Solar, Even Cheaper

I recently attended a training session on solarizing homes, and went away more excited than I expected to be.  Over the last couple of years installing solar panels on your home has become more affordable thanks in part to amazing tax credits.  Now it is possibly......almost free?

The guys from Imagine Energy told us that the price of solar panels has dropped dramatically, due to factors including decreased demand in Germany and Japan as well as a glut of much less expensive panels from China flooding the marketplace and causing American and European manufacturers to get their prices low to remain competitive.  Here in the Portland area we have a manufacturer located in Hillsboro, so it's possible to buy locally even in the matter of solar panels.

Imagine Energy has partnered with a California company, SunRun, to provide a 20 year lease on solar panels installed on your home.  The price can vary a bit based on your particular situation, but is somewhere in the neighborhood of $6000, with the caveat that your home needs to have a certain amount of life left in the roof and your electrical system needs to meet some requirements.   You would get the Oregon Residential Tax Credit that is $6000, paid in $1500 increments over 4 years.

How does the lease thing work?  SunRun maintains your system over the life of the lease, and the lease is transferable if you sell your home.  At the end of 20 years, SunRun will either remove the panels or sell them to you, and obviously they'd prefer to sell them to you as they'd rather not have your used panels back.  Imagine Energy says they anticipate the buyout amount would be fairly nominal at the end of the 20 year period.

It's not known exactly how much longer the Oregon Residential Tax Credit for solar is going to last.  If you're interested in installing solar, let me know and I'll get you the contact information for Imagine Energy so you can investigate this amazing deal.