Money down
Sometimes called “upfront cost” or “initial payment”What ours says$0 upfront. On a power purchase agreement you don’t buy the system at all. You buy the electricity it produces, month by month. The panels stay the property of the company that owns them.Ask any installerIs the $0 a loan with payments starting later, or is nothing being financed at all?The rate
Look for “escalator” or “annual increase”What ours saysWritten into your agreement before you sign. Your rate depends on your roof, your usage and the partner you’re matched with, so we don’t publish a number here. Ask to see year one and year twenty on the same page, and don’t sign until you have.Ask any installerDoes the rate go up every year? Show me year one and year twenty side by side.Your credit
Look for “loan,” “promissory note,” or “financing agreement”What ours saysDepends which one you choose. A power purchase agreement is not a loan and opens no new credit line. A $0-down purchase is financed, so it involves a credit check and an APR that depends on your score.Ask any installerWill this appear as a 20- or 25-year loan on my credit?Your title
Look for “lien,” “UCC filing,” or “PACE assessment”What ours saysAsk for it in writing. A power purchase agreement is not a mortgage and is not a PACE assessment. Financing arrangements differ between partners, and some record a notice against the property. Get the answer for your specific agreement in writing before you sign it.Ask any installerIs this a PACE program? Will anything be recorded against my property?The warranty
Panels, inverter, battery, workmanship, and roof are often five separate termsWhat ours says25 years, from the installer. Parts, workmanship and performance, provided by the partner company that installs your system, layered over Tesla’s own manufacturer warranty on the Powerwall. It is their warranty, not ours, so get the terms in writing.Ask any installerDoes the labor warranty match the panel warranty, or does it stop at ten years?Who shows up
The company that sold it and the company that installs it are often differentWhat ours saysA CSLB-licensed partner company. Divine Gifts Solar is not a contractor and does not perform installation. We match you with licensed installation partners, and they pull the permits, do the work, and carry the warranty. You should check their licence at cslb.ca.gov before you sign.Ask any installerWho actually installs this, and who do I call when something breaks?If you’d rather own it
A purchase instead of a power purchase agreementWhat ours saysAvailable. A $0-down purchase is financed rather than paid for upfront, so you own the equipment and the APR depends on your credit. We put both options next to each other and tell you which one fits your bill.Ask any installerCan I see the cash price and the financed price on the same page?
Home/What you’re signing
$0 down is real. Here is exactly what it means.
A power purchase agreement is not a loan and not a lease. The system on your roof is owned and maintained by the provider that finances it, not by you and not by Divine Gifts Solar, and you buy the electricity it produces at a rate written into the agreement. Below is every line in the contract that matters, what ours says, and what to ask anyone else.
Plain-English ruleWe never let “$0 down” stand alone. It always comes with the explanation that you pay for the power, not the panels. If someone offers you “free solar,” walk away.
BrokerDivine Gifts Solar
Matches your home with a licensed installer and a financing provider, and goes through the agreement with you line by line. Does no installation work.
InstallerA CSLB-licensed partner
Designs the system, pulls the permit, installs it, and services it. Carries the licence and the 25-year warranty.
YouYour home
Pays $0 upfront. Pays for the electricity the system makes, at the rate written into the agreement. Does not own the panels.
OwnerThe financing provider
Owns and maintains the system on your roof. Sends the monthly PPA bill: the agreement’s rate times what the system produced.
UtilitySouthern California Edison
Still bills you for the connection and for whatever the panels and the Powerwall don’t cover.
Solar lease vs PPA vs buying the system
A lease and a PPA both leave the equipment with someone else; the difference is what you pay for. With a lease you pay a fixed monthly amount whatever the panels produce. With a PPA you pay only for the kilowatt-hours the system actually makes. Below is the PPA next to buying the system outright. Neither is the right answer for every house, so there is no highlighted “recommended” box.
Line
$0-down plan
Buy the system
Who owns the equipment
The provider that finances it, who also maintains it. Not you, and not Divine Gifts Solar.
You. It’s yours from day one.
What you pay
A rate per kilowatt-hour for what the system produces, written into the agreement. Nothing upfront.
Financed rather than paid upfront, so the APR depends on your credit.
Your credit
A credit check, no loan. Nothing new on your report.
Cash, or a loan you arrange. A loan appears on your report.
Your title
Not a mortgage and not a PACE assessment. Get the specific answer for your agreement in writing.
No lien if paid in cash. Some loans record against the property.
Tax credit
None for you. Under a PPA you don’t own the equipment and are not eligible to claim any federal solar tax credit.
The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025 (IRS). Consult a tax professional.
Warranty and service
25 years, parts, workmanship and production, provided by the installing partner over Tesla’s manufacturer warranty.
Same 25 years, same installing partner.
Selling the house
The agreement transfers to the buyer. Ask the provider for the transfer process and any fee in writing.
The system sells with the house.
Who it fits
Most homeowners with a $200+ bill who want the bill lower now without spending cash.
Homeowners who want to own the equipment and have the cash or financing to do it.
As a $0-down PPA customer, you do not own the solar equipment and are not eligible to claim any federal solar tax credit. Buying the system no longer earns one either: the IRS says the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025 (IRS). Consult a tax professional.
How the rate is set
The rate depends on your roof, your usage and which partner you are matched with, so we don’t publish a figure here — a number that varies by customer is meaningless on a web page. What we do insist on is that you see the year-one rate and the year-twenty rate on the same page before you sign, and we go through both with you.
What happens to your Edison bill
You stay connected to Edison. Your bill drops to the monthly connection charge plus any power you use beyond what the panels and the Powerwall cover, mostly winter evenings and heat waves. Your PPA bill is the agreement’s rate times what the system produced that month. Together they should be lower than the bill you have now, and we show you the estimate with the quote.
Two parts of that Edison bill are worth understanding before you sign anything with us or anyone else. The connection charge is fixed and no solar system removes it — we explain it in what actually changed on your Edison bill in 2026. And if you own a system rather than taking the $0-down plan, Edison settles your export credits once a year in a way that surprises a lot of people: how the true-up bill is calculated.
What you can cancel
California gives you a right to cancel a home solicitation contract within three business days of signing, and the agreement says so on the front page. Before that, there’s nothing to cancel: the quote, the site check, and the design are free and carry no commitment. The agreement itself is the authority on your cancellation rights, not this page.
Reading someone else’s proposal
If you already have a quote from another installer, the seven lines above are the ones to check. Most proposals bury the rate escalator and the workmanship warranty term. Bring it to us and we’ll go through it with you. If theirs is the better deal for your house, we’ll say so.
What the same system costs to buy outright: solar panel cost in California, from the CPUC’s records. How to check whoever is offering you an agreement: choosing a solar company.
More detail on liens, tax credits, warranties and what happens when you sell is on the questions page, and the install itself is on the home solar installation page.
Two numbers, before any commitment
Send one recent Edison bill. You get your $0-down rate and your purchase price side by side, with what each covers.
Or call (909) 320-2309.
Start with your bill, not a sales pitch.
Send one recent Edison bill and we’ll come back with two numbers and a plain explanation of both. If solar doesn’t pencil out for your house, we’ll say so.
(909) 320-2309
Ask for a quote. A person answers the phone.