This 5.1 kW solar system in Aurora, Colo. is being leased through SunRun, but was installed by Namaste Solar. [Photo Credit: Christof Demont-Heinrich]

In the U.S., people interested in going solar are inevitably interested in the difference between buying a home solar system and leasing one as well as in the comparative pros and cons of each.

We’ve addressed solar leasing vs. buying in a number of stories and columns, including a popular article written by an expert in the solar industry.

Given the strong interest in solar leasing and the desire to compare solar leasing to buying we consistently see at SolarChargedDriving.Com and the fact that we haven’t written about solar leasing vs. buying in awhile, we figured it’s good time for a review.

SolarCity is bringing solar leasing from California to the East Coast. [Photo Credit: SolarCity]

SolarCity is acquiring the East Coast’s largest residential solar installer and is expanding to serve Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The company will acquire the residential solar installation division of groSolar, and bring its popular solar lease to the Northeastern United States.

While solar leasing is already available in some parts of Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, it’s a new option in New York, which, according to SolarChargedDriving.Com’s list of states with solar leasing, will become the 12^th in the U.S. in which consumers can go solar with little to no money down when SolarCity begins offering its solar lease in limited areas of the state in March.

A house with a SolarCity installed solar system. [Photo Credit: SolarCity]

Americans in nearly a quarter of all U.S. states will be able to go solar while skipping the big upfront costs of buying a system thanks to SolarCity's recently announced expansion of residential solar leasing to Maryland and Washington, D.C. The California-based company will open up shop in those locations in mid-February.

[Graphics Credit: Sungevity]

Don’t think residential solar leasing, which allows consumers to go to solar with little to no money down, is changing the landscape of solar in the U.S., not to mention the rooftops of America, more and more of which now have solar?

You might want to reconsider.

Leasing, at least for some solar companies, is radically growing their business. Take, for instance, the case of California-based Sungevity.

Sungevity, which is expanding rapidly nationwide, and which installed 4.7 megawatts of solar in 2010, reports that 95% of its business comes from solar leases.