Tromblee, who lives with his wife in a three-bedroom home near Albany, N.Y., hasn't turned off the refrigerator and washing machine or switched off his lights. He drove his electric bill into the cellar by putting solar panels on his roof. "I start making electricity like 6 in the morning, and usually produce it until 8 p.m. at night," said Tromblee. In April a year ago, his roof was bare -- there were no solar panels. That month, his electricity bill l was $102.64, more than six times as high as this April.

His system was installed for only a fraction of the usual cost. That's because he and his family don't own the solar energy system, they lease it. Tromblee figures if he'd bought the solar system outright, he would have had to lay out around $46,000 for panels and installation, before any grants and tax incentives. Instead, he snagged a lease deal offered by the company SolarCity. In his case, he put down $8,000 to cover all the costs for his 20-year lease.

'Black Silicon' Panels Could Make Solar Power Pay Watch Video President Obama Seeks Energy Diversity Watch Video Winter Weather: Hot and Cold Watch Video Across the country in Southern California, Jamie Christensen also decided leasing made sense. Christensen is a clerk at Costco with two young children and a wife who is staying home to raise their kids. The family was able to go solar with almost no money down -- just $500. Under their arrangement with SolarCity, the Christensens will pay a fee of about $100 every month for the next 20 years to lease their system. Electricity costs are on top of that, but with his solar panels doing most of the work, Christensen says the monthly electric bill runs around $28.00.

And before solar? "Our payments were anywhere from $200 to $300-plus during the high-energy months," said Christensen.