Why does the lease still get a federal credit when I would not?

Because the credit follows the owner of the system, and under a lease or a power purchase agreement the owner is the company, not you. The residential credit a buyer used to claim has expired; the commercial one the third-party owner claims has not. That company prices some of its credit into your rate, which is why leases look relatively better in 2026 than they did before.

A lease costs nothing upfront. Is that not strictly better?

It is strictly better for cash flow and usually worse for total value. You are buying electricity rather than a system, at a rate that typically escalates each year, and at the end of the term you own nothing. Zero upfront is a real advantage if the alternative is not installing at all; it is not the same as the cheapest electricity.

What does the loan add that the cash column does not show?

Interest, and often a dealer fee folded into the system price that a cash buyer would never pay. The model applies the interest at the rate and term listed under the results; it does not model the fee, because it is not disclosed consistently enough to compute. If your financed quote is several thousand dollars above your cash quote for the same system, that gap is the fee.

Does a lease affect selling the house?

It complicates it. A buyer must qualify to assume the agreement or you must buy it out, and appraisers treat a leased system differently from an owned one. That is a legal and practical cost, not a modelled one, and it is worth reading the transfer clause before signing rather than after.

Calculators / Lease vs buy solar calculator

Should I buy, finance or lease?

In 2026 the three diverge more than they used to: a buyer gets no federal credit, while the owner of a leased system still claims one and prices it into your rate.

Three ways to pay for the same electricity

The system on the roof is identical in all three columns above. What differs is who owns it, who claims the tax credit, and when you part with the money:

Cash: You own it, you keep every saving, and you carry the whole cost on day one. It is the highest 25-year net in most states we publish, and it is unavailable to anyone who does not have the sum sitting idle.
Loan: You own it and pay interest for the privilege of not paying upfront. Whether the monthly payment is smaller than the monthly saving decides whether it feels free — and that is a different question from whether it is cheap.
Lease or power purchase agreement: A company owns it, claims the credit, maintains it, and sells you the output at a rate below what your utility charges — usually with an annual escalator. You own nothing at the end.

The number to compare is not the monthly payment

Every one of these can be presented as a payment smaller than your current bill, which is why that framing is used so often. The comparable figure is the 25-year net in the table above: what you are left with after everything, including the interest and the escalator. A cash-flow-positive agreement that leaves you worse off after 25 years is still a worse deal, whatever the first month looks like.

Where the lease numbers come from, and their limits

The lease case rests on two literature defaults rather than on a quote database: the discount a third-party rate typically carries against retail, and the annual escalator typically written into the agreement. Both are listed under the results. That makes the lease column directional — good enough to show which way the comparison leans, not good enough to substitute for reading a real contract.

When a lease result comes out negative, it is saying that at this state's export rate the agreement charges more per kilowatt-hour than that kilowatt-hour saves you. That happens, and it is worth knowing, but check it against a real offer before treating it as a verdict on an individual company. What we do not model is on the methodology page, and the fuller argument is in lease, loan or cash for solar in 2026.

Before you sign either agreement

Ask for the escalator in writing. A 2.9% annual rise compounds to roughly double the rate over 25 years.
Ask what happens at the end of the term. Renewal, removal, or purchase — and at what price.
Ask for the cash price of the same system. If the financed price is higher, the difference is a fee you are paying, whatever it is called.
Ask who is responsible for the roof. Both when the panels go on and when the roof next needs work.

Questions

Why does the lease still get a federal credit when I would not?: Because the credit follows the owner of the system, and under a lease or a power purchase agreement the owner is the company, not you. The residential credit a buyer used to claim has expired; the commercial one the third-party owner claims has not. That company prices some of its credit into your rate, which is why leases look relatively better in 2026 than they did before.
A lease costs nothing upfront. Is that not strictly better?: It is strictly better for cash flow and usually worse for total value. You are buying electricity rather than a system, at a rate that typically escalates each year, and at the end of the term you own nothing. Zero upfront is a real advantage if the alternative is not installing at all; it is not the same as the cheapest electricity.
What does the loan add that the cash column does not show?: Interest, and often a dealer fee folded into the system price that a cash buyer would never pay. The model applies the interest at the rate and term listed under the results; it does not model the fee, because it is not disclosed consistently enough to compute. If your financed quote is several thousand dollars above your cash quote for the same system, that gap is the fee.
Does a lease affect selling the house?: It complicates it. A buyer must qualify to assume the agreement or you must buy it out, and appraisers treat a leased system differently from an owned one. That is a legal and practical cost, not a modelled one, and it is worth reading the transfer clause before signing rather than after.

The other calculators

All of them run the same engine on the same data, so two can never disagree. They differ in what they put first.

Solar panel size calculator
How many kilowatts, how many panels and how much roof, from your bill and your state.
Solar panel cost calculator
Installed price for your system on both price bases, and what is left after credits.
Solar payback calculator
The year your savings repay the system, and the curve that gets you there.
Solar savings calculator
What you keep over 25 years, and the bill you avoid each year on the way.
Solar battery calculator
The same system with and without storage, side by side.
Solar incentives calculator
Federal, state and performance payments for your system, each with its source.

A screening estimate from published data, not a quote and not tax or financial advice. Every input is listed under the results with the source it came from and the date it was read; the formulas are on the methodology page. Confirm against real quotes, and with a professional, before relying on any figure here.

Published 6 September 2026. Data last verified 6 September 2026. Rates: EIA 2026-07. Found a figure that looks wrong? Tell us — we publish corrections.