When President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in July 2025, many saw dire times ahead for residential solar installers. The legislation eliminated tax credits driving homeowners’ purchases as of Dec. 31, 2025. Those incentives had been a lifeline for installers through a rocky 2024. 

With their elimination, many analysts expected consumer interest to fall dramatically. Early indications are that these predictions are holding true. But new financing options are providing solar companies with new ways to get panels on roofs. And, in several states, consumers are gaining the opportunity to install much smaller systems—some with battery storage—on their own.

Researchers with investment bank Roth Capital Partners anticipate 2026 demand for home solar power systems to drop by 33% over 2025’s figures, which were already down 2% from 2024. The elimination of the 30% tax credit for homeowners is driving the anticipated decline. Historically, customers have preferred to either purchase these systems outright or finance them through low-­interest solar loans. The alternatives—leasing panels or buying the power they produce at a reduced rate through a power purchase agreement (PPA)—haven’t provided buyers with the same financial returns. These approaches have typically come with terms of up to 20 years, leading to complications when homes are sold if potential buyers aren’t interested in maintaining the contracts.

Shorter leasing options

The OBBBA is forcing solar companies to rethink their leasing programs in ways that benefit their customers by maximizing use of solar-related tax credits still available to commercial owners. While homeowner tax incentives have been canceled, commercial owners can still claim a 30% tax credit through at least 2027, so long as they maintain system ownership for at least five years. So, some installers are now offering prepaid leases and PPAs with five-year terms. The installers (or the financing companies they work with) maintain ownership during that period, claiming 30% credit for themselves. At the end of that period, ownership reverts to the homeowner. 

The approach offers homeowners several advantages over traditional lease plans. First, while they do have to pay or finance systems up front, installers typically pass on much of the value of their tax credits to their buyers, meaning savings of up to 30%. Homeowners can still use solar loans to finance these purchases, and the installers remain responsible for system maintenance during the agreement. Finally, with leases lasting only five years, the risks related to real estate transfers are significantly reduced.

These prepaid plans are still new to the market, so risks remain for consumers. One concern is the possibility of added expenses at the end of the lease or PPA term. While promotional materials tout a $0 transfer to homeowners at year six, contract language usually states that systems will transfer at “fair market value.” Because customers will have paid the full system cost upfront, it’s reasonable to assume systems won’t have become more valuable five years after purchase. However, it’s too soon for alternate interpretations to have been tested in court. 

DIY approaches

Of course, residential arrays, no matter how they’re purchased, are not an option for renters. And not every homeowner’s roof has access to adequate solar resources to make a full installation cost-effective. Since 2019, Germany has allowed plug-in panel-­plus-inverter systems that connect to a home’s electrical system through a standard outlet. These products have since become widely adopted throughout Europe. Now, U.S. regulators are beginning to study the products’ use in their jurisdictions. 

Utah passed legislation allowing residents to plug in these devices in March 2025. In May, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill, unanimously approved by both houses of the state’s legislature, to legalize their use. In total, five states have passed legislation allowing plug-in solar—also called “balcony” or “plug-and-play” solar—and 21 others plus the District of Columbia are considering it. 

Obviously, there are safety considerations when it comes to introducing a new energy resource on the customer side of the meter. For one thing, such equipment could feed power back onto the utility grid during an outage, endangering crews doing line repairs. But the panels also pose risks to residents because the power they produce wouldn’t be monitored by their breakers. This means lines could overheat without warning. Additionally, without proper design, the blades on a panel’s plug could remain live even after it was disconnected, putting users at risk of electrocution.

Standards and code groups are addressing these concerns. In January, UL Solutions announced a testing and certification program based on its UL 3700, the Outline of Investigation for Interactive Plug-In Photovoltaic Equipment and Systems, addressing panels and their inverters. 

The National Electrical Code doesn’t yet have a section dedicated to plug-in panels, so electrical contractors working with these systems would, instead, need to follow the general requirements under NEC Article 690, Solar Photovoltaic Systems and Article 705, Interconnected Electric Power Production Sources.

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