Check a national database to see what types of rebates are available in your state or, depending on where you live, try leasing solar panels.

Cheap solar may be closer than you think.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Several years ago, it seemed like only yuppies in California could afford solar panels to power their homes. But a lot has changed since then, and between federal and state rebates, an expanded world capacity for making of photovoltaic (PV) cells, and even solar leasing options, on-site solar power is becoming more affordable for the nonaffluent homeowner. And while solar appears to be more expensive to produce than conventional, polluting energy sources, the comparison is misleading. "Today, all forms of solar electricity are still priced higher than electricity from the burning of coal or gas, largely because the enormous costs associated with greenhouse-gas pollution are excluded from calculations of the true value of electricity from those latter sources," writes Al Gore in his new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis (Rodale, 2009). And even by that skewed measurement, solar power is becoming more competitive. "Innovations in solar energy are quickly driving costs down, however," Gore writes. "Many experts predict that we are only a few years away from being able to produce PV electricity at rates competitive with the current cost of coal-fired generators."

Don't want to wait to clean up your act?

Here are some affordable ways to invite clean solar energy into your home.

• Lease it. Depending on where you live, you can go solar with no up-front cost and start saving money immediately—no waiting 20 years for your return on investment. Currently available in California, Arizona, and Oregon, SolarCity offers a first-of-its-kind solar lease program through SolarLease.

A typical three-bedroom home with a current electricity bill of $200 per month could lease a 4 kW solar system for $110 per month. "SolarLease users typically begin saving 10 to 15 percent per month by adopting solar, meaning that their lease payment plus new electricity bill would be 10 to 15 percent less than their old electricity bill before they installed solar," explains spokeswoman Emily Douglas. "The new solar system can generate enough electricity to offset what the homeowner is currently paying to the utility company from $200 down to $60 per month." In this scenario, the new bill ($60) plus the lease payment ($110) add up to less than the old bill, generating a savings of $30 per month with no upfront investment.

The leasing program will be available in Colorado soon, and could also be moving into the East Coast territory in the future.