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.

A clause in the lease allowed us to. With both leasing and ppas you don t pay any upfront costs for your panels and you can typically save on your utility rate. However that might not always be the case. 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.

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. A leased system also increases home value but studies show the increase is less than for a purchased system. Most solar leases require 0 down and solar leasing companies make it easy for you to sign an agreement on the same day. We d get to do our bit for the planet.

When you buy out your lease and own your panels your solar system becomes part of the overall value of your home. 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. Both a solar leaseand ppa are affordable easy ways to enjoy solar power without a large upfront investment. Buying your solar electric system outright is best.

If you lease the system or sign a power purchase agreement ppa a third party owns the solar panel system. The main practical distinction between buying and leasing a solar pv system is in ownership. Here s why you might want to lease solar panels instead of buying or financing them. In this case you can prepay the balance on the remaining lease and have the solar panels either removed or left on the house.

But the company had set a 21 000 buyout price and did not back down from it. Most solar leasing companies do include a buyout period and price in their agreement. Usually a buyout is allowed after 5 to 7 years of the lease.