While many people have installed solar power systems on their homes in recent years, many others have been dissuaded by the substantial upfront cost of a solar installation. But now there are a number of options for homeowners who like solar energy but don't like the idea of paying a lot up front.

First, it may be beneficial to reexamine the actual cost of buying and installing solar panels. For homeowners in most parts of the country, there are myriad rebates and incentives available: Rebates from state governments or utilities; the 30 percent federal tax credit; low-interest loan programs and net metering can make owning a solar installation surprisingly inexpensive.

But for those households that decide solar ownership isn't for them, there are plenty of alternatives.

Solar leasing is one possibility. It's a relatively new concept - one pioneered by leasing companies Sungevity and SunRun. The former reported last month that the popularity of its solar-leasing model is surging: Sungevity's revenue rose by a factor of 10 between the first half of 2009 and the same period this year. In California, the company says, 30 percent of solar power systems are now leased.

SunRun, meanwhile, has leased solar panels to more than 5,000 homes in New Jersey, Colorado, Massachusetts, California and Arizona.

The principle of solar leasing is simple: The company from which a homeowner is leasing designs, installs and maintains her solar array, and the homeowner makes a monthly lease payment. Often, the cost savings that accrue from going solar are so large that the lessee pays less than she did when she was fully grid-dependent.

An alternative to solar leasing is community solar participation. Some states permit the installation of community solar gardens, or solar arrays in which a number of people have a stake. Colorado recently began allowing community solar garden installations, and other states may follow suit.

Solar garden participants buy a share in the garden and receive a commensurate discount on their energy bills. The electricity that solar gardens produce is simply fed into the grid, so participants don't actually receive their arrays' energy - but by selling energy back to utilities, they net discounts, which are shared.

Solar gardens are ideal for renters, and solar leasing may be perfect for the energy-bill-conscious homeowner. As more people are learning, going solar doesn't have to require an upfront investment.