Lynette Bunyard and Joe Pambianco wanted to add solar panels to the roof of their downtown San Jose home. But instead of shelling out $47,000 for the installation, they found a popular alternative financing method for those who want to go green but don't want to go broke in the process.
The couple used a power-purchase agreement, or PPA in industry lingo, transacted through a San Francisco company called SunRun. The company works with a homeowner and a solar-installation company; it finances the deal; it owns and operates the solar system, and sells the homeowner the electricity being generated on the homeowner's roof at a fixed rate (13.5 cents per kilowatt hour) for 18 years.
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