Buying And Selling Solar Powered Homes

Planning on buying or selling a home that already has solar panels installed? No need to worry, in this article we will cover everything you need to know. We will examine this process from the buyer’s side, sellers’ side, and will also cover what real estate agents should know.

Buyers

The advantages of buying a home with solar already installed are extensive. Reduced electric bills, avoid power outages (if they also have a battery), someone else has already gone through the process of vetting installers, and paid most if not all the costs associated with getting the system installed. Buyers should make sure that they get as much info from the seller about the system as possible. This includes manuals, contact information of the installing company, and reports showing the systems production for at least the previous year if not more.

Common concerns from potential buyers of solar powered homes are, what to do when the roof needs to be replaced, how to obtain warranty information, and how to monitor the system to ensure it is working properly. In some rare cases, the owner may qualify for incentives such as earning revenue from supplying power from their battery when the grid is in need and earning credits when sending power back to the grid.

Roof Replacement

When a roof needs to be replaced that has solar panels installed, the panels must be removed and re-installed after the roof work is complete. The cost for this can range between $200 - $400 per panel depending on the complication of the roof and the wiring. If the roof is being replaced due to storm damage and is covered by insurance, the insurance company will cover the cost to remove and re-install. Not all solar companies will be willing to do this work.

Warranties

Warranties are almost always transferred to the new buyer. Material warranties for the panels themselves, inverters, and mounting systems will be easily transferrable and processing any warranty replacements will be done by the company that installed the system. If that company is no longer reachable, it may take some effort to find a company willing to assist but the warranties will still transfer. Workmanship warranty transfers are a little different and whether they transfer or not will depend on the installer, but any reputable installer will likely honor their warranty with the new homeowner. In some cases, the warranties may be backed up by a third party. This is the best-case scenario because all warranties including workmanship are typically transferred.

Monitoring

You’ll want to ensure your system is up and running at its full capacity at all times. This is easily monitored through simple to use apps that can show you how your system is doing by the day, month, and year. The inverter that is next to your meter or near your breaker box, will have a barcode on it that you can simply scan, download the app, and will be given a walkthrough of how to set up the monitoring of the system. The battery will also have the same except the barcode may be on the backup gateway or controller. These will also be located near your meter or breaker box.

Sellers

If you are planning to sell a solar powered home, you will want to make the system easy to understand and also provide as much info and documentation as possible. Sharing what your experience with the system has been like, how much your electric bills are after installing, how you don’t have to worry about power outages if you have a battery, and any other useful info will help your potential buyer better understand what they can expect. The most useful information will be the company contact info who installed, any manuals given to you by them, brand info of the components, and the apps used to monitor the system. You may even want to include sharing previous electric bills or annual reports from your monitoring system.

Real Estate Agents

The same way you advise clients on the heating and cooling systems, roofing, plumbing, etc, you should be able to advise on the energy generation and storage systems as well. Having just a basic knowledge of solar and batteries will allow you to stand out in a market where many of your competitors have not yet taken the time to learn this important aspect.

For smaller sized homes of 1,000 sq ft or less, a 5 kW (kilowatt) solar array will likely supply 100% or close to it, of the home’s energy needs. For medium sized homes of 1,000 - 2,000 sq ft, a 10 kW array, and for larger homes near 5,000 sq ft, a 20 kW array. Understanding how these sizes are calculated is simple. How many watts is each panel? Let’s say 400 watts which is typical. And how many panels are there? 20 panels X 400 watts each panel would be 8,000 watts or a 8 kW array.

During the day, the solar panels are powering the house and charging the battery. At night, the battery will power the house, and hopefully has enough power to last until the next day when the sun comes back up and can start the process over again. Understanding the details of what happens with additional power sent back to the grid, etc, will be best answered by a solar energy professional, so make sure you have one in your phone book.

Loans and Leases

What happens when the current owner has a loan or lease? Almost always the new buyer is able to apply to assume the loan/lease and the credit requirements are low enough that if they can qualify to buy the house, they will qualify for the loan/lease. Assuming leases typically means the new owner of the home will enjoy the benefits of reduced electric bills, typically 10% - 30% with lower escalation rates as well. They also will not have to worry about any maintenance or mechanical failures as those will all be covered by the leasing company.

Home buyers, sellers, and real estate agents are welcome to contact us with questions or to become part of our network of partners. We offer complimentary advisory services on any of the information related above. Contact Us