DISOWNERSHIP AND SOLAR

Sunrun Survey Finds Nearly 92 Million Americans Plan to Participate in “Disownership” this Summer; 4 in 10 Americans Plan to Rent, Lease or Borrow Items This Summer to Make Vacations more Affordable and Convenient; Vacation Housing, Cars, and Household Tools Top the List

June 11, 2013 (Fort Mill Times)

“…[A] national survey exploring consumer behaviors around renting, borrowing or leasing traditionally-owned items – also known as ‘disownership’… found that Americans across all ages and geographies are joining the movement, with nearly 40 percent of people, or 92 million Americans, planning to ‘disown’ this summer…The study was commissioned by Sunrun and conducted online by Harris Interactive…An earlier survey…found that 83 percent, or 195 million Americans, would participate in disownership if they could do so easily.

“…[V]acation homes are the most popular item people plan to disown this summer (15 percent), followed by cars (14 percent)…[T]he third most-popular item…[is] household tools such as lawnmowers, leaf blowers, saws, and carpentry tools (13 percent)…More than half of American families (52 percent of households with a child/children under age 18 present) will be renting, borrowing or leasing traditionally-owned items this summer, and of those families, 52 percent will be doing so because it makes vacationing easier and/or more affordable. Overall, 49 percent of Americans who plan to disown this summer said they plan to do so because it makes vacationing easier and more affordable…”

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“Sunrun helped fuel the disownership trend in 2007 when it invented solar service – also known as “third party-owned [TPO] solar” – as a way for families to easily go solar without having to buy a solar system. [An investor-funded TPO company owns the] systems installed on a homeowner’s roof, often for no upfront fee, and then charges them a low monthly rate for power. Families generally pay less than they were paying their local utility for conventional electricity…

“…[The] survey results show that the trend may experience further growth – the more people disown, the more likely they may be to continue to disown. Over one in four Americans (26 percent), will disown this summer because they’ve had a successful experience as a renter/borrower/seller/provider in the past. Previous survey results also found that nearly half of Americans plan to disown in the next two years (49 percent)…”

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