Who keeps the savings?
Solar can cut what you pay to charge your EV, but how you get the panels decides who keeps most of the savings. Buy them, and the long-term value is yours. Lease them, and you get a smaller discount right away while the solar company keeps much of the rest.
The choice changed in 2026. The 30% federal tax credit for homeowners who buy solar is gone, but companies that lease solar may still get a business credit. Here's what that means for you, with real numbers.
Buying vs leasing: the basics
A PPA (power purchase agreement) works like a lease, except you pay for each kWh the panels make instead of a flat monthly fee.
| Buying (cash or loan) | Lease or PPA | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the panels? | You | The solar company |
| Upfront cost | The full price (about $9,600 for 3.2 kW) | Usually $0 |
| What you pay each month | Nothing for cash; loan payments if financed | A lease fee, or a price per kWh, often rising each year |
| Repairs and maintenance | You pay, after warranties end | Usually the solar company, for the whole contract |
| Federal tax credit | None since 2026 | The company may claim a business credit |
| Selling your home | Panels usually add value, nothing to transfer | Buyer must take over the contract, or you buy it out |
Owning a power plant vs buying discounted power
When you buy, you own a small power plant. Every kWh it makes is yours, so once it's paid off, charging your car costs almost nothing.
When you lease, the company owns the panels and sells you their power at a discount. For example, if your utility charges 20 cents per kWh, a lease might start at 14 cents. You save 6 cents on every kWh, which is a real saving, but it's not free driving.
What happened to the tax credit
The 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025. If you buy panels today, there's no federal credit, so you pay the full price. Some states and utilities still offer rebates, so check DSIRE (dsireusa.org).
Companies that own leased systems may still claim a separate business credit (Section 48E), though it now comes with new timing and sourcing rules. Some pass part of it on through lower lease prices, but that isn't automatic. That's why it pays to get both a lease quote and a purchase quote for the same system.
The numbers: buy vs lease
We compared both options for a driver who covers 15,000 miles a year in a 2024 Tesla Model Y Long Range. That's about 4,350 kWh a year, at 29 kWh per 100 miles (EPA). We used the same assumptions as our calculator:
System: 3.2 kW (8 panels of 400 W). With the US average of about 4.98 peak sun hours and 18% losses, it makes about 4,770 kWh a year, a little more than the car needs, so the extra covers some home use.
Buying: about $9,600 cash at $3.00 per watt, with no tax credit. (SolarReviews puts the 2026 average at about $3.03 per watt.)
Lease: $0 down, 14 cents per kWh to start, rising 2.9% a year.
Grid price: 20 cents per kWh today. We show two cases: it stays flat, or it rises 3% a year.
Panels lose about 0.5% of their output a year (NREL), and we allowed for that. The figures don't include repairs such as a new inverter, which can cost a few thousand dollars. Savings are compared with buying the same power from the grid.
| Upfront | Savings after 10 years | Savings over the system's life | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy: grid price stays at 20¢ | $9,600 | about –$300 (not quite paid off yet) | about $12,900 over 25 years |
| Lease: grid price stays at 20¢ | $0 | about $1,900 | about $1,300 over a 20-year lease |
| Buy: grid price rises 3% a year | $9,600 | about $1,100 | about $22,900 over 25 years |
| Lease: grid price rises 3% a year | $0 | about $3,200 | about $7,500 over a 20-year lease |
What the numbers mean
In the first 10 years, the lease often looks better. You pay nothing up front, and a purchased system takes about 10 years to pay for itself if grid prices stay flat.
Over the long run, buying wins by a wide margin. At flat prices, buying saves around $12,900 over 25 years, while the lease saves only about $1,300 over 20 years.
The lease price is the reason. A 2.9% yearly increase takes the lease from 14 cents to about 24 cents by year 20. If grid power stays at 20 cents, the lease becomes more expensive than the grid after about 13 years.
If grid prices rise, both options do better, and buying does best of all.
When a lease can make sense
You don't have the cash and can't get a good loan: a lease gets panels on your roof with nothing down and starts saving you a little right away.
You don't want to deal with repairs: with a lease, the company usually handles maintenance and repairs for the whole contract, often 20 to 25 years.
The company passes on its tax credit: since 2026, some leases are cheaper than they used to be. If a lease quote has a low starting price and no escalator, or a small one, it can be competitive.
Questions to ask before you sign a lease
Is there an escalator? How much does the price rise each year, and what will it be in the final year?
What's the buyout schedule? When can you buy the system, and for how much? Get it in writing.
What happens if I sell my house? Does the buyer have to qualify, and what are the transfer fees?
Is there a production guarantee? Will the company pay you back if the panels make less power than promised?
Who pays if the roof needs replacing? Removing and reinstalling panels can be expensive.
An example: David's two quotes
David drives about 60 miles a day in a 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E (34 kWh per 100 miles, EPA). That's over 7,000 kWh a year. His utility charges about 25 cents per kWh. He asked for quotes on a 5 kW system to cover his charging.
Company A offered a lease with nothing down at 15 cents per kWh. Company B offered to sell him the system for about $15,000.
David nearly took the lease, because it cost nothing up front. But then he read the fine print: the price rose 3% a year. By the last year of the 20-year contract, he'd be paying about 26 cents per kWh, more than his utility charges today.
He paid cash instead. With no federal credit, that was the full $15,000. With average US sunshine, his system makes about 7,450 kWh a year, about what his car uses. That's worth about $1,860 a year at his 25-cent rate, so it should pay for itself in about 8 years. After that, his charging costs will be very low for the rest of the panels' life, apart from occasional repairs.
(David is an example, not a real customer. If his utility's prices also rise about 3% a year, the lease would stay a little cheaper than the grid, but buying would still save him much more over time.)