Solar lease vs.
solar purchase

The financial differences between leasing and buying become very dramatic when you examine the two graphs on the right.  

While solar leasing eliminates or reduces the monthly cost of your electric bill and allows the homeowner to offset the costs involved with purchasing, maintaining and insuring their system, it also deprives you of the benefits of renewable energy incentives which, for instance, in this example in Washington DC, are considerable. The tax deduction of 30% and the Solar Renewable Energy Credits provide substantial returns on your solar investment. As you can see with the example on this page, the homeowner realized a gain of over $120,000 during the warranted lifetime of a purchased solar system. The homeowner that leased essentially traded his electric bill for his solar lease payments generating a negative cash flow that amounted to the cost of his leased system over 20 years.

Solar Purchase

20 year cashflow - 8kw system - 10 year HELOC financed
Case Study for average household in Washington DC using 10,908kwh/yr, eliminating the electric  bill with an 8k solar system at a purchase price of $37,280.00.100% financed at 3.92% for a  TERM of 10 years

Solar lease

20 year cashflow - 8kw system - solar lease
Case Study for average household in Washington DC using 10,908kwh/yr, eliminating the electric  Bill with a 8k solar system at a purchase price of $37,280. leased from the installer for a 20 year term with a fixed monthly lease of $155.00 ( most solar lease programs utilize a lease acelerator where payments increase over time. We've used a fixed average monthly lease for simplicity  and clarity

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