Many lenders have additional incentives for buying a home or refinancing.  Some require meeting Energy Star benchmarks, while others may require home energy audits.

Chase will deduct $500 for adding an energy improvement to the home or for purchasing an Energy Star-rated home.  Bank of America Corp. offers a $1,000 credit, which can be used toward closing costs or to buy down the mortgage’s interest rate.

FHA approved lenders have Energy Efficient Mortgage programs where you can bundle the cost of green eco friendly improvements into the loan and can add projected monthly energy savings to qualifying income. This makes it much easier to afford solar panels, by amortizing the cost over the life of your loan.