Many of the big outfits have some pretty complicated contract terms. Who gets the Solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) that are produced by the operation of the system. Who is responsible for reading the production meter and reporting it? What happens to the contract when you sell your home? Who actually owns the equipment : is it leased or purchased outright, and who pays for and performs any maintenance? If the equipment is leased, what happens to it at the end of the lease? What happens if the utility or state changes the rules or the value of the SRECs? How does this affect property taxes in you locality? What about homeowners insurance coverage?
There is quite a bit of replacing components (inverters) going from grid tie only to battery or hybrid grid tie/battery if you do decide to do this in the future. If you might want to do this then a central inverter grid tie system is easier to convert that a distributed micro inverter type setup.
The complete package pricing seems generally in line with what I am reading about. The hardware cost is currently around $2/watt ballpark and the rest is installation & registration costs. This sounds like a very straightforward package and installation. Depending on where you are located the system should actually generate about 5,300 kilowatt-hours a year. This also produces 5.3 SRECs per year. SRECS in Ohio used to be worth over $300 each. With Kasich and the Repubs they are now worth $16 each. You may need your own separate meter to keep track of the SREC production.
If you go the Solar industries installers certification website you can also find NABCEP certified installers for the whole country listed. This is a good way to find good local installers. http://www.nabcep.org/certified-installer-locator
Sorry, I know this is a bit overkill from your original question, but these are some of the important details you or anyone buying or leasing one of these packages need to be aware of. In general I lean toward purchasing and owning the system, but the higher up-front costs do put many out of the market which is where the lease does have its place.
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