Rooftop solar is common on Tucson homes, and a good share of it is not owned by the homeowner. If the panels on a house are leased, or supplied under a power purchase agreement, they belong to a solar company, and selling the house means moving that agreement to the buyer. It is routine, but it takes time and paperwork that a sale without solar does not, so it pays to start early. Here is how it works on both sides.
Owned, financed, leased: what each means at sale
- Owned outright: the panels are part of the house and simply go with it
- Bought with a loan: the loan is usually paid off at closing, or taken over by the buyer if the lender allows it, and any filing the lender recorded has to be cleared or subordinated
- Leased: the solar company owns the panels and the buyer takes over the monthly payments, subject to the company's approval
- Power purchase agreement (PPA): the company owns the panels and sells the home the power they make, by the kilowatt-hour; the buyer takes over the agreement the same way as a lease
What the next owner gets from TEP
On Tucson Electric Power, solar homes connected since late 2018 are credited for the electricity they send back to the grid at the Resource Comparison Proxy export rate. For interconnection requests from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, it is 4.62 cents per kilowatt-hour; the rate is usually adjusted every year, cannot fall more than 10 percent a year, and is locked for up to ten years at the rate in place when the system's interconnection was requested (TEP).
That lock matters to a buyer, and TEP's tariff answers it directly: a customer who moves to a home already on the export rider keeps the rate in effect for that site for the rest of its ten years. The site loses the lock if the system is enlarged by more than 10 percent or 1 kilowatt, or moved. Customers on the rider must be on a time-of-use rate, and after the ten years the credit follows the current rate each year (TEP Rider-14). Older systems still on TEP's original net metering keep it for 20 years from the date they were connected, and a customer who switches to the export rate cannot switch back (TEP). So ask the seller for a recent TEP bill: it shows which plan the home is on.
Some homes on the edges of the metro area are served by Trico Electric Cooperative instead, which describes itself to the Arizona Corporation Commission as serving mainly rural parts of Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties, and asks you to check each address on its service map. Trico's export credit for systems under its March 2026 tariff is 3.124 cents per kilowatt-hour, fixed for ten years from interconnection (Trico).
Selling a home with leased panels
- Before you list, find the agreement and call the solar company's transfer team. Ask how its approval works, how long it takes, what it charges and whether the agreement allows a buyout or prepayment. One large company, for example, has the buyer complete a credit application and waives it when the lease is prepaid (Sunrun)
- Put it in the contract. The Arizona REALTORS® Solar Addendum (November 2025) gives the seller a few days to hand over the solar documents, gives the buyer time to review them and requires the buyer to apply to the company promptly; if the company has not approved the transfer shortly before closing, the buyer can cancel and keep the earnest money. It also says who pays the transfer fees
- Expect a recorded notice. Solar companies often record a fixture filing with the county recorder (A.R.S. § 47-9501). It is technically not a lien on the house, but it "can muddy the title" (CFPB), so the buyer's lender will want it released or subordinated; many companies handle that through the title company
- Disclose it. If the home is on unincorporated land, such as much of the Catalina Foothills, and you are selling five or fewer parcels, the seller's Affidavit of Disclosure asks whether solar equipment is leased or owned and for the leasing company's contact details (A.R.S. § 33-422)
- After closing, the utility has to be told the system has a new owner (A.R.S. § 44-1764); the solar company and title company usually prompt it, but confirm it happened
Buying a home with leased panels
Ask for the full agreement during your inspection period and read it like a second loan: the monthly payment and whether it rises each year, how many years are left, any production guarantee, who maintains and insures the panels, what happens if the roof needs replacing, and your options when the term ends. Agreements signed in Arizona since 2016 have to state any limits on transferring the system and whether its warranties transfer (A.R.S. § 44-1763), so the answers should be in writing.
Your lender will look at it too. Fannie Mae counts lease payments in your debt-to-income ratio unless the payments are based solely on the energy the panels produce, gives leased panels no value in the appraisal, and requires that the solar company not be named on your homeowners insurance as insured or loss payee (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-3-04). FHA accepts a home with leased panels or a power purchase agreement only if the agreement does not restrict the sale of the home, and also leaves the panels out of the appraised value (HUD Handbook 4000.1). Tell your loan officer about the panels at the start.
Check who stands behind the system today. Two large residential solar companies have been through bankruptcy recently: SunPower filed in August 2024 and Sunnova in June 2025, and servicing of many of their systems moved to a company called SunStrong Management (Solar Power World; AZFamily). Ask the seller who services the panels now and whether repairs and the production guarantee are being honored. And if you plan to add panels or a battery after you move in, the federal residential clean energy credit no longer applies to systems installed after December 31, 2025 (IRS).
New in 2026
A law signed on June 19, 2026 adds protections to new solar contracts in Arizona: lease payments cannot start until the utility has given permission to operate and the system is switched on, and the contract must say so if a warranty is shorter than the lease (Laws 2026, chapter 175). It does not change agreements already in place, so on a resale the existing contract is still the one to read.
If you are selling a home with solar, tell us at the start and we will build the transfer into the timeline. For a sense of what your home would sell for, ask us for a home valuation; it is free and it is specific.
