You usually can’t just cancel a solar lease, but most contracts give you a way out. The usual exits are transferring the lease to your home’s buyer, prepaying the remaining payments, buying the system, moving it to your new home, or paying an early-termination fee to have it removed. Which ones you have, and what they cost, is written in your contract.
Start there, then call the leasing company and ask for every option as a dated written quote. Recently signed? A sale made at your home may still be inside a three-business-day cancellation window; see the cancellation steps.
Start with the contract
Find these numbers before you call anyone. They decide which exit makes sense:
- Remaining term: how many years and payments are left.
- Current payment and escalator: the monthly payment (lease) or price per kWh (PPA), and how much it rises each year.
- Buyout or purchase option: when it is available and how the price is set (a fixed schedule or “fair market value”).
- Early-termination formula: the fee and whether removal and roof repair are included.
Also collect the signed agreement and every amendment, your payment history, the transfer, prepayment, default and end-of-term sections, any title or UCC notice, the production guarantee, and open service issues.
The Federal Trade Commission’s solar contract checklist (last updated April 2022) lists the same questions: early-termination fees, whether you can renew, buy or remove the system at the end, whether you can move it to a new home, and whether a buyer must pass a credit check or pay fees to take over the contract.
Lease, PPA or loan? With a lease you pay a monthly amount; with a power purchase agreement (PPA) you pay per kWh produced. In both, a company owns the panels and the exits below apply. If you bought the system with a solar loan, you own it: selling the house usually means paying off the loan or selling the system with the home, and the lender’s payoff terms apply instead. The solar financing guide explains the differences.
Your exit options
1. Transfer the lease to the buyer
The buyer takes over the remaining term after the leasing company approves them, which may include a credit check. It may cost the seller little in cash, but it adds an approval step to the sale, and some buyers or their lenders will say no.
2. Prepay the remaining payments
Some contracts let you pay the rest of the term in one amount; ask whether the quote is discounted. The company usually still owns the system and the buyer gets its power for the rest of the term. Ask in writing who owns it after prepayment and who handles repairs.
3. Buy the system
Some contracts offer a purchase option at set times, at a scheduled price or “fair market value.” Ask which warranties, monitoring and service rights pass to you. Once you own it, repairs are yours. There is no federal homeowner tax credit for a 2026 buyout; the IRS ended that credit for spending after 2025.
4. Move the system to your new home
Some contracts allow relocation. Ask what it costs and whether the new home must be in the company’s service area. Expect to pay for removal, reinstallation and roof repair at the old house unless the contract says otherwise. See solar panel removal and reinstallation for the work involved.
5. Early termination and removal
Available only if the contract or company offers it. The written quote should separate the termination fee, removal, roof restoration, permits and any unpaid balance.
One provider’s process: Sunrun’s moving page says the buyer completes a soft credit check and signs a transfer agreement, the seller gets a final invoice when escrow closes, and a seller whose buyer won’t take over can prepay the rest of the service. Those are Sunrun’s terms, checked October 14, 2026, not rules for every lease. Sunrun transfer page.
Worked example: what is the rest of the lease worth?
These figures are made up to show the math. Use your own contract numbers.
- Current payment: $135 a month, rising 2.9% a year.
- Years left: 12.
- Payment in the final year: $135 × 1.02911 ≈ $184.89 a month.
- Total of the remaining payments: about $22,861 (about $19,440 if the payment never rose).
A prepayment quote below $22,861 reflects a discount for paying early; ask what discount rate the company used. A buyout quote can be compared with the same total, plus the fact that after a buyout you pay for repairs and an inverter replacement yourself. A transfer costs the seller little only if the buyer qualifies and agrees.
If you are selling the home
- Start before you list. Ask the leasing company for its transfer package, processing time, buyer requirements and a dated buyout and prepayment quote.
- Disclose the lease up front. Give your agent and buyers the payment, escalator, remaining term, production history and transfer conditions in writing.
- Keep a backup. Hold the prepayment or buyout quote in case the buyer or their lender won’t accept a transfer.
- Coordinate the title. Ask the leasing company and the title company what is recorded against the property and how it will be released, continued or refiled for the buyer (see below).
- Confirm completion. A submitted form is not a finished transfer. Get written confirmation of the new account holder and the effective date.
The UCC-1 filing and your home sale
Leasing companies often record a UCC-1 financing statement, sometimes called a fixture filing, in the county land records. Fannie Mae calls it a “precautionary” filing: a public notice that the company, not you, owns the panels. What it covers depends on its wording, so ask for a copy.
- For a sale or refinance, a title company will usually find it. Leasing companies may lift it temporarily or refile it in the buyer’s name; Sunrun, for example, says it temporarily removes its title notice and UCC during a transfer at no cost. The CFPB, discussing UCC filings by solar lenders, notes they can cloud a title and may need to be released or subordinated before a refinance.
- For a buyer with a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage (Selling Guide B2-3-04, version dated October 8, 2025): a “precautionary” UCC filing that describes only the leased equipment, not the home or land, is acceptable as a minor title issue. The lease payment usually counts in the buyer’s debt-to-income ratio, while PPA payments based only on energy produced may be left out. Leased panels add no value to the appraisal. FHA, VA and other lenders have their own rules.
Compare the exits on the same basis
Path | Cash from you now | Who owns the system after | Main uncertainty | Get in writing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Transfer | Fees, if any | Leasing company | Buyer and lender approval | Buyer requirements, timeline, fees |
Prepay | Quoted remaining amount | Usually the leasing company | Service and repairs for the rest of the term | Amount, discount, quote expiry |
Buyout | Purchase price | You, then your buyer | Condition, transferred warranties | Price, warranties, monitoring access |
Move the system | Removal, reinstall, roof repair | Leasing company | New roof fit, service area, permits | Total cost and who does the work |
Termination and removal | Fee plus physical work | Equipment leaves | Roof restoration scope | Fee, removal, roof repair, balance |
Don’t treat the remaining monthly payments as the buyout price unless the contract or company says they are the same. Ask how long each quote is valid and which contract section produced it.
What happens if you stop paying?
Stopping payment is not an exit. Read the default section of your contract before you consider it. Look for late fees, whether the company can demand all remaining payments at once, whether it can remove the system, and whether it reports late payments to credit bureaus. The recorded filing stays in place and can hold up a sale or refinance until the account is settled.
If the real problem is a broken system, low production or a billing error, use the contract’s service and dispute process in writing and keep copies; the solar repair guide covers fault diagnosis. If you believe the lease was misrepresented when you signed, contact your state attorney general or consumer protection office, or a consumer attorney, before withholding payment or signing an exit document. Companies that advertise getting you out of a solar contract for a fee can’t change your contract’s terms; ask exactly what they will do that you can’t, and check them out before paying anything upfront.
Solar lease exit questions
Is a lease transfer the same as buying the panels?
No. A transfer changes who is responsible for the agreement; the leasing company still owns the system. A buyout transfers ownership under separate terms.
I bought a house that already had a leased system. What can I do?
If you took over the lease at closing, you are the customer and have the same exits listed in the agreement. If no transfer was completed, contact the leasing company right away to find out who it considers responsible and get that in writing.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, “Solar Power for Your Home”, last updated April 2022: lease/PPA terms, moving, transfer and buyer requirements. Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-3-04, Special Property Eligibility Considerations (October 8, 2025): properties with leased solar panels or PPAs. Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Issue Spotlight: Solar Financing”, August 2024: lease structure and UCC filings. Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Sunrun, “What Happens if I Move?” (provider example). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, energy-credit FAQ under Public Law 119-21: Section 25D cutoff. Accessed October 14, 2026.
