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, Concord residents were previously entitled to Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs).  These provide a revenue stream for about ten years, reducing the payback period for PV system installation.  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. 

The state replaced the SREC program with the SMART (Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target) program in November, 2018.  Concord residents & businesses are not eligible for the new program.  Instead, a new program, designed specifically for municipal light plant towns, is under negotiation.  We hope to hear soon about the final layout of this program.  We will update this page when we know more.

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.