Clearly if grid power goes up, a solar investment does better, if it goes down, it does worse. The cost of solar also factors into your equation. For example, if you anticipate solar might drop in price by 50% within 5-10 years, you should, from a financial perspective, wait, or more simply take CitizenRe's 1 year or 5 year term.

One thing that may not be clear to people is that, by and large, with CitizenRe it is almost identical to buying a PV system with a few minor tweaks. Compare it to buying something like a house or car with a loan. You don't pay up front, instead you make payments. If it is damaged, repair is your problem. If you move, you can move it with some cost. You can "sell" it to the next buyer of your house. The cash flows are the same. You take on a legal commitment to make the payments as long as you have the item.

The tweaks -- they own the system at the end, not you. And they promise great flexibility in letting you unload if you want out for a good reason, saying you will only lose your security deposit.

The reality is, if there were another vendor who sold, installed and moved panels and PV systems at the price CitizenRe does internally -- and I don't think there is -- you would actually save money buying from them and owning. That's because CR is not a charity, should we want them to be. Some of the positives of CR include their very low cost ($500) for moving or remove/replace of the panels.

But these are minor adjustments to the main realization. While it seems like something very different from buying, it is in fact, from a cash flow basis, very similar to buying. It has to be, since CR buys the panels and needs to make a profit. This is not bad, just something worth understanding.