My experience buying a Sunrun solar home

First-time home buyer Michael Naughton shares his simple path to saving with the sun

Here at Sunrun we’ve transferred thousands of solar lease agreements for our customers. We pride ourselves on making this process super easy and hassle-free—just a like a solar lease with Sunrun.

Buying a house with a Sunrun system already installed is a lesser-known, but increasingly popular way to go solar for the first time and the good news is, there’s a number of solar energy homes for sale today.

We caught up with happy Sunrun customer Michael Naughton in Dedham, Mass., about only his experience going solar as a first time home buyer.

So, you bought a house with solar already on it?

Yes, that’s right. We were looking to buy our first home and knew we wanted to stay there long term. When we first scouted properties, we didn’t see too many homes for sale with solar panels already installed, so we had it in our minds that we’d add solar on later. When we visited our now home, we were super happy with the property and the fact that it already had solar panels was icing on the cake.

Why was solar something you always knew you’d want?

We’re very environmentally conscious. My wife lived in California previously and grew accustomed to living sustainably whether it be through composting and recycling whenever possible, or using public transportation.

In Boston we also have high electricity rates. We have a 7-month old daughter now and savings is a priority for our family. We knew that solar was the right thing to do for the planet and for our finances.

So are you saving money today with your Sunrun system?

Yes, we’re enormously pleased with our savings. Last month we didn’t even pay an electric bill. In fact, we got a $23 credit for the power we generated. Having solar definitely helps us keep costs down.

Let’s talk about the service transfer process, what was that like?

To be honest, I haven’t thought a lot about the process of the transfer since we moved in at the end of last summer—it was that easy. The Sunrun service transfer team made the process simple by communicating regularly with me about the required forms for the transfer. There was a good amount of coordinating between the parties (sellers, realtor, ourselves, the utility company), but Sunrun managed it all seamlessly.

So would you say the future’s bright with for solar?

Absolutely. I love that my daughter will grow up thinking home solar is the norm. I’m proud that we’re setting a good example for her. I try to spread the word about solar whenever possible; I’m actually in the process of convincing my parents to go solar right now.

Sarah Mier is communications supervisor at Sunrun.