Own Your Power! A Consumer Guide to Solar Electricity for the - NREL

Costs and Financial Incentives
Financing
If you can’t purchase a system outright, consider financing the system. Several
resources are available for financing a solar electric system, including:
• Home refinance
• First mortgages
• Banks (many will finance for less than prime rate)
• Construction loans
• Home equity loans
• Solar vendors (some now finance the systems themselves).
Mortgage loans and home equity loans offer several advantages: longer terms, lower
interest rates than conventional bank loans, and tax-deductible interest. In addition,
adding a solar electric system to a loan at the same time that you build, buy, or refinance
will reduce paperwork and simplify the purchase. Other benefits to financing
the cost of a solar electric system include a low monthly payment on the system and
locked-in electricity costs for the next 25 years.
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Resources:
• U.S. Department of Energy – Energy Savers:
www.energysavers.gov/
• U.S. Department of Energy – The Economics of a Small Solar Electric System:
www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/electricity/index.cfm/
mytopic=10750
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Federal Tax Credits:
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits
• DSIRE:
www.dsireusa.org/
• FindSolar Cost Estimator:
www.find-solar.org
• Solar Energy Industries Association:
www.seia.org/cs/the_investment_tax_credit_itc