That somebody is SolarCity. In 2008, SolarCity introduced SolarLease, a program that enables homeowners to lease solar panel systems for a low monthly rate and zero money down. SolarCity even provides free repair service and free monitoring for optimal output as part of the performance guarantee, which lasts as long as the lease. Leases run for 15 years, after which time you can apply your accumulated monthly payments toward purchasing your system or opt to return it back to the company. Along the way, you’ll very likely lower your overall monthly energy costs.

SolarCity doesn’t normally recommend installing systems that provide 100 percent of a home’s energy needs. Instead, the company’s technicians recommend systems that eliminate the money spent on energy at the higher rates charged by California’s utility companies. You still use just enough utility-provided energy to take advantage of the low rates, but now clean, emissions-free solar power covers the rest. This works for your bottom line and the planet’s too.

Lazy environmentalists across the nation looking to enjoy the environmental benefits of home solar energy without the upfront costs will soon be in luck. SolarCity has plans in the works to expand its innovative service (also available in Oregon and Arizona) into ten additional states this year.

More innovative residential solar providers:

Andalay
Akeena Solar has developed a sleek, easy-to-install solar panel system called Andalay and has partnered with a solar financing company called Sun Run to help consumers go solar without incurring much of the up front costs. Sun Run enables residents to enter into a long-term contract called a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which helps a homeowner purchase the energy being produced by the solar panels on the roof without actually purchasing or leasing the panels.

GroSolar
Operating throughout the Northeast, Northwest and Canada, GroSolar is steadily becoming one of the largest solar installers in North America. Where rebates and incentives are available in your state, GroSolar files all of the paperwork on your behalf. And since rebate checks can take a while to arrive, GroSolar charges you the “after rebate” price when installing your system and then collects the incentive checks directly, helping to lower your out-of-pocket costs.

Ready Solar
Ready Solar offers a deceptively simple modular system — aptly named Solar in a Box — that can be installed quickly and at a reduced cost. Because Solar in a Box is a modular system, you can choose as little or as much solar power as you’d like and then add more capacity over time.

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Excerpted from the Energy chapter of my new book, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

SolarCity is the best thing that ever happened to home solar. And in these financial times it makes sense to cut an easy $25 per month off your expenses whenever possible. A cheaper bottle of wine, lowering the thermostat a couple degrees, and now you can install solar panels and start saving money right away.

If a free home solar power system isn’t enticing enough, how about unlimited, pain-free service? If something goes wrong with your panels, you don’t even have to call SolarCity — your system is monitored constantly.

From installation to upkeep to rebates, SolarCity will take care of the entire process. They literally handle everything, it’s a lazy environmentalists dream. You save money, you save the planet, and you don’t have to get off the couch.

SolarCity offers their no-money-down system for qualifying residents in California, Arizona, and Oregon. The lease for the equipment seems steep at first blush ($125 a month for a 4.0 kilowatt system, the typical setup for a three bedroom home) but the overall cost, the lease plus your reduced electricity bill, will be less than your current electricity bill by an average of $10 to $25. And the new solar panels are sleek-looking.

If SolarCity sounds too good to be true, just visit their website and sign up for a free consultation, you have absolutely nothing to lose. Those who meet the criteria for SolarLease are often the same people who could afford to make an investment in their own solar panels. If that person is you, you’re still getting a great deal out of having a buttoned-up service provider to make your solar power conversion quick and easy. It’s also a great way to “try it out” risk-free.

At the end of a lease, customers have a choice to re-sign, upgrade to a new system, or have their panels removed for free. What’s more, SolarCity is looking to expand nationwide. So wherever you are, look forward to sunny days ahead.

Al Gore gave an extremely courageous speech this past Sunday. He called for America to move to a 100% renewable energy economy within the next ten years. Such an audacious goal can easily be dismissed as na?ve and impractical. But the more I think about it, the more I inevitably feel that what he

What could be easier than having easy online instructions to teach folks how to minimize home energy use by merely adjusting their thermostat settings? Well, that was a rhetorical question, but if it had to be answered, one could say a an online video teaching people how to adjust their thermostats and to what levels.

