Solar Servicing Center is adding to its repertoire of options that Southern California consumers can use to get solar panels installed at their homes with a no upfront cost. Zepyor Parseghian’s California-based company announced this week that it’s introducing a zero down financing option in California.

Since 2011, Solar Servicing Center has offered Southern California consumers the ability to lease solar panels and purchase back the power they produce in the form of monthly payments that are rolled into their electric bills. Their brand new option now allows consumers to purchase the solar energy system the company installs on a homeowner’s roof over an extended period of time, with monthly payments similar to a home mortgage, while still taking advantage of lower cost electricity and no upfront costs, explained Parseghian.

“This is an option that we felt that we thought customers would respond well to,” Parseghian said. “There are people who are more comfortable owning than leasing and with this great new option, we are able to offer it at a per kilowatt hour price that in some cases will be lower than what people are paying through our leasing program.”

Customers using the Solar Servicing Center’s leasing program have seen savings between 5 percent and 30 percent of what they used to pay for electricity before installing the photovoltaic panels, according to Parseghian.

Solar Servicing Center is lowering the cost of solar electricity by leveraging its scale and low cost of capital to act as a direct lender to its customers through its financing arm. Solar Servicing Center officials say the company installed more residential power systems in the second quarter of 2014 than the next 40 competitors combined.

The purchase option offers customers fixed annual percentage rates as low as 4.5 percent for 30 years. While most solar loans are provided by third-party banks and municipalities in partnership with solar manufacturers and regional installers, Solar Servicing Center is lending directly to customers.

The purchase option allows customers to prepay their entire balance or prepay a portion of their solar loan to lower their monthly payments at any time, with no fees or penalties.

Another advantage of Solar Servicing Center’s purchase option is that it requires no lien being placed on the customer’s home as is the case with some solar energy offerings.

Parseghian said there are two considerations for consumers when evaluating whether the purchase option is appropriate for them.

One is whether the consumer’s credit score meets the minimum threshold of 680. The other is whether a consumer has a big enough annual tax bill to make purchasing a solar power system worthwhile.

As a specific example, she cited a consumer purchasing a $30,000 solar power system. Using the 30 percent federal tax credits available for those installing solar energy system in their homes, the consumer Parseghian cited in her example would need to have at least a $9,000 tax bill to take full advantage of the credits.

The purchase option comes with a monitoring service package and a 30-year warranty.