buying a home with solar panels (heater, pump, install, costs)

[laststoptucson]

When looking at real estate listings, we've noticed some houses state something like "solar sun power available with lease take-over". Any clue the approximate cost for the lease? I'm assuming there must be significant savings on your power bills, right? Any other costs to consider if we look at a home with these lease-able panels?

thank you!

[Az_Mitch]

Each solar lease is different so you need to read the lease and understand it. The amount you pay each month depends upon the size (KW) of the system that was installed on the house. Most, not all, leases have an escalator that occurs to your lease payment every 2-3 years. The other thing to consider is you have to qualify (credit check) for the lease while you are going through the home buying process. These leases are generally for 20 years but again the terms for the lease vary so that's another thing to consider.

Every family uses electricity differently. Let's say the family currently living in the house used quite a bit of power every month and they are saving around $40-50 every month by having a lease. Maybe you won't use that level of electricity so your savings may not be as much but you'll never know because you are locked into the lease rate for the duration of the lease. You can ask to see past power bills before the solar was installed to compare. However that just gives you an idea of their usage. By the way, the $40-50 savings is about what I have seen for leases on solar forums.

I bought my solar panels and did some research into a lease and that was about the savings quoted to me by a major leasing company. I decided to buy and I saved $300 on my June bill compared to last year. July will be even more savings.

Read the lease terms very carefully. I would suggest consulting with a lawyer to make sure you understand what you're getting into. You can go to the real estate forum here on C-D and see threads from agents about buyers deciding not to purchase a house because of the lease so resale factor is another thing to consider.

[laststoptucson]

wow, thanks for the info @Az-Mitch! Not sure this will be worth the effort, so I think I'll take a little drive by to decide if we want to pursue it further. I appreciate the tip about the real estate forum and will check it out. I'm sure I'll glean more info I've never even thought of. Thank you!

[AlaskaErik]

There has been much written about selling a house with leased solar panels. Apparently it makes the transaction much more complicated. I can't believe how many old people in Green Valley buy or lease solar panels which will never generate a return on investment during their lifetime. A 79 year old neighbor just entered a lease. What the heck was he thinking? In a few years the kids will be in for a nasty surprise when they go to sell the place. My annual electric bill is about a thousand dollars. No way will I live long enough to recoup a $30,000 investment. And then there is the problem of reroofing every so often. Solar panels make that job much more complicated, which translates to a greater expense.

[laststoptucson]

We've decided this house isn't even worth investigating further. Now, had it had everything else we wanted? Maybe. Thank you both for your comments. I'll do some google searches on buying w/leased panels, as my search on the Tucson forum didn't turn up much. Thank you!

[shpitz]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I'm interested in getting a solar system when we buy our next house (currently renting).

We have 3 kids, and we just relocation from IL to Tucson, so I'm not sure what to expect bill-wise.

How sufficient is a 4kW system?

Can someone with a system present some numbers of their consumption before and after.

Also, if in the future I will want to have the pool heated, how much power do i need to do it solarly?

Thanks!

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by AlaskaErik

There has been much written about selling a house with leased solar panels. Apparently it makes the transaction much more complicated. I can't believe how many old people in Green Valley buy or lease solar panels which will never generate a return on investment during their lifetime. A 79 year old neighbor just entered a lease. What the heck was he thinking? In a few years the kids will be in for a nasty surprise when they go to sell the place. My annual electric bill is about a thousand dollars. No way will I live long enough to recoup a $30,000 investment. And then there is the problem of reroofing every so often. Solar panels make that job much more complicated, which translates to a greater expense.

One of my 80 year old neighbors were approached by the solar company to install solar equipment on the roof. Not only was she trying to convince herself to do that but she was also trying to sell me on having the salesman visit my place when he was finished with her. She is one of those types that think that everyone should switch to solar as it is the "right thing to do."


I told her that we would NOT be interested until we could see that there was a payback in less than five years and a positive return on investment. Generally, when you mention that phrase to a lot of the solar sales people, they immediately want to change the subject back to a diatribe against TEP and the electrical utilities or to it is "the right thing to do."


My electric bill is only about $600 for the past 12 months.

[sickofIL]

We looked into this for our house. We passed. They make it sound like you will save a lot of money. As with everything, if it sounds to goo to be true it probably is.

They way they look at it is they look at the area that you have to put panels in 100% sun. Then they look at how much power it would generate. Basically, you have a monthly lease which they say will PROBABLY save you money compared to your current electric bill. And IF you generate more power than you use (most likely in the winter) the electric company will buy it for wholesale.

Foe us, they wanted us to get rid of our solar pool heater so they could put more panels on the roof. And even though this would cover the total parts of our roof that would not have A/C/heat units on it, we would pay about equal to our current electric bill. And this goes on for 20 years. They don't have any idea what will happen in 20 years either. So if you still live in your house then you don't have any idea what you will need to pay.

They tell you that you can get free electricity and lower your electric bill. Well, this is not true really. Your electric bill will be reduced but you will also have a lease for the panels that may or may not save you money together. Then there is the problem if you want to sell your house.

This is just like all green energy ideas. They try to sell you by bending the truth.

We did not go with the panels.

[floridanative10]

Originally Posted by Az_Mitch

Each solar lease is different so you need to read the lease and understand it. The amount you pay each month depends upon the size (KW) of the system that was installed on the house. Most, not all, leases have an escalator that occurs to your lease payment every 2-3 years. The other thing to consider is you have to qualify (credit check) for the lease while you are going through the home buying process. These leases are generally for 20 years but again the terms for the lease vary so that's another thing to consider.

Every family uses electricity differently. Let's say the family currently living in the house used quite a bit of power every month and they are saving around $40-50 every month by having a lease. Maybe you won't use that level of electricity so your savings may not be as much but you'll never know because you are locked into the lease rate for the duration of the lease. You can ask to see past power bills before the solar was installed to compare. However that just gives you an idea of their usage. By the way, the $40-50 savings is about what I have seen for leases on solar forums.

I bought my solar panels and did some research into a lease and that was about the savings quoted to me by a major leasing company. I decided to buy and I saved $300 on my June bill compared to last year. July will be even more savings.

Read the lease terms very carefully. I would suggest consulting with a lawyer to make sure you understand what you're getting into. You can go to the real estate forum here on C-D and see threads from agents about buyers deciding not to purchase a house because of the lease so resale factor is another thing to consider.

Great stuff , i have seen 75-100$ on savings with solar panel but that is too high

[guidoLaMoto]

Originally Posted by shpitz

How sufficient is a 4kW system?

Also, if in the future I will want to have the pool heated, how much power do i need to do it solarly?

Thanks!

The average American family uses just under 1000kW-hr per month. A 4kW system in Tuscon (average of 6.6 hrs of good sun per day Solar Insolation - Sun Hours Per Day ) would generate 6.6 x 4 = 26.4 kW-hr per day, or only 793 kW-hr per month. That's not very much, particularly if you have to run an air conditioner for a significant portion of the year.

The pool could be heated with a simple passive solar collector. A simple DIY job of a long garden hose and small circulating pump could be rigged & run for next to nothing in expense.