Solar Lease vs. Own: What North Texas Homeowners Need to Know

If you've gotten a solar quote in the past few years, there's a good chance someone tried to sell you a lease or a power purchase agreement (PPA). These deals have low upfront costs and are easy to say yes to. But easy to sign is not the same as good for you. This article lays out exactly how leases and PPAs work, what they cost you long-term, and why N-Tech only offers cash purchases and solar loans.

How Solar Leases and PPAs Actually Work

With a solar lease or PPA, a company installs solar panels on your roof — but they own the panels. You pay them a monthly fee for the electricity those panels produce, usually for 20 to 25 years. In exchange for that financing, the company captures the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and any other ownership benefits because, on paper, they're the owner. You're a customer of your own roof.

A lease charges you a fixed monthly amount regardless of how much power the system generates. A PPA charges you per kilowatt-hour produced, often at a rate below your current utility rate — which sounds good until you realize that rate typically escalates 2–3% per year, compounding over two decades.

These deals are designed to look attractive in year one. The long-term math is a different story.

Who Gets the 30% Federal Tax Credit?

This is the single most important thing to understand about solar leases. The federal solar Investment Tax Credit — currently 30% of total system cost — is available to the owner of the system.

On a $25,000 solar system, that's $7,500 that goes directly to whoever holds title to the panels. With a cash purchase or solar loan, that's you. With a lease or PPA, that's the company. They own the system, they keep the credit, and they build it into the profit margin of the deal they just sold you.

What Happens When You Try to Sell Your Home

This is where leased solar creates its biggest headache for North Texas homeowners, and it catches people off guard at exactly the wrong time.

When you list a home with a solar lease attached, that lease is a liability that transfers with the property. A prospective buyer has to agree to assume it — and many won't. They didn't ask for a 15-year financial obligation to a solar company. Their lender may have concerns. Their real estate agent may flag it as a complication. Deals have fallen through over leased solar.

If the buyer won't assume the lease, your options are to buy out the system at a price set by the contract (which may be at a disadvantage to you), or to have the panels removed — which leaves holes in your roof and costs you money. Neither is a good outcome when you're trying to close quickly.

Owned solar is different. A system you own outright is part of the home and transfers in the sale like any other fixture. Multiple studies have found that owned solar adds meaningful value to home sale prices in markets like North Texas — it's an asset, not a liability.

The Long-Term Cost Comparison

Let's put real numbers on a 10kW system for a typical Wise County or Parker County homeowner.

What About Solar Loans?

A solar loan is fundamentally different from a lease or PPA — and it's one of the two options N-Tech offers. With a solar loan, you borrow money to purchase the system outright. You own it from day one. The 30% federal tax credit is yours. The panels transfer cleanly if you sell. And once the loan is paid off, the electricity is free.

Many of our homeowners in Wise and Parker County find that a solar loan payment is less than their current monthly electric bill — meaning the switch is cash-flow positive from the start. Once the loan is paid off, typically in 10–15 years, the savings continue for the remaining life of the panels.

We partner with solar financing providers offering:

• 0% APR options for qualified buyers
• 12–25 year terms
• No prepayment penalties
• No dealer fees added to the system price

Why N-Tech Only Does Cash and Financing

We made a deliberate decision not to offer leases or PPAs. It's not because we can't — it's because we don't think they're the right product for North Texas homeowners, and we're not willing to sell something we wouldn't recommend to a family member.

When you work with N-Tech, you own the system. You get the tax credit. You get the asset. You get the long-term free electricity. And when your home eventually sells, solar adds value instead of creating a headache for your real estate agent to manage.

Transparent pricing starts at $2.40/watt. If the numbers don't work for your situation, we'll tell you that. But if they do, you'll walk away owning something — not renting space on your own roof to a company for the next quarter century.

The Bottom Line

A solar lease is another monthly bill. Owned solar is an asset that appreciates the value of your home, eliminates your electric bill, and puts the federal tax credit in your pocket. For North Texas homeowners who are serious about the financial case for solar, ownership isn't just the better option — it's the only one that actually makes the math work.

If you'd like to see exactly what owning a solar system would look like for your home — real numbers, real payback timeline, no pressure — reach out to us at (214) 267-9372 or customerexperience@n-tech-es.com. We'll run the analysis for your specific electricity usage and show you the full picture before you commit to anything.