Solar is the right option for you if you fall into one of these categories:
1. You are a homeowner with a large monthly utility bill. Your monthly electricity bill is typically over $100 a month and you want financial relief.
2. You are planning on adding central air and heating or a pool/jacuzzi. You want to do upgrades to your home that you know will cause a major spike in your electricity usage and you want an alternative to larger utility bills.
3. You are excited about reducing your carbon footprint. You may not have as large of a bill as others but you understand the benefit of solar financially over the years and you want to assist in depleting the demand for fossil fuels, while taking advantage of the current credits available to homeowners.
4. You want to sell your home. You may or may not be doing upgrades to put your home on the market. The benefit of adding solar is a) it makes your home more desirable than the competition, and b) as the original purchaser of the solar system you may qualify for the federal tax credit should you be in the home for another 3 months after the activation of the system. c) You may be planning a quick exit from your home, well solar has been proven to sell homes faster.* You can offer the addition of solar before you offer a discount on the home or offer to have the cost of the system included in the same loan as their mortgage, making it cheaper for them and a great offering from you as a seller.
*National Renewable Energy Laboratory study
“The analysis finds strong evidence that California homes with PV systems have sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems.” – LBNL
“This is the primary reason that homes with solar panels sell for more: they offer a definite financial benefit to the future owner.” – Energy Sage blog
5. You want to raise the value of your home quickly. Green is the future of real estate. Appraisers are now being certified to appraise the value of solar on your home. By adding solar it significantly raises the value of your home comparable to the actual cost of the system, without raising your property taxes.
“If you own a home with a solar system, the FHA requires (to your benefit) that its value be assessed and added to the total appraisal value of your home when you want to sell it. However, if you do not own your panels, whatever value that they may add cannot be included for an FHA assessment.” -Federal Housing Authority, ES Blog
“This study is important for the buying public and the lending side and appraisers can say, here’s some proof there is some value to the system.” -Sandra Adomatis, Green Appraiser, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory
“More homeowners have been installing these systems as the cost of solar technology has dropped over the last decade. As of mid-2014, more than a half-million homes had solar systems, according to the report.” -NY Times
6. You want to remodel your home. Solar is a great addition to a remodel of your home and the only remodel that will bring in cash flow (all the money you are saving on your energy bill) in addition to the added value it provides to your home. It also is the only improvement that has been shown to not raise your property taxes.
“The average total system cost is $35,967, but the effective price to homeowners with subsidies including the federal tax credit is $20,892. Thus, homeowners appear to recover approximately 97% of their investment costs – in addition to the savings associated with reduced energy bills.
By contrast, a luxury kitchen remodel brings a 60% payback, according to Hanley Wood’s 2010-2011 Cost v. Value report.” -Ashlea Eberling, Forbes
⌋ If any of the above sounds like you, Solar may be the solution you have been searching for. ⌈