Defined term

Residential on-site solar power purchase agreement

A residential on-site solar power purchase agreement is a contract in which a third-party provider owns and operates a photovoltaic system at a home and the customer purchases the system's generated electricity at a contracted kilowatt-hour price for a defined term.

Also known as residential solar PPA, on-site solar PPA

economics · Concept code GS-CONCEPT-020 · Last verified August 20, 2026

Evidence through 2026-04-09 · 1 source has no source-event date

Content modified 2026-09-29

Definition and boundaries

Definition

A residential on-site solar power purchase agreement is a contract in which a third-party provider owns and operates a photovoltaic system at a home and the customer purchases the system's generated electricity at a contracted kilowatt-hour price for a defined term.

Review confirmed · Review due August 20, 2027

Applicable jurisdiction: US; availability and electricity-sale law vary by jurisdiction

Definition claim verification: Verified August 20, 2026

In plain language

The provider owns and operates the on-site system while the household buys its generated electricity under the contract. Availability and electricity-sale rules vary by jurisdiction.

What it is not

It is not a corporate, off-site, virtual, utility-scale, or community-solar PPA, and it is not a lease whose payment is independent of generated kilowatt-hours.

Decision context

Why it matters

In a residential rooftop PPA, the customer pays for electricity from the installed system under the contract; some contracts have a fixed rate and others increase the rate in future years. Community solar instead involves a project located away from the customer’s home.

Review confirmed · Review due October 29, 2026

The previous review deadline was September 19, 2026. The missed interval remains unverified; the current review does not establish historical coverage.

The cited evidence supports this statement within the source’s stated scope. Its jurisdiction and source-event date limit its applicability to a particular project.

Applicable jurisdiction: US; California-specific examples are labeled, and no state-count claim is made

Decision-context claim verification: Verified September 29, 2026

Information boundary

This definition is general educational information, not individualized financial or legal advice. Contract terms, disclosures, incentives, and electricity-sale rules require transaction- and jurisdiction-specific review.

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