Solar Nerd articles about: Leases and PPAs

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Illustration of a person falling down a manhole. (Saepul Bahri/Vecteezy)
Sunrun PPA contracts: problems you need to know about
I’m not a big fan of leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs). It’s a topic I’ve written about extensively. While usage of PPAs has been dropping over the past decade, they still were 28% of the residential market in 2021 according to Berkeley Lab. Sunrun, the biggest solar installer in the country, is responsible for a large part of that market share. While Sunrun offers a variety of payment options including purchases, monthly leases and PPAs are a main focus of their business strategy.
Illustration of a house for sale
Tips for selling a home with solar panels
Selling a house is always a stressful event, so anything that adds complication is unwelcome. Having home solar panels can be no big deal or make selling your house more difficult, depending on how you paid for them. An upside is that solar panels can add significant value to a home, which is something that your real estate agent can help communicate. There are also some things that you should do as a seller to make sure that the next owner has access to monitoring and knows what to do if issues crop up.
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Freedom Forever Solar: The complete review and consumer guide
Freedom Forever is a relatively new company on the solar installation scene, but it has grown very quickly, reaching 6th place on the Solar Power World list of residential solar installers. In the most recent year, Freedom Forever installed 92 megawatts of solar. The company operates in most of the major solar markets in the US and employs over 1,700 people. If you’re looking for a solar installer for your home, there’s a good chance that you’ve come across their name.
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What is the best way to finance solar panels?
For the fiscally-minded homeowner (and what homeowner doesn’t care about their investment?), adding home solar panels can be a way to add equity to your house, slash electricity costs, and make a great long-term investment. On top of that, you’ll be helping the environment too. Sounds like a no-brainer? Maybe. How much you can actually save with solar panels depends on a few factors. For example, not every roof is equally suited for solar panels.
Illustration of a person cutting a contract
Stuck in a long solar lease contract? Here's what you can do.
As more people realize their disadvantages, solar leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs) are shrinking in popularity, dropping from a high of 59% of the market in 2012 to only 37% in 2019. That’s still a sizeable chunk of the market, and some people regret signing these contracts. With 20 year contracts being common, solar leases can tie you up for a very long time. Many consumers sign them without doing adequate research, especially after being solicited by door-to-door or kiosk salespeople.