Solar loan or cash in Las Vegas in 2026, with no tax credit

Cash costs you the price once. A loan costs the price plus interest, and a solar specific loan often adds a fee to the amount you borrow. In 2026 there is no household tax credit to pay any of it back, so the comparison is simpler than it used to be: work out what the loan really costs against the cash price, set that against what your cash would otherwise earn, and think hard about how long you will stay in the house.

The credit that used to sit in the middle is gone

For years, both sides of this question leaned on the 30 percent federal credit. A cash buyer got part of the price back at tax time. A loan buyer was often expected to send that refund to the lender.

Neither applies to a purchase now. Public Law 119-21, section 70506, ended section 25D for expenditures made after December 31 2025, and the IRS page for the Residential Clean Energy Credit says the credit is not available for property placed in service after that date. That is the same for cash and for a loan. The federal tax credit in 2026 covers what is left, which reaches a household only through a system somebody else owns. We are a licensed electrical contractor and not tax advisers; check your own situation with an independent tax professional.

Total cost, side by side

An illustration, on our own labelled assumptions, not a quote from anyone:

• The system's cash price is $30,000, the example price the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau used in its 2024 report on solar financing.
• The solar loan with a fee is 1.99 percent for 25 years with a 30 percent fee, so the amount financed is $39,000, the CFPB's example fee.
• The solar loan without a fee is 6.99 percent for 25 years on $30,000. The rate is our assumption.
• The personal loan is 11.86 percent for 5 years. The rate is the Federal Reserve's average commercial bank rate on 24 month personal loans for the second quarter of 2026, from its September 8 2026 release. Using it for a 5 year term is our assumption; your offer will differ.

Two things jump out. The personal loan has the highest rate and the lowest total, because it is paid off in five years instead of twenty five. And the low rate solar loan beats the no fee loan over the full term, but the dealer fee article shows it losing if you pay it off in year five. The monthly payment is the least useful number on the table.

What the cash would have earned

Paying cash is not free. The money stops earning anything once it is on the roof.

To put a number on that, take a safe benchmark. The U.S. Treasury's 10 year yield was 5.24 percent on September 28 2026. At that rate, $30,000 earns about $1,572 in its first year, before tax. That is the cost of paying cash, and it is what the savings on your bill have to beat.

The rule that falls out of it: work out the loan's rate on the cash price (the dealer fee article shows how, with any loan calculator). If that rate is higher than what your savings safely earn after tax, paying cash is cheaper. If it is lower, and you are sure you will keep the loan to term, borrowing may cost less on paper. Whether the system pays for itself at all is its own question, answered in is solar worth it in Las Vegas.

Cash buyers are protected on timing too

Paying cash does not mean handing over the money on install day. NRS 598.982185 says a solar installation company cannot accept payment for the installation until NV Energy gives the system permission to connect, other than a deposit of no more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the aggregate contract price, whichever is less. The rule covers money from you and money from a lender alike. If anyone asks for the full price before permission to operate, they are asking for something the statute does not allow.

Home equity loan, HELOC or personal loan instead

A solar specific loan is not the only way to borrow. The CFPB's report lists the alternatives: general purpose unsecured installment loans, lines of credit, and home equity loans and lines, from banks, credit unions and other lenders. It also draws the key difference. With a general purpose or home equity loan there is typically a clear line between the financing contract and the installation contract. With a solar specific loan, sales, installation and financing often blend into a single conversation at your table.

Home equity loan. The CFPB describes it as borrowing against the equity in your house, paid in a lump sum, with a fixed or adjustable rate. The house is the collateral: the CFPB's own page says that if you cannot pay it back, the lender could foreclose on your home.

HELOC. A home equity line of credit lets you draw money more than once up to a maximum. The CFPB says HELOCs usually have adjustable rates and a payment that varies with the balance. It is also secured by the house.

Personal loan. Unsecured, so no claim on the house or the panels, usually a shorter term and a higher rate. The table above shows what that trade looks like.

On the tax side, IRS Publication 936 says interest on a loan secured by your home is not deductible to the extent the money was not used to buy, build or substantially improve the home. Whether a solar system is a substantial improvement for your return, and whether you itemize at all, is a question for an independent tax professional.

One more difference. Nevada's 2025 solar loan rules, covered in the dealer fee article, apply to a "distributed generation system loan", which NRS 598.98046 defines as a loan made for the express purpose of financing the purchase of a solar system. A general purpose loan you arrange with your own bank may not be one, so do not assume those particular protections follow it. The purchase contract rules still apply to the installation itself either way, including the cash price and financed price lines under NRS 598.9814.

What happens to each one when you sell

This is where the choice shows up years later.

Cash. The panels are yours and sell with the house. Nothing to pay off, nothing to transfer.

Solar specific loan. The CFPB says you typically have two ways to leave the panels with the house: your buyer takes over the loan, if the lender allows it, or you pay it off before the sale. A buyer does not have to agree to take it over. For a Nevada loan signed under NRS 598.98211, the agreement must describe your options on a sale, including whether the loan can go to the buyer and how a payoff works. On the solar loan with a fee in the table, the payoff balance at the end of year five is about $32,669, after about $9,907 in payments. That is more than the $30,000 cash price, five years in.

Home equity loan or HELOC. It is borrowed against the house, so plan on it being paid off from your proceeds at closing, like any other debt on the property. One homeowner described online how a bank declined a home equity loan to pay off solar once it heard the house was about to be sold. Borrow before you list, not after, if that is the plan.

Personal loan. The debt is yours, not the house's. It does not stop a sale, and you keep paying it after you move.

Selling a house with solar in Las Vegas walks through escrow, the fixture filing and what Nevada makes you disclose.

How to decide

1. Get the cash price and the financed price in writing. If you are financing a purchase, NRS 598.9814 subsection 21 requires both on the agreement.
2. Turn every loan into a rate on the cash price. Not the stated rate, the rate against what the system actually costs.
3. Pick the year you realistically expect to sell, and compare payoff balances there, not 25 year totals.
4. Set the result against what your cash safely earns. A Treasury yield is a fair yardstick.
5. If you borrow against the house, treat it as a mortgage, because it is secured by the house.

If you are comparing more than one offer, how to compare solar quotes puts two on the same numbers, and prepaid PPA, lease, loan or cash covers the options where you do not own the system at all.

We recheck this page quarterly. Last checked 2026-09-29. If a number here has moved, tell us and we will fix it the same week.