How to Go Solar in Arizona Without Touching Your Savings

Going solar used to mean one of two things: take out a loan, or sign a 25-year lease with monthly payments baked in. For a lot of Phoenix-area homeowners, that is where the conversation ended.

There is a third option that does not get talked about enough. A prepaid solar lease. You pay a single upfront amount, the system gets installed, and your energy rate is locked in at roughly 30% below what APS or SRP charges today. No monthly solar bill. No interest. The lease company handles maintenance.

That 30% gap is worth sitting with for a second. APS raised rates 7.6% in 2024. If rates climb at even half that pace going forward, your locked-in prepaid rate gets more valuable every year you hold it.

Solar Math in Sun City West and Surprise

The west side of the Valley sits in one of the best solar zones in the country. NREL data puts the Phoenix metro at around 6.5 peak sun hours per day on average. That is meaningfully higher than San Diego, Denver, or most of the Sun Belt cities people compare us to.

More daily sun means more output per panel, which tightens the economics on a prepaid lease. Most homeowners in Sun City West and Surprise are spending somewhere between $180 and $280 a month on electricity, sometimes more in summer. Run those numbers against the upfront cost and the math usually lands in a place that makes sense. Not always. But usually.

What Scottsdale Homeowners Want to Know

HOAs come up a lot in Scottsdale. Arizona law (ARS 33-1816) does not let HOAs ban solar outright, so approval is not the obstacle most people expect. The prepaid structure also does not put a lien on the property, which is what some HOAs actually object to with financed systems.

Resale questions come up too. A prepaid lease transfers to the buyer when you sell. We have had homeowners ask whether that is a negative, and honestly, in this market, a home with a locked-in low energy rate is a selling point. The buyer inherits the savings.

Fountain Hills

Fountain Hills runs higher bills than most of the Valley. Bigger homes, longer HVAC runtimes in summer, the elevation. A $350 to $400 summer bill is not unusual there.

At that level of spending, the decision timeline compresses. A lot of homeowners tell us they looked into solar two or three years before actually doing it and spent that whole window paying a rate they could have been well below. That is real money left on the table.

One thing worth being direct about: the federal solar tax credit is gone. It expired. The prepaid lease does not depend on it. The 30% discount is built into the lease structure itself, not tied to any government incentive. So that is not a reason to wait.

Goodyear

Goodyear is one of the faster-growing cities in the West Valley, and a lot of the homes there were built in the last ten years, which makes solar installs cleaner. Newer roofs, updated electrical panels, fewer complications.

Homeowners in Goodyear tend to ask about the no-credit-check aspect specifically. Because the prepaid lease is paid upfront rather than financed, there is no credit pull. That matters to people who want to go solar without opening a new line of credit.

Why Working With a Broker Changes the Conversation

Phoenix Valley Solar does not install panels. We work with the top-rated local installers in the Valley and match homeowners to the right company for their situation. We are not pushing a particular brand because we do not have one to push.

If a prepaid lease does not fit your situation, we will say so. For most Arizona homeowners paying high APS or SRP bills, it is at least worth running the numbers. You can use our solar calculator at phoenixvalleysolar.com/solar-calculator, or reach out directly at phoenixvalleysolar.com/contact and we will go through your bill together. No pressure.

If you are curious how APS rate increases affect the long-term savings picture, we covered that in detail: APS Rate Increases: How Solar Protects Phoenix Homeowners at phoenixvalleysolar.com/post/aps-rate-increases-how-solar-protects-phoenix-homeowners-1

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the prepaid solar lease require a credit check?

No. Because you are paying the full amount upfront rather than financing anything, there is no credit pull involved.

What happens when I sell my home?

The lease transfers to the new buyer. In Scottsdale and Fountain Hills especially, a locked-in below-market energy rate often reads as a feature rather than a complication.

Is the 30% discount guaranteed?

The rate is locked in at signing. How valuable that lock becomes depends on how much utility rates continue to climb. In Arizona they have gone up every year for the past decade.

What does Phoenix Valley Solar charge for the consultation?

Nothing. We are paid by the installer when a project closes. The advice is free. Learn more about how we work at phoenixvalleysolar.com/about.

Can I go solar if my HOA has not formally approved it?

Arizona law prohibits HOAs from banning solar outright. If your HOA pushes back, we can walk you through the process.