Buying Out Solar Panel Lease

The consumer reports story features a couple who wanted to get out of their solar system lease and offered the company 16 000 which was the total of all the payments for the remainder of the contract.

Buying out solar panel lease.

Her buyer s mortgage application was refused because of the lease agreement which had effectively signed over a large part of the roof to the solar company. A clause in the lease allowed us to. If you lease the system or sign a power purchase agreement ppa a third party owns the solar panel system. Here s why you might want to lease solar panels instead of buying or financing them.

While owning your solar panels does offer significantly greater 20 year savings solar leases can be a better deal for homeowners who can t take advantage of tax credits or other rebates and incentives. Most solar leases require 0 down and solar leasing companies make it easy for you to sign an agreement on the same day. Buying your solar electric system outright is best. It usually costs 15 000 to 20 000 after tax credits and can reduce your electricity bill by 70 to 100 percent depending on the size and.

When you buy out your lease and own your panels your solar system becomes part of the overall value of your home. With both leasing and ppas you don t pay any upfront costs for your panels and you can typically save on your utility rate. Usually a buyout is allowed after 5 to 7 years of the lease. A leased system also increases home value but studies show the increase is less than for a purchased system.

But the company had set a 21 000 buyout price and did not back down from it. However that might not always be the case. The location was a big draw as was at least initially the fact that the red pitched roof of the two car garage was outfitted with 17 solar panels. In this case you can prepay the balance on the remaining lease and have the solar panels either removed or left on the house.

Both a solar leaseand ppa are affordable easy ways to enjoy solar power without a large upfront investment. If you buy a solar panel system you own the system either outright if purchasing with cash or after repaying your solar loan. Most solar leasing companies do include a buyout period and price in their agreement.