Paying for solar in Michigan

There are fewer good options than there were two years ago, and more bad ones being marketed aggressively. Here is how we think about it.

Cash

Simplest, cheapest over the life of the system, and the option with the shortest explanation. You own the array outright, there is no lender in the transaction, and every dollar the system saves is yours. If you have the cash and the roof is right, this is usually the best answer.

Financing through Michigan Saves

We are able to offer financing for both residential and commercial projects through Michigan Saves, the statewide clean energy financing program, and its network of participating lenders.

Michigan Saves is a nonprofit green bank. It does not lend directly. It works through authorized contractors and partner lenders, which means the loan comes from a lender and the program sets standards for the work being financed.

Approval, rate, and term come from the lender, not from us. What we do is put the project package together so the application reflects the system you are actually buying, and so the scope matches what gets installed.

Ask about it early rather than late. Financing changes which system size makes sense, because the question stops being “what can I pay for” and becomes “does the monthly payment beat the monthly bill it replaces.” Those two framings produce different designs.

For businesses

Commercial projects have more structures available: straight purchase, equipment financing, and arrangements where a third party owns the system. Ownership matters a great deal here, because the federal investment tax credit for businesses goes to whoever owns the asset, and depreciation does too.

Which structure is right depends on your tax position, and that is a conversation for you, us, and your accountant together. We are happy to be in that meeting.

What changed now that the residential credit is gone

Before 2026, a common residential structure was to finance the full system, then use the 30% federal tax credit to make a large principal payment in year one, which re-amortized the loan down to the payment the salesperson had quoted.

That mechanism no longer exists for homeowners. If a lender or an installer presents you a payment schedule that assumes a large one-time paydown from a tax credit, ask them directly which credit they mean and what year it applies to. For a residential system installed today, the answer should make you uncomfortable.

What to watch for in a solar loan

Solar lending has some patterns worth knowing before you sign anything, from us or from anyone else.

• Dealer fees. Many low-advertised-rate solar loans carry a fee paid by the contractor to the lender, and it is built into the system price. A 2.99% loan with a large dealer fee can cost more than a 7% loan without one. Ask for the cash price and the financed price side by side. If they are the same number, ask again.
• Escalators. Some agreements raise your payment by a fixed percentage annually. Over twenty years, a 2.9% annual escalator is not a small detail.
• Re-amortization assumptions. See above.
• Who you are actually contracting with. In some arrangements the installer, the lender, and the entity that owns the system are three different companies, and the warranty obligations sit with whichever one is still in business in year twelve.

None of that is a reason not to finance. It is a reason to read the paperwork, and to be able to ask your installer a direct question and get a direct answer.

What we will tell you

If the numbers do not work on your roof, financing does not fix that, it just spreads it out. We would rather lose the sale than sell you a payment.

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Financing is offered through Michigan Saves and its participating lenders. Approval, rate, and terms are determined by the lender, not by Augustine Solar. Nothing here is financial advice.