar Grants and Incentives in 2026

Treat incentives as separate, conditional cash flows. The programme rules determine the eligible recipient, eligible expenditure, award limit and payment timing; a list of programme names is not an award letter.

Residential Federal Credit

Use the IRS cutoff described above for new Section 25D installations. Remove outdated assumptions from new-project models while retaining the records needed for any earlier qualifying claim. A financing presentation should distinguish the tax year of a claim from the installation date of the property.

State and Local Incentives

An incentive register should list the official source, application status, reservation or approval, completion deadline, eligible costs and recipient. Record whether incentives can be combined and whether another benefit reduces the eligible basis.

South Carolina illustrates why the details matter. The state’s TC-38 instructions describe a 25% credit for qualifying costs, with an annual limit of the lesser of $3,500 per facility or 50% of the taxpayer’s tax liability, and excess carryforward for up to ten years. It is not an automatic $3,500 annual payment or a general $35,000 grant.

For an illustrative $25,000 of qualifying costs, 25% is $6,250 before the annual limitation and other eligibility conditions. The amount actually usable in a particular year depends on the taxpayer’s facts.

Other state and utility programmes need their own review. Do not reuse an old incentive block, certificate price or available-funding statement without the administrator’s dated evidence. If that evidence is unavailable, exclude the benefit from the base case and identify the unresolved application separately.

Commercial Credits and Elective Pay

The IRS elective-pay and transferability guidance describes mechanisms available to eligible entities and taxpayers. Registration and filing requirements matter, and availability depends on the underlying credit and applicant.

A nonprofit should compare ownership with any applicable elective-pay route rather than assuming a PPA is its only option. A taxable business should review its own credit use or transfer possibilities. Neither structure guarantees that money will arrive on the commissioning date.

Battery Storage

Model storage separately from the PV array. It has its own cost, operating purpose and eligibility questions. Do not assume a solar-specific construction deadline applies identically to every storage investment or that attaching a battery creates residential credit eligibility for new 2026 property.

Commercial Solar Financing

Commercial financing must fit the entity, property rights, cash flow and tax position. Start with the project’s operational objective, then compare ownership, borrowing, leases, PPAs and any eligible assessment or investment structure.

No structure is automatically off the balance sheet. Accounting treatment depends on the applicable framework and contract substance. Have the accounting reviewer evaluate the actual agreement before presenting a financing structure as debt-free or accounting-neutral.

Commercial PPA Specifics

A developer-owned installation can let a host buy electricity without funding the entire asset. The agreement still needs a clear delivery point, billing method, outage treatment, access rights and remedies. The host retains some contractual and counterparty risks.

Review changes in site use, building ownership and electricity demand. A warehouse that reduces operations may use less daytime electricity while the PPA continues to generate billable energy. Model that possibility alongside the normal operating case.

Tax Equity and Sale-Leaseback

Tax-equity partnerships allocate benefits, cash and risk under negotiated documents. Do not assume a universal allocation percentage or flip date. The economics depend on the investor’s requirements, tax rules, project performance and sponsor obligations.

A sale-leaseback involves sale of an asset followed by a lease arrangement. Timing, ownership, tax basis, rent and end-of-term rights need coordinated legal and tax review. The structure should not be described as a simple way to keep all operational benefits while transferring all risk.

Depreciation and Tax Basis

Keep depreciation separate from the investment credit. A deduction reduces taxable income; it is not a dollar-for-dollar cash grant. Its value depends on the taxpayer, applicable rate, eligible basis and timing.

Recovery periods, bonus depreciation and other tax effects depend on the property and taxpayer’s circumstances. Have the tax adviser specify the applicable treatment and show the resulting cash-flow timing explicitly in the model.

Model the Downside Before Approving the Structure

For debt, inspect how production shortfalls, delayed commissioning or lower savings affect repayment capacity. For a PPA, inspect lower host consumption and transfer conditions. For an assessment, examine the property transaction and existing lender requirements.

Keep engineering production assumptions distinct from commercial guarantees. A P50 label does not create a payment obligation or lender acceptance. Any guarantee must identify the responsible party, measurement method, exclusions and remedy in the contract.

