Leasing a System

You can choose to either purchase or lease a solar PV system. If you choose to lease a system, a solar leasing company would install the system on your property for little or no upfront cost to you. They would own and operate the system. You would pay them a monthly equipment lease fee which is less than what you would have paid CMLP, on average, to deliver the same amount of electricity to your house.  One caveat: the lease agreement must be approved by CMLP’s legal counsel in advance. To date, they have approved lease agreements offered by Direct Energy Solar (formerly Astrum Solar) and New England Clean Energy – the only two that have submitted agreements for approval. 

Owning a System

Residents can get loan assistance from MassCEC. As a PV system owner in Massachusetts, you would also be entitled to Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs).  These provide you with a revenue stream for about ten years, reducing the payback period for your system.  Your solar installer can explain how SRECs work and you can also watch a short video by the EPA about SRECs here.  You can learn also about SRECs here: http://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program/detail/5679. 

** Please be aware that Concord residents & businesses will be ineligible for the state's SMART program, which will replace the SREC (Solar Renewable Energy Credit) program.  In order to get SREC payments, new photovoltaic systems must receive CMLP's Approval to Operate email before the SMART program begins.  We anticipate that payback periods will be significantly extended for Concord residents & businesses who install solar panels once the SMART program starts.  We will do our best to get all solar PV interconnection applications processed as quickly as possible before that time.  The state has not set a date for the program transition.  We expect to be given a couple of months' notice for this change.  We will update this page when we hear from the state on the SMART program's start date.  We generally see timelines of 2 months from when we receive the interconnection application from your solar installer to when we issue the approval to operate your solar panels. **

You can find information about the federal tax credits for solar PV installations here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index#c3 and state tax credits here: http://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program/detail/144.

PV Installers

You can find PV installers who can lease or sell you a PV system at: www.nabcep.org, http://solar-estimate.org. Here is a list of companies that have installed systems in Concord. CMLP does not endorse or pre-qualify these companies in any way.