A large demographic in the United States has been left in the dark, so to speak, thus far in the solar movement — renters. Renters and, of course, landlords live under a hefty portion of American roofs just prime for solar installations. But, typically renters pay for their electricity bills, erasing any incentive for the landlord to install a solar electric system. However, the folks at SolarPowerRocks just might have a solution figured out.

Tenants occupy roughly 40% of U.S. households. That’s about 52 million homes! While making solar a viable and cost-effective solution for both landlords and tenants is no easy task, SolarPowerRocks presents a few ways this might be possible, including a lucrative renter/landlord relationship and feed-in tariffs. And, as they point out, going solar, for now, is more rewarding for landlords than for homeowners. Leased residences are considered investment properties, or businesses, which do not come with that pesky $2,000 cap on tax credits that homeowners must contend with.

Still, installing a solar system on a rented property would be like charity for the landlord, making them unlikely to do it unless they can somehow save money on energy costs also. This is the biggest conundrum. Savings will have to be worked into the tenant/landlord agreement so that both are saving by using clean renewable energy.

If you are a renter, and you’d like to go solar, contact your landlord and let them know about the tax benefits available at least to the end of this year and likely longer. You can access documents summarizing the tax benefits at SolarPowerRocks.com and get answers to other related questions.

Posted on July 14th in Going Solar by Dan.