Learn more about the Federal Tax Credit and the Solar Renewable Energy Credit here.

A solar lease can be an attractive option because it requires “no money down”, but ownership will be better for you in the long run. Lease companies are here because the incentives of solar ownership are significant. With a lease they own the system and most of those benefits go to the lease company. With ownership the incentives and electricity savings all go to you!

One helpful way of thinking about buying solar vs. leasing solar is to compare it to buying your home vs. renting your home. When you rent, you pay monthly, and have a place to live which is great, but you don't build your personal equity and cannot take advantage of tax credits and the freedom and independence associated with ownership. On the other hand, when you buy a home, you pay more upfront, but over the long term the value to you increases as your equity builds. You are already a homeowner so you understand the benefit of ownership over renting a home, and many of the same principles apply to solar.

With the lease, the benefit to the lease company increases overtime, but decreases to you. Escalators typically decrease the monthly value to you, and maintenance or transfer of ownership issues during a home sale could result in you paying for the system unexpectedly later anyway. Here is a brief article from Consumer Reports on the topic.

With solar ownership the benefit to you increases over time as energy prices rise and the savings overcome the upfront cost. Once the system has paid for itself the power it generates will be essentially free. Your monthly cost of owning your home will therefore decrease, giving you additional financial flexibility in the future.

The main barrier to a cash purchase is the upfront cost. If you don't have the cash to cover the upfront cost, then I would recommend getting a solar loan before I would recommend a solar lease. With a loan you will pay a little extra because of the interest, but long term you will get all the benefits of solar ownership, and the value to you will increase with time. If you do choose a solar loan I would recommend you get a Home Equity Line of Credit before a loan through a solar company. Getting a HELOC and paying the solar company cash will ensure you are not paying extra costs solar sales companies bake into the monthly loan payment.

If your solar system is on your roof, then then short answer is no. If your system is a ground mount then you could clear the snow, but it may not be worth your effort. Here are a few things to consider before clearing snow from your solar panels:

• Slips and falls. For roof mounted systems, the main reason to not clear snow is that the job is very dangerous. Snow and ice are slippery enough on the ground and even more slippery on a roof. You do not want to get injured or worse trying to get a few kWh.

• It snows in the winter! Assuming you had the right fall protection to safely be on the snowy roof, you might clear the solar panels one day and then it snows again in a day or two.

• Cloudy weather. In our region we get much of our cloudy weather in the winter. Up to 80% of winter days have partial or full cloud cover which decrease solar performance.

• Low sun angle. Solar panels work best when the sun is at or near perpendicular to solar cells. In the winter the sun is low above the horizon, so more of the photons bounce off the glass and are not absorbed.

• Short days. The days in the winter are short, so even on the sunniest winter days the solar generation will be much lower than sunny days in the spring, summer, and fall.

• Possible damage. Solar panels are tough, but the glass can be scratched if you were to clear snow with a plastic roof rake or stiff bristled brush. Micro-scratches could develop that will trap dirt and decrease performance during the higher production days of the summer. Worst case scenario a panel gets broken, which could be costly to replace and will decrease performance while you wait for the new panel.

• Economics. If you invest $50 in a quality microfiber brush with extension pole, it might take years to make that money back due to the lower production in the winter. If you factor in the labor to clear the snow then the return on investment is even worse.

Solar power to the rescue. The good news is solar panels are designed to absorb solar energy. So even when ambient temperatures are in the single digits, the cells will warm up and start melting the snow. The slippery surface of the glass and angle of the panels will then help the snow to melt and slide off the array. Very soon the snow will be gone, and you can start generating solar power with no risk to the array, yourself, and no effort will have been exerted. The power of the sun is not only enough to supply energy to your home, but is also enough to remove the snow safely, gently, and efficiently.

Most customers in ComEd territory are billed a flat rate for electricity, known as Basic Electrical Service (BES). This rate changes seasonally, but does not fluctuate during the day. Residential Real Time Pricing (RRTP) is an alternative billing option that charges you the “real time” price of electricity as you use it. Prices are typically the highest in the mornings and afternoons, and then cheaper during the middle of the day and at night when usage is typically lower. If you use most of your electricity during off-peak hours then you could save money with Real Time Pricing.

Solar customers can get extra benefit from real time pricing, but it is not a guarantee. Real Time is best for customers who are willing to modify their behavior in order to save a little bit of money on their bills, and where the solar system is designed to offset more than 100% of their electricity use. With net metering, solar customers on real time pricing get monetary credits for solar power exported to the grid. Customers on flat rate billing get kilo-Watt-hour (kWh) credits instead. The nice thing about monetary credits is that they can offset not only your kWh electricity use, but also the base customer charge on your bill. Customers on the BES rate plan can only offset kWh energy use, but will always have a customer charge that is typically around $15/month.

One potential downside for solar customers on Real Time is that as more and more customers get solar, there is a possibility that you could get charged to export solar to the grid during very sunny weather when many systems are exporting. Customers on Real Time pricing are also subject to extreme spikes in electricity costs that can occur during storms when power lines or power plants are offline. This happened in Texas in 2021 when homeowners on real time pricing were hit with monthly bills nearing $7,000. These are extreme scenarios that may rarely or never occur in our region, but customers on Real Time are subject to swings in pricing that could have negative financial consequences.

Should you choose real time pricing? If you and all members of your household are willing to pay close attention to your energy usage, pay attention to daily real time pricing rates, modify your behavior by doing things like using your AC less on the hottest days of the year, and your solar is designed to offset 100% or more of your usage, then you could be a good candidate for for RRPT. If you would prefer to enjoy the benefits of solar without changing your electricity habits or paying close attention to energy markets then stick with the Basic Electrical Service plan.