There are two primary ways to pay for a home solar system: with a no-money-down solar loan or an upfront, cash payment. Depending on your living and financial situation, one may make more sense than the other.
Whichever payment method you decide on, both offer homeowners the ability to transition to solar power and start enjoying the benefits of our sunny renewable resource.
Our Solar Advisors will discuss solar loan options with all interested homeowners looking to go solar, since it is a great financial option for many. We encourage you to explore all payment options as you start your solar journey!
Financing your solar system is a great way to achieve the strong investment offered by solar. However, there are advantages to paying for your solar in full, depending on your financial and home situation. The graph below shows the differences between going solar with a no-money-down loan versus paying for the entire system in cash.
While the loan doesn’t achieve the total net savings as the cash payment method, it requires no initial cost and remains constant over the 12 years of financing. Once the loan is paid off, the home’s annual savings follow the trajectory of the cash payment method.
In the graph, you can also see that after 12 years of paying a constant loan payment instead of an electric bill (which will increase 3% every year) you have saved a little money before the loan is even fully paid off. Choosing a longer loan term will lower the monthly payments and allow for savings each month from the beginning!
Rather than renting your power from the utility and suffering unexpected rate hikes, you can own your power with a solar loan and control your energy future. Solar financing has become more common over the years, and with good reason! A solar loan enables you to finance solar plus its complementary tech – batteries, heat pumps, water heaters, electric vehicle charger – all for an affordable monthly payment with no upfront cost.
For many, financing is a way to go solar earlier and easier than would be possible if an upfront cash purchase was required. With no large, upfront payment, solar loans allow customers to keep cash in their pockets and take advantage of the financial and environmental benefits of going solar. Plus, customers can enjoy the peace-of-mind and security of a fixed electricity payment that will not fluctuate with local electricity prices.
Unlike other loans, a solar loan grants you ownership of an asset (solar panels) that provide you with significant long-term savings, even as you pay off the loan. Solar loans also grant you access to several financial incentives, such as the 30% federal tax credit and RECs.
Barrett Miles and his fiancée moved into their first home, and installed solar and a heat pump water heater with the help of a solar loan. Hear from Barrett about his experience:
Based on your unique home and financial situation, our experienced Solar Design Specialists will build the best loan package possible that is most beneficial to you.
Similar to any other home related loan, solar loans enable a homeowner to finance a home solar project by borrowing money from a lender. The loan is paid back over a decided number of years, plus interest, in monthly installments.
When you’re ready to begin your solar journey, schedule a talk with a ReVision Energy Solar Advisor. We will do a site visit and design a system for your home. Then, based on your unique home and financial situation, we will build the best loan package possible that is most beneficial to you. Often, this will include complementary tech like water heaters and heat pumps, which accelerate your solar return on investment.
We are very selective when it comes to picking our solar loan partners, and make sure we only bring quality residential solar loans to families and community members looking to go solar. Our loan partners enable loans for up to $100k for solar, heat pumps, water heaters, batteries, and EV charging.
We also partner with Clean Energy Credit Union, a New England based credit union to offer lower rates for some projects and financing to own community solar farm shares. We are proud to partner with them because know they share in our mission to build a just and equitable electric future. We also know that they are driven to keep their costs down and provide the best possible loans to accelerate the clean energy transition as a non-profit credit union.
Our loan partners offer a streamlined, consumer-friendly lending process, coupled with easy online access, so customers can instantly qualify for no-money-down loans with fixed interest rates and multiple loan term options.
Yes. Solar Loans provide the opportunity to invest in your own solar electric system without paying any money up-front. You receive the same incentives and electricity bill savings as if you paid for the system with cash. If you choose to sell your home before the loan is paid off, you may have the option to transfer the loan to the new homeowner, but most of our solar loan customers simply pay off the loan as part of the home sale.
Yes. One of the many benefits of financing solar instead of leasing is that you receive the benefits of the federal tax credit. Depending on your state, you can also be eligible to receive other available incentives for solar and additional technologies.
Absolutely! Our 24/7 service and support team treats all our customers as the solar champions they are, regardless of how they choose to pay for their system.
Yes. Solar arrays that are financed work exactly the same as those paid for with cash, including the opportunity to receive quarterly payments for your clean energy contributions to the grid through REC sales.
You cannot use a solar loan to expand on an existing solar array if the solar loan is secured to the solar equipment (like Mosaic). However, if the new solar array has its own inverter and is electronically separate (even if its installed on the same roof) this stand-alone system would be eligible for a Mosaic loan. We also have unsecured loan options from a New England credit union that work for any solar expansion.
As part of our design and consultation process, we will discuss the total solar potential of your roof and what future increases in your electricity consumption would look like once you kick your fossil fuel habit completely with heat pumps and electric vehicles. It is typically more cost-effective to install your solar project in a single phase instead of in multiple phases.
Solar loans are enabling Americans to go solar like never before. Solar energy is one of the safest investment options on the market today, delivering a 100% guaranteed financial return on investment, along with community and environmental returns on investment.
When you produce more electricity than you use, you will send power back into the grid (powering your neighbors’ house!) and earn a credit. Those credits go against your electric bill at other times of the year. If you complement your solar array with an air source heat pump to provide heat, you can run this electric appliance off of stored sunshine from the summer, in the form of credits you banked with your utility. Many of our customers go from electric bills of $100-200/mo, to the minimum fee required to stay connected to the grid.
A solar loan is a great way to invest in a better financial and environmental future, and start building a cleaner world. If you're ready to start your own solar journey, use the button below to get started.
