Cash, loan, lease or PPA
The same array costs wildly different amounts depending on how you pay for it, and the difference is usually buried. Put the four structures side by side over twenty-five years. Everything stays on your device.
Your answers stay on this device. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
How this works
- This is a worksheet, not a score. It puts your own quotes side by side on the same lines so the differences show up, and it never tells you which contractor to pick.
- Everything you type stays on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere, and no contractor sees any of it.
- The red flags are rules, not opinions. Each one names the source it comes from — an FTC consumer-protection page, the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule, or a state statute — so you can read it yourself and decide whether it applies to you.
- The deposit flags use two real state caps as yardsticks: Maryland caps a home-improvement deposit at one-third of the contract price (Md. Code, Bus. Reg. §8-617), and California caps the down payment at $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §7159.5). Your state may cap it differently or not at all; these are the numbers to argue from.
- "Against the median quote" compares each price with the middle price of the quotes you entered. It only appears once you have entered three, because two quotes have no middle.
- A flag is a question to ask, not a verdict. A quote can be well under the others because the scope is smaller, and well over because the work is better. The point is that you find out which before you sign.
Sources
- FTC consumer advice: How to avoid a home improvement scam
- FTC: Penalty offenses concerning home improvement
- FTC consumer advice: Buyer's remorse — the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule may help
- eCFR: 16 CFR 429.1 — The Rule (three business days; Notice of Cancellation)
- Maryland Code, Business Regulation §8-617 (deposit capped at one-third of the contract price)
- California Business and Professions Code §7159.5 (down payment capped at $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less)
- USA.gov: State consumer protection offices
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit (section 25D) — "The credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025."
- IRS: Home energy tax credits
- IRS: Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (section 25C)
- U.S. Department of Energy: Homeowner's guide to going solar
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Solar financing and what to watch for
- Expert review
- Not yet reviewed
- Last verified
- September 18, 2026
Information, not legal or professional advice. Everything you enter stays on this device and is never sent anywhere. A red flag is a question worth asking, not a finding about a particular contractor, and state law differs — your state consumer-protection office is free and is the right place to check what applies to you.
Common questions
Why does the tool ask whether a federal credit was claimed?
Because the Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for property placed in service after 31 December 2025, and a great deal of sales material has not caught up. If a payback number you were shown assumes 30% back from the IRS, that number is wrong for a 2026 purchase — and it is usually the number the whole pitch rests on.
Is a lease or PPA always worse than buying?
No. If you cannot use a tax benefit, do not want to maintain equipment, or do not have the cash, a lease or PPA can be a reasonable trade. What makes it a bad deal is not knowing the escalator, the term total and the transfer terms before you sign — which is exactly what this worksheet puts in front of you.
Does this send my quotes to anyone?
No. Everything you enter stays in this browser on this device. There is no account, no submit button and no contractor on the other end of it.
How many quotes should I get?
Three. Two gives you a cheaper and a dearer with no way to tell which is the outlier; three gives you a middle. The comparison against the median only appears at three for that reason.
A quote came back much cheaper than the others. Is that good?
Find out why before you decide. In this kind of work a big gap is usually a different scope, thinner materials, no permit, or a price that grows once the work is open. Sometimes it is simply a smaller business with lower overheads, which is fine — but you want to know which one it is.
Related guides
- Cash, loan, lease or PPA: the four ways to pay for solarThe same array costs very different amounts depending on how you pay. Dealer fees, escalators, who owns the system, and what happens when you sell.
- What a solar quote must show before you can judge itThe lines that belong on any solar proposal, the assumptions that quietly decide the payback, and the questions that produce real answers.