SurgePV supports financial modeling within its published scope. Use the generation and financial workflow to discuss the inputs and outputs your project needs. Do not assume it natively models a particular tax-equity allocation, assessment structure or tax filing without demonstrating that exact requirement.

How to Compare Solar Financing Options

Use one project scope and one energy model, then change the financing assumptions. This keeps differences in equipment or production from being mistaken for a financing advantage.

Step 1: Establish Your Constraints

Write down the cash available, acceptable monthly commitment, expected property tenure and ownership preference. Identify upcoming roof work and other capital needs. A household can prefer a lower total-cost option yet reasonably reject it if the upfront payment would leave inadequate liquidity.

For a business, add investment approval criteria, borrowing limits, tax capacity and property rights. A tenant’s available contract term may differ from the equipment’s life. Establish who can authorize roof use and what happens when the lease ends.

Step 2: Calculate the Full Payment Schedule

For a loan, use the amortization schedule or the lender’s disclosed payments. Multiplying principal by APR and years does not calculate the total repayment of an amortizing loan. Add separate fees only once and distinguish financed fees from cash paid at signing.

For a lease, sum scheduled payments and include contractual escalation. For a PPA, multiply the applicable rate by billable generation in each period, then add any other charges. Keep the same production assumptions unless the contracts require a different basis.

Step 3: Calculate the Remaining Utility Bill

Separate electricity consumed on site from electricity exported. Use the relevant import tariff, export arrangement and fixed charges. Annual net generation alone cannot capture time-of-use prices, demand charges or differing import and export values.

Include load changes that are part of the project brief, such as an electric vehicle or changed business hours. Keep an alternative case without the anticipated load change if it is not committed. Do not use a future load merely to make a larger system appear economical.

Step 4: Include Ownership and Exit Costs

Add service, insurance, replacement and removal costs where the owner or customer is responsible. Use contract values or labeled assumptions. Avoid treating warranty coverage as proof that no service cost can occur.

For an earlier property sale, calculate outstanding loan balance or contractual transfer and buyout costs. Leave an unverified resale premium out of the base case. Document any assumed residual system value separately so the reader can see its influence.

Step 5: Compare NPV, Cash Flow and Sensitivities

Net present value (NPV) discounts future cash flows to today’s value using a stated rate. Internal rate of return (IRR) is a rate that makes NPV zero for the modeled cash-flow series; some cash-flow patterns can produce multiple or unhelpful IRRs.

Show annual cash flow as well as a summary return metric. A positive long-term NPV can coexist with difficult early-year payments. Compare production, utility prices, maintenance and incentive timing sensitivities so the decision is not dependent on one optimistic case.

Questions to Ask Every Installer and Lender

• What is the cash price for this exact system and scope?
• What is the amount financed, and why does it differ from the cash price?
• Which payments can change, and under what conditions?
• Does a principal reduction change payments or only the term?
• What happens if installation or an incentive is delayed?
• Who handles service, replacement and roof-related removal?
• What must happen at a sale, refinance or early payoff?
• Which tax or grant assumptions have written support?

Solar Financing by Country

The same comparison method works across countries, but local tax, lending and export rules must be sourced separately. Do not move a U.S. incentive assumption or loan structure into another country’s model.

United States

Use the IRS residential cutoff and project-specific commercial analysis described above. Check state and utility programmes for the installation address, and separate an advertised programme from an accepted award. Model cash, debt and service contracts with the same equipment and tariff assumptions.

United Kingdom

Ofgem’s Smart Export Guarantee guidance explains payments to eligible small-scale generators for exported electricity. It is an export-payment framework, not a universal installation grant or guaranteed supplier rate.

Use the supplier’s actual tariff and eligibility requirements in the model. Keep export income separate from avoided import cost. Any grant, VAT treatment or borrowing offer needs its own official or lender documentation; this guide does not assume a national payback period.

Germany

KfW’s Renewable Energies Standard programme 270 includes photovoltaic projects and directs applicants to a financing partner before starting the project. The bank determines the individual rate using the applicant’s financial circumstances and collateral.

