Can You Really Get Solar Panels Installed for Free?

More and more households have been getting offers of free solar panels for their home. There have been promises of getting hundreds of dollars in savings from their regular electric bill, and all absolutely at zero cost for the homeowner. If you compare solar rates these days, a small regular household kit could cost well over $10,000 at least for everything including installation. Getting an offer sounds like so much of a win-win right?
Many solar power installers have been going out of their way knocking on every door to give out this irresistible offer. What would you get anyway - a free solar kit that is thousands of dollars in cost, a 25-year contract on the solar kit, after which you get to decide if you would buy the kit at its depreciated price, and at least 10% off on your grid-tied electric consumption, free installation and free regular maintenance. You don’t even have to worry about your panels getting stolen! The installers will take care of that for you. Tempting? Yes.

For any impulsive customer, this seems like the perfect plan. It’s an all-win situation and without having to compare solar plans and kits especially for those who are not huge fans of understanding which brand is better for whatever reason.

But what’s the catch? Why would any company spend tens of thousands of dollars putting up these pricey solar panels and help homeowners save on their electric bill? Are environment advocates evolving into big time corporate philanthropists and squandering away millions of cash to promote alternative energy?

Not entirely.

The free solar kits contract, while affording you some huge freebies, is equal to giving away you government subsidy for energy, aka feed-in tariff schemes of FITs (term more popular in the UK and Europe). These FITs are the government’s incentives for using alternative energy; the power companies are simply paying you back for the energy accorded but you don’t get to use - apparently, because of your more efficient energy source - that goes back to the power plants. This cash payout for the unused energy is what the solar companies get in exchange of your free solar energy kits. In some cases, the cash may - in bulk - be larger than the money you get to save from the kits and from the money you would have spent if you’d bought the kit yourself.

Before signing up for any of these free panels promo, read, understand, ask and clarify everything and compare solar offers.