We got a house in San Diego near the bottom of the last market (2012) and I was a medical resident at the time with two school age children. The previous owner had installed electric everything (even had to get a larger trunk line run and breaker panel). So our electric bill was a little nuts, randomly hitting tier 3 pricing and landing $350+ electric bills. For a household with negligible marginal income, that was unpleasant. We had 0 capital to play with but switching to solar was a no brainer. Even the lease is cheaper than paying PG&E.

Would I do it that way again? Probably not. But I have more wiggle room now.