Leased Solar Panels in Illinois: Take It Over or Walk?

Should you take over leased solar panels when buying a home in Illinois?

Only after you’ve read the lease, your lender has signed off, and the numbers work for you. With leased solar panels, the solar company owns the system, so you’d be taking on the seller’s monthly payments, terms, and transfer rules. If the deal doesn’t make sense, you can ask the seller to buy out the system before closing, or walk away if your contract gives you that right.

By Kealan O’Neil | October 19, 2026

Solar is easy to love from the curb. The paperwork behind it is where deals fall apart.

In one r/RealEstate thread, a buyer wrote that after the offer was accepted, “the sellers are telling me they want the solar panel lease signed over to me,” and that “they say I can have more info after I sign.” In another, a buyer days from closing learned about a transfer fee from the title company and wrote, “We had never heard of this fee.”

Here’s how leased solar panels work in an Illinois sale, what they mean for your loan, title, and ComEd bill, and how to decide before your deadlines run out. The examples use Yorkville, but the process is the same in Oswego and Montgomery.

Start by finding out who owns the panels

“Solar panels” on a listing can mean four different things, and each one changes the deal:

• Owned outright. Paid in cash or with a loan that’s paid off. The system is part of the house.
• Owned, but financed. The seller still owes on a solar loan, which is often paid off at closing.
• Leased. The solar company owns the equipment and the homeowner pays a monthly lease.
• Power purchase agreement (PPA). The solar company owns the equipment and the homeowner pays for the electricity it produces at a set rate.

Leased solar panels and PPAs are where buyers get surprised. The Illinois Power Agency’s Illinois Shines guide to home sales says a lease or PPA can be bought out by the seller or transferred to the buyer, and the transfer process is largely the same for both.

Ask for the Disclosure Form, not just the contract

If the system went in through Illinois Shines, the state’s solar incentive program, or Illinois Solar for All, its income-eligible version, the homeowner was required to receive a standard Disclosure Form. It summarizes the payments, warranties, and terms in one place.

Two sections matter most when a house with leased solar panels sells: “If You Move” and “Early Termination or Completion of Contract.” The first says whether the lease can transfer and what the new owner takes on. The second says what the seller owes if you say no.

Because a participating system’s renewable energy credits go to an Illinois utility over a 15-year term, Illinois Shines says the solar company may ask you to sign its own agreement and give it monitoring access after closing.

Ask for these before you write an offer, or at least before attorney review ends:

• The lease or PPA and the Illinois Shines or Solar for All Disclosure Form.
• The solar company’s transfer requirements and any transfer fee.
• The current buyout price or the formula for it.
• Warranty terms, maintenance records, the ComEd interconnection approval, and twelve months of electric bills.
• The building permit and final inspection for the installation.

How leased solar panels affect your mortgage, title, and ComEd bill

They touch three separate approvals: your lender’s, your title company’s, and ComEd’s.

Your lender

Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide section B2-3-04 sets the rules for the conventional loans Fannie Mae buys. For leased solar panels or a PPA, the lender must review the agreement, and the panels’ value can’t be included in the appraised value.

The monthly lease payment generally counts in your debt-to-income ratio. The exceptions are narrow: certain leases with a fixed energy amount and a prorated production guarantee, and PPAs where you pay only for the energy produced.

Fannie Mae also requires the agreement to make the solar company responsible for damage from installation, malfunction, or removal. FHA and VA loans have their own rules, so send the agreement to your loan officer the day you get it. My post on the mortgage contingency in Illinois explains why that timing matters.

Your title company

Companies that own leased solar panels often file a UCC-1 financing statement giving public notice of their ownership. Under Illinois law (810 ILCS 5/9-501), a fixture filing goes in the office that records mortgages.

For a Yorkville home, that’s the Kendall County Recorder at 502 S. Main St., which records liens, mortgages, and deeds.

Fannie Mae accepts a “precautionary” filing that covers only the solar equipment, not the home or land, if the loan follows its solar rules. Illinois Shines puts it more bluntly: most title companies want UCC-1 filings resolved before issuing a clean policy, so treat it as a closing requirement. The solar company may lift the filing for your loan and refile it after the transfer.

Ask your title company to flag any solar filing early. My post on title insurance in Illinois walks through how to read that commitment.

Your ComEd net metering status

ComEd delivers electricity in Yorkville, and this detail can change what leased solar panels are worth to you. Under 220 ILCS 5/16-107.5, systems registered for net metering before January 1, 2025 keep full net metering for the lifetime of the system, even when the customer changes.

