Solar question

Submitted by mega1204 t3_11dfd65 in Connecticut

Considering using Sunrun for solar, and also debating the pro/con of leasing vs owning outright. Is owning always the best option? Would need to finance if I were to purchase outright. Anyone care to share positive/negative experiences with sunrun? Appreciate any and all input! Thanks!!

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CTRealtorCarl t1_ja8c4s1 wrote

I made a post about this a while back. Previous Solar Post

TLDR Owning outright is definitely the way to go if possible. If going to go with a lease and selling is on the table in the nearish future make sure you can provide billing statements that prove savings.

Tons of fine print to go over in these leases to make sure its worth it.

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mega1204 OP t1_ja9ijoo wrote

Appreciate your thoughts/suggestion!

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jjma14 t1_ja8c24l wrote

I'm not sure what the incentives are for this year, but owning seemed to make way more financial sense when we signed up last year. You get the tax incentives and any other benefits that would otherwise just go to sunrun. Also, negotiate hard. It helps if you have other quotes in hand, but sunrun came down thousands of dollars from their original quote and dropped the interest rates after talking a bit with them. Don't take what they first offer.

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CTRealtorCarl t1_ja8cfr1 wrote

Didn't mention this in my comment, you absolutely MUST get multiple quotes like u/jjma14 says here. And you don't get the incentives if you lease.

In fact you should be doing that for just about any improvement to your house. So many contractors trying to take advantage of unaware homeowners that don't shop around.

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mega1204 OP t1_ja9ipwq wrote

Ok, thanks! Did you purchase outright with cash or take out a loan to purchase?

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jjma14 t1_jaabaso wrote

I took a loan through the lender that sunrun uses. It was something ridiculous like 30 years at 2.99. I expected much worse. I just wanted the safety net and the rate was the same for a 10 year after negotiations, but plan to put the tax incentive directly back in and then basically pay what my electric bill used to be or a little more monthly. Should be like 7 or so years I think.

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woodstove7 t1_ja8ft8c wrote

I went solar in 2015. Purchased outright. I cannot think of a benefit to leasing.

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Alert-Ad687 t1_ja8ft7b wrote

Got a quote from Sunrun for a lease in 2021 that had an associated $61k cash value. Total ripoff— Tesla quoted way less, maybe under $30k including a Powerwall.

Sunrun isn’t the way to go if you’re paying cash or financing.

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kayakyakr t1_ja9bycg wrote

Sunrun is the worst.

SunPower is who I went went, they were installed by Earthlight Technologies and it was fantastic and painless.

I went with a lease because the monthly cost of the lease was almost $20k over 20 years less than an owned system purchased outright. I would definitely get multiple quotes and have them quote you both leased and owned. I also liked SunPower's system buyout clause, which is set to market rate determined by an independent assessor (according to their contract). Their panels are among the best, side-by-side with Samsung.

My price went up by ~$10/mo over 2 months since I let my initial quote expire. Regret that over the 20 years. Still should save at least $250/mo over Eversource. Should be a good time to get on the list with the lowest waiting times. June-Sept is the worst time to sign up with install times in the 4-6 month range. I signed in Sept and had my install end of Jan.

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mega1204 OP t1_ja9iflg wrote

Awesome, thanks for that recommendation!

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smooshinator t1_ja8qpp7 wrote

There are lots of smaller outfits out there that will provide more personalized service and talk to you like a human. There's a good list on the CT greenbank website. I got quoted from sunrun and a few competitors, ended up with Waldo Renewable, a 3 person company based in east lyme, had a great experience

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