Yes We Can (Rent Solar Panels, That Is)

Hey Mr. Green,

I've heard that there are solar installers who will now lease you the panels for zero down. Is this for real or too good to be true?

--Erica in Berkeley, California

Yes, you can indeed lease solar panels rather than purchase them, which would enable you to go solar without any payment up front. You can also choose to pay considerably less money down than the full purchase price, and lease at a lower monthly rate than if you put no money down. I contacted one of the leasing companies, Solar City, and quickly received a reliable estimate of the solar capacity I’d need based on my annual power consumption.

But before you jump into any solar lease or purchase, you should first see how much you can cut your energy use by taking all my eminently sensible power-miser measures on the Cool Home Checklist here (PDF). Why hive up more solar capacity than you truly need, especially if you’re worried about the price?

Consider this CBS News story about solar leasing that quoted one satisfied customer who slashed her electric bill from $200 to $300 per month to less than $60 per month by paying a $100 per month in solar rent. She enjoys a net savings of between $40 and $140 per month, but since she had “five TVs and four computers” in a suburban home, she might have saved even more by better managing her excess computer and home-entertainment consumption.

Many U.S. households could easily cut their electric use in half—which would help bring U.S. per-capita consumption down to the level of, for example, Germany or Italy. Because increased power consumption jams up the system, power loss between dynamo and user zoomed from 5 percent in 1970 to 9.5 percent by 2001, according to the Department of Energy. In light of such wretched excess, let’s halt dumb use, or the “smart grid” will begin losing IQ points even before it’s built.

Comments

[Nami]

Another company that offers solar leases is SunRun (they were actually the first in the nation to offer residential solar PPAs). the great thing about leasing solar is that you don't have to take care of the system yourself - SunRun takes complete care of the system, including maintenance, repair, inverter replacement, monitoring, and installation.

If you want to learn more, check it out at:
www.sunrunhome.com

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the great thing about leasing solar is that you don't have to take care of the system yourself - SunRun takes complete care of the system, including maintenance, repair, inverter replacement, monitoring, and installation.
Renting Solar Panels is cheaper and you can save your money.

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Hey what's is this all about? By the way thanks for sharing.

[Erica David]

I'm leasing solar panels from Sungevity.com and it's working out great. I have them on my home, my vacation home and a rental property I own. Financial no-brainer.

[Springrain]

I hear that alot of people are taking the alternative route to purchasing solar. Instead, they are renting solar, using clean renewable energy, and saving money at the same time. That sounds wonderful to me.

A lot of times people really want to do the right thing, but they either don't know how, or they think they can't afford to. When they discover that yes, they can do the right thing and it doesn't have to cost them any more than what they are doing already, then they jump on board, and are empowered to do the right thing.

Here is a great website http://www.Solar-4-Rent.com that offers these kind of options from providing a FREE Solar Quote to rent solar, to green living options, and ways to make a difference.

I believe that people really do want to do their part and make a difference .......... sometimes they just need a little help in getting there.

Springrain

[Gregory]

Should you Rent, Lease, or Buy a home solar system? With so many home solar options on the market today, many homeowners are overwhelmed with which option best matches their family's energy needs, and offers the best cost savings. Many smart homeowners have selected to use the services of 2RentSolar.com to match them to the best solar lease or purchase plan. They use over 25 points of comparable data, and many other variables to find which of the top renewable energy providers (including all of the above mentioned and more) will match best for your home energy needs and they even contact the selected matching provider program and submit your request for a solar quote, so you can see how much you will save by going solar. The best part is their matching service is free to homeowners! So before looking anywhere for a home solar lease or purchase program, go to: http://www.2rentsolar.com and submit your quote request, and they will do the rest. They really do make upgrading to a home solar system "simple and affordable."

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In addition to benefits of solar energy, once you have solar panel installed & make use of the energy coming from sunlight, you help preserve main source of energy. Every one has to know that electric source becoming short and it fact there are now some countries experiencing shortage of electric power.

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All the home owners do is agree to pay a rental fee for the solar panels and, since the solar panels are engineered to meet your exact needs - based on your historical usage at last year's rate - your new electric rental will usually be lower than your current bill, often by 20%, with no rate increases for 10 years (Utilities often raise 6%+/yr).

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This is really a smart idea. Since then that solar panel really an aid for decreasing electricity bill. My uncle had it already. I'm planning to have it too. Thanks for this informative post. I love it.

[Jace Low]

thanks for this! wow..this is a really good idea. I was thinking of buying but I really don't have the funds to actually buy the whole system.

SO, for those who are interested in buying, leasing or renting solar homes, etc I suggest that you do some research about solar energy facts first before investing in this technology immediately.

