Participate Energy: Cash-style solar financing with TPO benefits

Solar financing used to be a pretty short list: pay cash, take out a loan, or sign a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA). That’s changed quickly. Since the residential tax credit expired at the end of 2025, pre-paid leases have stepped in as a fourth option—and they’re not as fringe as they used to be.

At a high level, the setup is simple: A third-party company—not you—claims the federal commercial solar tax credit and passes some of that value back to you through a lease payment that is significantly reduced compared to a cash purchase of the same system. The company retains ownership of the system for about six years, at which point you’ll have the option to buy it out. However, the details vary from one provider to the next. As for Participate Energy, this company offers a pre-paid lease designed to provide the transparency and customer preferences typical of buying rather than leasing—but you’ll have to review the buyout option in the future to see if the “incremental cash” required is attractive. In either case, at that time, you will have the choice to stay under the lease at no additional cost or to have a low or $0 buyout. 

We'll walk you through how Participate's pre-paid lease works, who it's best for, and how it stacks up against other solar financing options.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide an informational overview of Participate Energy. It is not intended to serve as official financial guidance. Readers interested in installing solar products should use their best judgment and seek advice from a licensed tax professional.

Participate Energy’s pre-paid lease is a type of third-party ownership (TPO). The company owns your system, claims the federal commercial solar tax credit, and passes some of that value back to you in the form of a lower prepaid lease price—the exact amount depends on where you live and the installer you choose. You make a single payment at installation and have the option to buy the system after year six at fair market value minus your lease value credits and future obligations credits, which Participate assesses at the time of transfer. 

It’s worth noting that Participate does not guarantee a $0 ownership transfer at year six, so you’ll likely have to make another cash payment at that time in order to obtain ownership of your system. 

What sets Participate apart from other leases and PPAs is how it handles the relationship between the company, the installer, and the homeowner. Instead of relying on a complex pricing model like most traditional TPO providers, Participate has installers price the system the same way they would for a cash deal, building it from the ground up. However, the solar system cost isn’t the only thing factored into Participate lease prices.

Participate Energy vs. other solar financing options

No credit check and typically no property lien

Two of the most common friction points in solar financing are credit underwriting and property liens. Participate Energy removes both. No FICO score or credit check is required to qualify, and the company doesn’t always put a lien on the equipment it owns. 

Many TPO providers file a UCC-1 for the solar equipment until ownership is officially transferred, which puts a lien on the solar equipment (but not your home). However, Participate Energy does not have a standard practice of placing UCC-1s on every home (though homeowners can choose to finance their pre-payment through third-party lenders that might require this). That's a key distinction for homeowners planning to sell, refinance, or simply prefer not to have a lien on their property. 

Installer-friendly pricing

Unlike many TPO products that require installers to plug variables into a proprietary pricing model, Participate Energy structures its pricing around the actual cost of the system, similar to how cash and loan sales were priced in the past. Installers design the system that best fits your needs, determine their costs, and build up to a price, rather than reverse-engineering a proposal around what the TPO company will pay. The result is greater transparency for both the installer and the homeowner, with Participate Energy leveraging its commercial position to maximize incentives to provide competitive and attractive lease pricing and benefits. 

While this pricing structure is more closely aligned with traditional cash deals, the pricing for homeowners is a bit more complicated. As we mentioned, the system’s upfront cost plays a role, but Participate also builds in other sources of value—like future obligations and contract value—when pricing its leases.

Seamless home sale transfers

If you sell your home while the system is still under Participate's ownership, the agreement transfers to the new buyer without a credit check or complex paperwork. The new homeowner simply signs a transfer notice. And because the system is already pre-paid, there's no monthly obligation waiting to be assumed.

You want to own your system right away

With Participate's pre-paid lease, the system belongs to Participate Energy for the first six years. If immediate ownership is a priority—or if you're not comfortable with a third party holding title to equipment on your roof—a cash purchase or solar loan may be a better fit, even without the federal tax credit.

A $0 buyout price at year six matters to you

Participate’s buyout price is based on fair market value assessed at the time of the request, less the applicable credits for “future obligations” owed by Participate. The remainder is the incremental cash required to buy out the system. You may be able to purchase the system at year six for $0 or a low amount, but Participate intentionally doesn't promise that, as other pre-paid TPO providers sometimes do (but can’t legally guarantee). If savings are most important to you, confirm that the overall system cost will still be lower than if you paid in cash. That’s why we always recommend comparing multiple quotes.    

Participate Energy isn't available in your state

Participate Energy currently serves Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington. If you're outside those states, you'll need to explore other pre-paid lease and TPO options in your area, or potentially finance your system in another way.

Participate Energy's pre-paid lease is a compelling option for homeowners who want the financial benefits of a TPO product—namely, access to federal solar tax credits through Participate—without many of the traditional downsides. A path to ownership is certainly an advantage in a market where homeowners can no longer claim the tax credit directly.

That said, the fair-market-value buyout is something to go in with clear eyes about: You’ll have to be comfortable with not owning your system for at least six years and not locking in a buyout price at the time of installation. Whether that's a dealbreaker depends on your priorities and how long you plan to stay in your home.

The best way to evaluate whether a Participate Energy pre-paid lease is right for your situation is to compare multiple quotes from reputable installers and weigh pre-paid lease options alongside solar loans and other financing structures to find what works best for your home and budget.