Treat it as a financing route to evaluate, not a universal low-rate quote. Obtain the repayment schedule, fixed-rate period and early-repayment terms. Check feed-in revenue and any tax treatment separately instead of inserting a single nationwide net cost.

Italy

Do not assume Scambio sul Posto remains open to a new 2026 installation. GSE’s published application guidance says new applications were possible until September 26, 2025 only for systems entering operation by May 29, 2025.

Check the export arrangement available to the actual project and the tax relief applicable to the specific work and claimant. Solar PV, solar thermal and building-renovation measures should not be assigned the same incentive merely because they all concern energy.

Spain

Agencia Tributaria’s energy-efficiency deduction guidance distinguishes categories of qualifying improvements and their documentation requirements. A solar installation should not be assigned a deduction based only on a general percentage range.

Review the relevant tax year, qualifying improvement, certificates, eligible costs and regional or municipal programme. Obtain a project-specific VAT assessment and financing offer. Do not treat an island programme, regional award or supplier promotion as a nationwide entitlement.

How Installers Should Present Solar Financing

A clear proposal separates the equipment price, financing contract, energy forecast and conditional incentives. The customer should be able to trace every important assumption without relying on a verbal explanation.

Show Cash Price and Amount Financed

Place the cash price beside the financed price for identical work. Explain any difference and show the full payment schedule. A monthly payment without its duration, fees and later changes is not enough for comparison.

If you offer only one lender or provider, say so. The customer can compare outside financing where the installation contract permits it. Do not describe a restricted set of offers as a search of the whole lending market.

Disclose Escalators and Energy Assumptions

Show contract escalation separately from assumed utility-price escalation. Label one as contractual and the other as a scenario. Give the customer an alternative case with lower savings and explain which obligations would remain.

Use the reviewed production estimate and identify whether it is a first-year value or a lifetime sequence. Apply degradation and downtime consistently. Avoid using different production forecasts to make the preferred financing option appear better.

Explain Sale and Service Terms

Identify the documents governing transfer, payoff, buyout and removal. Summarize service responsibility without replacing the contract language. Encourage the customer to resolve unclear terms before signing, when they still have a meaningful choice.

A proposal should also state who receives any incentive, renewable-energy certificate or export payment. These rights can differ between ownership and third-party contracts. Do not count the same benefit for both the provider and the customer.

Keep the Model Reviewable

Store the quote date, equipment revision, tariff source and incentive evidence with the calculation. If a design changes, update the financing comparison and explain the difference. A saved prior version helps the customer see whether cost, scope or assumptions changed.

SurgePV’s published scope includes financial modeling and proposal generation. Explore the proposal workflow using the disclosures your team needs, and verify the exact outputs during a demo. The final financing and tax decisions remain with the customer and their qualified advisers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best solar financing option in 2026?

The best option depends on actual offers, available cash, ownership preference and expected property tenure. Compare total payments, remaining utility bills, service obligations and sale terms using the same system design. A low initial payment alone is not enough.

Can homeowners claim the federal solar tax credit for a 2026 installation?

The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit is unavailable for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Earlier qualifying claims or carryforwards are separate from a new installation. Review other incentives under their own eligibility rules.

How does a solar loan work?

A solar loan finances a system purchase and is repaid under the lender’s contract. Compare the amount financed, APR, interest rate, fees and complete payment schedule. Ask about collateral, early payments and any scheduled payment increase.

Is a solar loan better than a lease?

Neither is always better. A loan funds ownership, while a lease pays for use of a provider-owned system under agreed terms. Compare the full costs, service obligations and exit provisions over the same period.

What is a solar PPA?

A solar power purchase agreement charges for electricity under a contract with the system owner. Check the billable-generation basis, starting rate, escalation and service terms. Include the remaining utility bill when comparing savings.

What is PACE financing for solar?

PACE finances eligible improvements through an assessment collected with property taxes where a programme is available. The CFPB warns that missed payments can put the home at risk. Review programme eligibility, all costs and the effect on a sale or refinance.

Can you sell a home with a solar lease or PPA?

A sale may be possible through the transfer, prepayment or buyout provisions in the agreement. Obtain the provider’s requirements and involve the relevant property and mortgage advisers early. Do not assume a buyer will qualify or agree to take over the contract.