New options emerge for tapping into solar energy

Although sunshine is free, a rooftop solar system can cost $30,000 to $50,000 — enough to discourage even ardent environmentalists when financing is hard to find and households are holding on tightly to their cash to weather a recession.

But more affordable options are being touted by the solar industry. In recent months new financing programs have been introduced for homeowners who prefer to lease a solar system or to buy the power produced by a solar system on their home that is owned by someone else.

Mike Corral, 39, said in an effort to hedge against rising electricity rates, he considered buying a solar system for his family’s 4,300-square-foot home in Eastvale. But he said he wanted to avoid the $50,000 cost of such a system, which would cut a chunk out of his family’s rainy-day savings and take many years to recoup in lower utility bills.

So Corral paid nothing to have a 5.6-kilowatt solar system with 28 photovoltaic panels installed on his two-story house.

The system is owned and maintained by SolarCity, a Foster City firm that began leasing solar systems in April and so far has signed leases to place systems on nearly 1,600 houses in California and Arizona.

“I have been saving money from day one,” said Corral, who on a bright Monday morning was enjoying watching his meter run backward, as it fed power into the utility grid and earned him credits to lower his utility bill.

Corral pays $151 a month to lease the system on his roof that is designed to meet about 79 percent of his family’s needs.

In the first year of his solar lease, Corral is expected to pocket a monthly average savings of $12, which will grow over time, said SolarCity salesman Mike Schmel. He estimated that over the 15-year term of the lease Corral could save between $11,000 and $14,000.

Savings depend on how much the sun shines, how much a homeowner conserves and future utility rates.

Under current SolarCity contracts, the lease payment escalates each year by 3.9 percent, which is expected to be dwarfed by an average projected annual electricity rate increase of 6.7 percent, said SolarCity chief executive Lyndon Rive.

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