Solar lease or PPA versus buying outright — what does the contract cost you in year eight? Solar

Two things to make obvious before you sign anything. One: the escalator. A 2.9% annual increase sounds trivial and it compounds — write out year eight and year fifteen in a spreadsheet instead of reading the year-one number they put on the slide. Two: transfer on sale. Your buyer has to qualify and accept the agreement, or you buy it out, and buyout figures in the early years can be brutal. Ask for the buyout schedule as a document.

The reason these products are being pushed so hard right now is that the federal credit for homeowners ended for systems placed in service after the end of 2025, while third-party owners can still access a credit on their side. That's not a reason to avoid a lease — it's a reason to understand that the incentive is real, it just isn't yours, and to negotiate like someone who knows that.

Check who is responsible for the roof penetrations, and for removal and reinstallation if the roof needs work during the term. In some agreements you pay to remove and refit panels that somebody else owns.

I have a PPA and I'd sign it again. I had no capital, no tax liability to offset a credit against even when the credit existed, and my bill went down on day one. The lifetime maths is worse than buying. The maths I could actually access was better than nothing.

Sold a house with a leased system on the roof. It added about three weeks to the sale and one buyer walked over it specifically. It was fine in the end. It was also not nothing, and I'd price that friction in.

Whatever you sign, get the production guarantee written into the contract and find out what the remedy is if it underperforms. 'We'll come and look at it' is not a remedy.