Here's a good site for solar energy facts;

http://www.buildsolar.net/solar-energy/solar-energy-facts-the-must-know-dependable-facts/

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I never considered leasing soar power. I have a friend who is in this industry, I might give him a call, thanks for this article!

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Hey Mr. Green! always love your blog. This is so cool to see green energy solutions developing in this way to make a greener way to live even more cost effective by helping with the upfront costs.

Going green doesn't have to cost a lot - if you know how to do it right, from the get go. Here's some more cool info on free energy http://greenenergy-solutions.net.

Stay Green!

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[George]

Here is a great website http://fileclown.com that offers these kind of options from providing a FREE Solar Quote to rent solar, to green living options, and ways to make a difference.

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I'd prefer to rent than spending much on my monthly electric bills because of high rate electricity. I know well that I can save on this. I’m so glad to know that someone has this for rent. This is much I have been waiting for.

[estetik]

I find it curious that no one has mentioned that in order to benefit from a utility's rebate program a PV solar system MUST be installed by a licensed contractor. Clearly anyone with extensive electrical experience can accomplish the task but without rebates the payback goes to around 15 years, depending on the utility rates per kwh.

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I was thinking of buying but I really don't have the funds to actually buy the whole system.

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It's funny because I could have used this info lastweekend- goes to show, if you just know where to look, usually there is an answer. Nice post.

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This is so nice to see green energy solutions are being developed in this way to a greener way of life even more cost-effective way to help start-up costs. Going green does not cost much - if you know how to go from the start. Here's some info on the coolest free energy

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Yes We Can" is a collage-style music video inspired by US President Barack Obama's popularization of the slogan "Yes we can." During the 2008 US presidential campaign following the New Hampshire Democratic Primary, then-Senator (now President) Barack Obama, used the similar English translation of the slogan of United Farm Workers (UFW) – "Sí, se puede" (Spanish for "Yes, it can be done") in his speech. The slogan dates back to 1972 when Cesar Chavez and the UFW's co-founder, Dolores Huerta, came up with the slogan during Chavez's 24-day fast in Phoenix, Arizona.

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I have been worried about the cost of initial installation, this would be great. All I need to do now is to figure out how much I could save and to insure that saving how much I should pay per month. I'd better work out my consumption and get quotes for the lease, thanks.

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Less than 1 per cent of Australian electricity currently comes from solar power generation. This is mainly due to the higher cost per kW than other power sources because of the cost of solar panels. Innovative applications of photovoltaic technology being developed in Australia include concentrating systems to focus the solar energy on to a smaller area of higher efficiency cells and the use of building integrated photovoltaics, where the PV cells perform architectural or structural functions as well as power generation, thereby offsetting some of the cost.

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I hear fossil fuels are running out so we need to develope new sources. I think solar is the best alternative and I may consider it in the future.

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I really like it because, The great thing about solar leasing is that you do not have to take care of the system itself - SunRun takes complete care system, including maintenance, repair, replacement inverter, monitoring and installation .

[John]

Its a Great Idea of the government to encourage people to use natural energy as alternative source to the energy produce by the companies that uses oil. With the use of solar panel, we can lessen the pollutions and decrease the fast increasing temperature due to global warming. it is good to know that their are many companies that already use the solar panel as their source of Electricity.

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Seems like a pretty decent way to save a couple bucks. Like you said if you can use other energy saving strategies you may get even better results.

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I believe that solar panels north carolina are a great way to tap the sun's solar energy. These not only help the environment but solar panels can provide huge savings on our electric bills.

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The solar panel's can easily become the important energy source in the future as the energy and heat is natural and we just need to set up a solar panel and no extra expense is required.

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Great information, I think it's good advice to get solar panels installed and will save you loads of money. Thanks.

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Solar panels are so useful when it comes on saving money and electricity. There is so much advantage and benefits which could get on solar panels.

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[shik]

nice idea man........ reallly impressed

[Residential Solar Power Systems]

Great blog! I can not say enough great things about solar energy systems, the only downside is that they are a bit on the pricey side. In the long run, the cost will probably even out due to the large amount of money you will save but for some peopl, dishing out a large sum of money just isn't in the budget and leasing is a viable option for all of those people. Even calculating the cost of rent for the solar panels, you will still be saving money every month. Hopefully we will soon see a large uproar in people investing in solar energy systems. Thanks for the great blog!

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SunRun takes complete and responsible care of the system, including full maintenance, repair, inverter replacement, monitoring, and installation. Should you Rent, Lease, or Buy a home solar system? I still don't find my answer.