Thanks to Energy Star, this is available here with the video podcast on the right side of the page.

Today’s show features the product of a partnership between an alternative energy sensei and a sustainable architect/ developer. When these two Sklars (not related) got together, a luxurious, off the grid resort was created: Star Island in Eleuthera, Bahamas.

Today’s Featured Radio Guests:

Scott Sklar – President of The Stella Group, a strategic marketing and policy firm facilitating distributed alternative energy generation and the Senior Energy Advisor of Star Island Bahamas

David Sklar – Founder, CEO, and Lead Architect of Star Island Bahamas, a fully sustainable, off the grid luxury resort being built on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas.

Today’s show is all about bringing green power to the people. Our first guest is bringing the power of clean energy solutions for all Americans, while the second guest is bringing the power of mobility in the form of bicycles to school children in Uganda. Here at the Lazy Environmentalist, we love when people get the power to choose a sustainable and awesome future.

Today’s Featured Radio Guests:

Gillan Taddune – Chief Environmental Officer of Green Mountain Energy the nation

Today’s show features a company which cleans your house sans chemicals and still leaves it shining. And then, a backpack/pack company with a bag design that has pv panels embedded into the product while still being 100% durable and stylish. Good show.

Today’s Featured Radio Guests:

Beth Seidler Rehman – Founder of Zen Home Cleaning a home cleaning company providing a unique cleaning experience while remaining conscious of environmental concerns by using only non-toxic, eco-friendly products.

Shayne McQuade – Founder Voltaic Systems, manufacturer of bags and backpacks with PV panels to recharge your traveling electrical devices.

Instead of talking spooky and scary on this Halloween Lazy E show, we are talking future and “for real”? Our guests are bringing products that you won’t believe: solar powered bags that charge all your personal gadgets with sunlight only and a plasma converter that destroys hazardous contaminants including anthrax and mad cow disease.

Zach Lyman – Co-founder of Reware, maker of the Reware Juice Bags, a line of solar powered backpacks and messenger bags.
Also, founder of Power Cube, portable mobile solar power storage and management devices engineered for home use, emergency response, construction, and any other remote power needs. Reluminati is the umbrella company to see more.

Steve Landa – VP of Sales for StarTech, a company marketing a series of products and services emanating from its core Plasma Converter ? technology, resulting in saleable fossil fuel alternatives while creating a safer and healthier environment.

DSIRE – a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and federal incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Green Halloween – great tips for a fun Halloween that is healthier and less wasteful.

You know we’ve got a big show on tap for today’s Lazy Environmentalist when our guest’s company actually owns the web domain: WindEnergy.com. With that said, we are in fact talking about wind energy and what it means for the future and as well as right now.

Today’s Featured Radio Guest:

Frank Greco – CEO of Southwest Windpower as the world’s largest producer of small wind generators, they have been bringing low-cost, reliable wind energy to the world for the past 20 years.

Topics Discussed Today:

Sky Stream – The first all-inclusive wind residential wind energy generator designed to provide quiet, clean electricity in very low winds.

Always Be Selling blog and Southwest Windpowers’s own Andy Kruse.

Do we have an awesome show on tap today, or what? We are jumping into the future with two very different, yet equally innovative guests. One brings us the hydropower solutions as a viable alternative energy source for the NYC metropolitan area. The other brings green jobs for economic and environmental empowerment in the South Bronx. Needless to say, we are really making waves with this show.

Today’s Featured Radio Guests:

William “Trey” Taylor – Cofounder of Verdant Power, a renewable energy company seeking to generate mechanical and electrical power in a cost-effective manner, causing minimal or no ecological impact, and with consideration for social equity.

Omar Freilla – Founder and Director of Green Worker Cooperatives is a South Bronx-based organization dedicated to incubating worker-owned and environmentally friendly cooperatives in the South Bronx.