The same law says net metering eligibility transfers to the new owner of the billing address, including banked credits. ComEd’s FAQ says legacy customers get credits against supply, delivery, and taxes and fees, while customers who interconnected on or after January 1, 2025 get supply credits only.

So ask when the leased solar panels were interconnected. ComEd says net metering transfers automatically when you open a new account at a home with solar, but you’ll need to send its ownership change form within 60 days of starting service. If you buy supply through an alternative supplier or a municipal aggregation program, ComEd says you can switch suppliers and keep net metering without reapplying.

Your three options, and how the Illinois contract handles them

The Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 8.0, a standard Illinois residential contract form, has a checkbox for solar in its fixtures paragraph that points to Optional Paragraph 34, “Alternative Energy.” That paragraph asks whether the panels are owned, financed, or rented with a monthly payment.

It also requires the seller to deliver all solar documents within three business days after acceptance. You can cancel within three business days after receiving them, and you can cancel at any time if the documents don’t match what the seller represented or the agreements can’t be terminated or assigned by closing.

If your contract doesn’t include Paragraph 34, your attorney can raise it during attorney review. My guide to the Illinois attorney review period covers how those changes get proposed.

Option 1: Take over the lease

You sign the solar company’s transfer agreement and take over the payments under the original terms. Illinois Shines says the company may run a credit or income check first, and may require you to meet the lease’s insurance requirements.

Before you take over leased solar panels, read the payment schedule, any annual escalator, the remaining term, and who pays to remove and reinstall them if the roof needs replacing. Those answers are in the lease, not the listing.

Option 2: Ask the seller to buy it out

The seller pays the buyout price in the solar contract, and the system then sells with the house as an owned improvement. That can make the loan simpler, because owned panels fall under standard appraisal and title rules.

Option 3: Walk away, or ask for removal

If you decline the lease, Illinois Shines says the seller may need to buy out the system or pay the solar company to remove it. If no path works, the buyer may walk away, which is where Paragraph 34 and your attorney matter.

If you’re the seller

If you’re selling a home with leased solar panels, call the solar company before you list, not after you’re under contract. Illinois Shines notes that some contracts require notice before a sale, restrict early termination, or keep the seller responsible until the buyer’s assumption is complete.

Get the buyout quote and transfer packet in hand, disclose the lease up front, and consider a contract term that requires the buyer to sign the transfer agreement. If you have an Illinois Solar for All system, its homeowner handout says the project can stay in the program even if your buyer isn’t income-eligible.

What the best real estate agents in Yorkville, IL ask about solar before an offer

If you’re comparing agents, ask how they’d handle leased solar panels. Here’s the order I follow:

1. Confirm the ownership model. Owned, financed, leased, or PPA, using the Disclosure Form and contract.
2. Get the documents before the offer. Lease or PPA, transfer rules, buyout price, warranty, and bills.
3. Check the permit. In Yorkville, a residential permit is required for structural or electrical work, and the City publishes guidance for battery storage with solar.
4. Send the agreement to the lender. Confirm how the payment affects your ratios and the appraisal.
5. Ask title to search for solar filings. Find out whether a UCC-1 must be lifted, subordinated, or refiled.
6. Confirm the net metering date. Pre-2025 systems keep legacy ComEd crediting for the life of the system.
7. Decide inside your contract deadlines. Assume, buy out, remove, or cancel, with your attorney putting it in writing.

Questions Yorkville buyers and sellers ask about leased solar panels

Get the solar paperwork before you’re under contract

Leased solar panels aren’t a reason to skip a house. They are a reason to get the documents early and let your lender, title company, and attorney weigh in before your deadlines pass.

If you’re buying or selling in Yorkville, Oswego, Montgomery, or anywhere in Chicago’s Western Suburbs, I’ll help you sort out who owns the leased solar panels, what the lease really costs, and whether to assume it, negotiate a buyout, or walk. Learn more about the area on my Yorkville, IL real estate page. Call or text Kealan at 630-425-8815.

About Kealan O’Neil
Kealan O’Neil is the Designated Managing Broker and founder of O’Neil Property Group, an independent real estate brokerage based in Yorkville, Illinois. He and his team help buyers and sellers in Yorkville, Oswego, Montgomery, and the surrounding Kendall and Kane County communities, and he owns and manages a local rental portfolio, so he approaches every decision as both a broker and an investor. Call or text Kealan at 630-425-8815.

This post is general information about real estate in the Fox Valley, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Real estate laws, tax rules, and municipal ordinances change, and how they apply depends on your specific situation. Talk with a licensed attorney, CPA, or lender before making decisions about a purchase, sale, or tax matter. O’Neil Property Group is a licensed Illinois real estate brokerage.