SunPower is signing up residential solar leases at a nice pace
in the U.S. while seeing a good demand for its highly efficient
solar panels in Japan’s residential market. The company is still
posting losses, though it’s doing better than in previous
quarters.  SunPower home installation photo: Courtesy of
Solarcity  Solar leases have become a popular way for consumers
to use solar electricity without paying for the expensive
upfront price. Case in point: demand for SunPower’s residential
solar leases is far greater than the money available to finance
them, company executives said Thursday.  “Our residential lease
business remains strong, with demand outstripping our financial
capacity in the first quarter,” said Tom Werner, SunPower’s CEO,
during a call with analysts to discuss quarterly earnings.  The
Silicon Valley company signed over 2,100 leases during the first
quarter, bringing the cumulative total to over 16,200. SunPower
launched the lease program in 2011. The lease sign up rate is
roughly the same as