Home Solar Power Without Buying Panels

Folks who are hesitant to pay $30,000 for a solar power system can reduce their upfront cost by buying from SunRun. The company, which today operates in California, will own and maintain the panels that are on your house and sell you the clean energy.

SunRun's Nat Kreamer told me at West Coast Green that consumer pay about half of the normal upfront cost and sign a 20-year contract for the power. Homeowners pay month to month for electricity at a set rate of 13.5 cents per kilowatt hour. This guards against future rate hikes in electricity prices, which are bound to happen in grid-impaired California.

If insufficient energy is generated by the panels, SunRun will make up the difference in additional payments to your utility. Any surplus of electricity sent to the power company on sunny days is refunded to the homeowner, Kreamer said.

Cautious homeowners might prefer to have a third party maintain the panels and warranty their operation. However, SunRun and not the homeowners receive the tax credits from the state. Also, the solar system is not grid independent as all power is directly fed into the grid. So if there's a blackout, SunRun's customers will also be in the dark.

SunRun will be one of many companies developing innovative ways to make solar power more accessible to homeowners. Perhaps we'll see some utilities themselves get into this business.