Tax credits, incentives, declining prices for hardware and rising prices for enegy-the cost-benefit analysis for home solar power systems keeps getting more and more attractive. Still, a large system can cost tens of thousands of dollars-that's real money and a major stumbling block.

Enter municipal financing.
Enter municipal financing.
The New York Times reports this morning on the a program that is available in thirteen states that allows homeowners to borrow the money to install a solar system and then pay it back over 20 years, with payments attached to their property taxes. The beauty of this approach is that if you move, you leave the solar panels and the payments behind-they remain attached to the house and the next owner takes over. According to the Times story, once the regulatory hurdles were overcome in California, there was no stopping this good idea.