{"id":18647,"date":"2026-06-04T20:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurorasolar.com\/?p=18647"},"modified":"2026-06-04T20:09:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:09:59","slug":"solar-financing-after-the-itc-matching-right-product-customer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurorasolar.com\/solar-financing-after-the-itc-matching-right-product-customer\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar financing after the ITC: matching the right product to the customer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How solar installers can navigate a shifting financing landscape \u2014 and win at the kitchen table<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expiration of the Section 25D tax credit, the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), and FIAT compliance complexity have combined to help fundamentally change how resi solar is financed. The expected rush to third-party ownership (TPO) has been trending up, but, prepaid TPO has entered the chat, and homeowners have another option to learn about.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Aurora\u2019s Empower event, our own Jess Lyons, Staff Product Manager, sat down with three leading financing executives \u2014 Troy Roble (SVP of Business Development, LightReach), Stephen Pollock (CEO, Participate Energy), and Mike Gilroy (CEO, Sungage Financial) \u2014 to talk through what’s actually working, what has promise, and what needs to change. Their conversation kept returning to an important theme: The installers who are thriving aren\u2019t pushing homeowners toward one product, they\u2019re listening to customers so they can find the right fit for each household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Watch the full session and earn a NABCEP CEU (you can earn up to 5 by watching more).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Start with the spectrum, not the product<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Pollock offered a good framework for thinking about financing options not as competing products, but as a spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On one side of the bookend is pure cash \u2014 ownership, control, transparency, upside. On the complete opposite end is a zero-down TPO \u2014 full wrap, no money down, everything’s taken care of. Both are good value propositions. They’re just distinct.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Stephen Pollock, CEO, Participate Energy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between those bookends sit loans, leases & PPAs, and prepaid leases \u2014 each capturing elements of ownership \u00a0through TPO. Understanding where a given customer fits on that spectrum is the starting point for every financing conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Gilroy drove the point home using an analogy about cars: Most homeowners with solid credit are buyers, not lessees. They’re used to owning the major assets in their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For the major purchases in the lives of a 760 FICO homeowner, they’re used to controlling the assets in their lives,\u201d he explained. \u201cThey’re used to purchasing.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going into a solar conversation assuming a customer wants a lease just because of the tax credit is starting in the wrong place. It starts with what matters to the homeowner in respect to monthly payments, ownership options, and what they qualify for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flexibility is the strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a volatile market \u2014 and this one has certainly been volatile! \u2014 the instinct is often to pick a lane and stay in it. The panelists pushed back on that impulse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay nimble, keep your head on the swivel, anticipate what’s coming down the road in the future, have contingency plans, and communicate when challenges come and work together.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Troy Roble SVP of Business Development, LightReach<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Gilroy pointed to the broader arc: The market went from roughly three-quarters loan and cash just a few years ago, to flirting with three-quarters TPO today. Who knows what it will be a few years down the road. The most resilient installers treat this diversification of options as a deliberate strategy rather than simply reacting to a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practically, that means building your team’s knowledge and your lender relationships across all three product categories \u2014 so that when the market shifts, you’re not starting from zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conviction closes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A consistent theme was that product knowledge alone isn’t enough. The salesperson has to believe in what they’re presenting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When the salespeople and the installer believe in it and are able to convey it convincingly \u2014 and really explain why they believe so strongly in that approach \u2014 that is when the customers believe it. It needs to be authentic.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Stephen Pollock, CEO, Participate Energy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Troy Roble echoed this, pointing to some installers who have found success not by offering more options, but by simplifying their message around one product they truly understand \u2014 in some cases, going back to a straightforward flat-rate loan with no escalator. “They’re starting to have some success with that because they’re simplifying the message,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t mean that installers should limit themselves to one product. It’s that they need to understand every product in the portfolio deeply enough to present it with clarity. If your team can’t explain a prepaid lease confidently, it won’t sell, no matter how competitive the numbers are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it looks like in practice<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For installers looking to put these ideas to work, the panel pointed to a few concrete starting points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n