A cash purchase, a solar loan, a lease, and a power purchase agreement can all be presented as a monthly figure sitting next to your current power bill. That presentation flattens differences that matter for years. Who owns the equipment, who can claim available incentives, who maintains it, what happens at the end of the term, and what has to be resolved when you sell your house all vary across the four.
Before you evaluate any number, establish which of the four is being offered, in writing, in plain words. If a document describes a payment without stating whether you will own the equipment, ask directly. The answer determines which questions are even relevant to your situation, and a proposal that resists giving it clearly has already told you something useful.
Buying outright, with cash or with a loan, means the system is yours. You are the party who can pursue available incentives, subject to eligibility rules you should confirm independently rather than take from a sales conversation. You are also the party responsible for maintenance once workmanship coverage runs out, and the one holding the equipment warranties and whatever claims process comes attached to them.
Ownership is also the simplest arrangement to explain to a future buyer, because there is no third party who has to be brought into the transaction. That simplicity has real value at resale even though you cannot put a figure on it. The trade is that responsibility is entirely yours, including finding a service company later if the original installer is no longer around.
A solar loan is a loan, and it deserves the same reading you would give any other financing. Look at the term, the rate, any origination or dealer fees folded into the amount financed, whether the rate changes over the life of the loan, and what the payment schedule actually looks like from the first year through to the end of the term.
Pay particular attention to whether the advertised payment assumes you will apply an incentive back to the principal within some window. That structure is common and is often disclosed only in the fine print, and if you do not make that payment the monthly amount you were shown may not be the monthly amount you owe. Ask what the payment becomes in that case, and get the answer in writing.
Under a lease or a power purchase agreement, a third party owns the equipment on your roof. You are paying for the use of that equipment or for the power it produces. Because you do not own it, incentive eligibility generally sits with the owner rather than with you, and the arrangement is governed by a long agreement instead of by a purchase and a set of warranties.
The terms to read closely are the escalator, if the payment rises over time; the length of the agreement; the buyout provisions and how a buyout amount is calculated; the maintenance obligations and who performs them; and the end-of-term options. These documents are not casual reading, which is exactly the reason to read them before signing rather than afterward.
Third-party ownership complicates a home sale in ways homeowners rarely anticipate at signing. A buyer generally has to qualify for and accept assumption of the agreement, or you have to buy the system out, or something gets negotiated at the closing table under time pressure. Lenders and title companies take an interest in whatever arrangement exists on the roof.
None of that makes a lease or a power purchase agreement wrong. It makes them a decision to take with the resale conversation already in mind, rather than one you discover in the middle of a transaction years later. So ask before signing: exactly what happens to this agreement if I sell in five years, and what is the transfer process for the buyer. Get it in writing.
There is no universal answer, and anyone who offers one without knowing your tax situation, how long you plan to stay in the house, and how you want to handle maintenance is selling rather than advising. The better framing is which set of obligations you are willing to hold for the next couple of decades.
Generally the owner of the equipment, which under a lease or a power purchase agreement is not you. Beyond that, incentive rules and eligibility change over time and we will not quote amounts we cannot verify. Confirm current federal terms against IRS guidance, current state terms against Utah state guidance, and your own eligibility with a tax professional.
It depends entirely on the agreement, which typically sets out buyout provisions and the method for calculating a buyout amount. Read those terms before signing rather than when you want out. If the buyout method is not clearly described in the document, treat that as a reason to keep asking questions.
Twelve months of usage and the age of your roof covering are all we need to begin.