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Residents of Phoenix, Arizona can now take advantage of a city-sponsored program to finance solar panel installations. By working with APS, SolarCity, and the National Bank of Arizona, the city is able to offer leasing for up to about $25,000 worth of solar installations–Mayor Phil Gordon hopes to see as many as 1,000 new solar homes in his city by the end of 2010.
Solar leasing is a great option for homeowners who can’t or don’t want to carry a large loan or pay out of pocket to get solar panels installed on their homes. With a solar leasing program such as Solar Phoenix, you pay little or no money down. Then, you pay a monthly installment as well as any remaining electricity bill (if your solar system isn’t offsetting 100 percent of your usage), which should still be lower in total than what you were previously paying just for electricity. So the idea is, you see positive cash flow from the beginning, and have the satisfaction of knowing you’re using clean energy.
Owning a system is still a far better investment and allows you to take advantage of some pretty outstanding financial incentives for solar out there, such as the federal investment tax credit equal to 30 percent of system costs, or the APS solar rebate. But the Solar Phoenix leasing program is a fantastic new option for Phoenix residents, and is a great commitment from the city to expanding its clean energy resources.
