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One of the main reasons I hear for homeowners not going solar is that they are considering moving in the next few years. Several studies have shown that homeowners with solar actually sell their homes for more. If you compare the results of the study to our pricing, you actually will have a net gain in the value over the cost of the solar. Basically you would be crazy not to get solar on your home before you sell it.

Your house will sell for more

Several reputable sources back this up. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) released a report that definitively showed that homes with solar sold for more than homes without. Selling Into the Sun: Price Premium Analysis of a Multi-state Dataset Of Solar Homes, analyzed 22,000 home sales in 8 states, 4,000 of which included PV systems, from 2002 to 2013.

Their study is not the only one to prove that solar homes sell for more. The Appraisal Journal, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers, published a study called  An Analysis of Solar Home Paired Sales Across Six States. It found that solar homes sold for an average premium of 3.74% of the sale price.

It is important to note that neither of these studies looked at solar leases or PPA’s, only owned solar systems. Leases and PPA’s can actually have a negative effect on your home sale as many will put a lien on your home until the lease term is up (typically 20 years). They also have to be transferred to the new homeowner which can be problematic.

A Sound Investment

If you compare our pricing at Green Rev Energy to the LBNL study’s results, every single one of our solar customers to date will garner a home value than what they spent on their system. The study found that solar increased the value of homes in California by $4.00 per watt. If you used the example of an average sized system in California (5kW), you would garner an increase of $20,000.

If you are not sure whether you are going to move soon or not, solar is still a sound investment. Your solar system will either increase your home value significantly should you decide to sell your house, or it will pay itself off in utility bill savings before you move out. Either way, solar is a sound investment.

Your house will sell faster

Another study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) looking at  homes in California found that homes with PV systems sold 20% faster (and for 17% more) across several subdivisions built by different California builders. Their study of several hundred home sales also revealed that if a solar system was already installed and factored into the price, buyers were more likely to choose that house over others without solar.

Stop wasting money

So even if you are not sure you will stay in your home, you will be better off financially by going solar. You either save money, make money, or a bit of both. Our knowledgeable staff can help show you what a truly sound investment it is. Give us a call today and we can get you a free proposal for your home.

 

If you were considering getting in on the 30% Federal Tax Credit for going solar, you are nearly out of time. Contact us today and we can make sure your project starts before year end so that you can claim the credit.

There has never been a better time to go solar. Panel pricing is awesome right now, and there is no better partner than Green Rev Energy to save you money and headache. We take care of it all for you at a great value.

Lets get rid of your electric bill and take care of that New Years resolution to save money a little early.  Call us today.

Congratulations to Greg Yamin for his 1 year (belated) anniversary with Green Rev Energy! His knowledge of solar and positive attitude have made him an invaluable member of the team here. We pride ourselves on always looking out for our customer’s best interests and doing our best to save our customers money, Greg fits into that culture perfectly.

Thank you for one great year Greg, and here is to many more!

Its time to tell that electric bill to take a hike! Summer bills can get out of hand with air conditioning use. We can help you reign in your bills with solar. Its time to take a real look at solar and see how it will save you. You will kick yourself for not doing it sooner. Give us a call today!

I frequently will mention that I work in solar and I often hear “Oh, I would love to do solar, but my HOA won’t let me.” This is a common misconception I hear about areas with strict HOA’s. They in fact have little say in you putting solar on your home, and have not had that ability since the late 70’s when the Solar Rights Act (AB 3250, 1978) passed.

The Solar Rights Act guaranteed the right for homeowners to put solar on their home, and no municipality or HOA can restrict you. They can ask you to make it more cosmetically appealing in 2 ways however.

First, they can ask you for cosmetic improvements to the array costing no more than $1,000. This would include using a nice looking mounting system and installing a skirt at the bottom of the array (something we do on virtually every job).

Second, they can ask you to put the array somewhere other than the ideal location, if and only if it does not limit the production of the array by more than 10%. An example of this might be if they ask you to put the array on an east facing roof instead of south facing. Often times there is no secondary roof area that will fit an array, so this rule is not applicable in many scenarios.

So if you live in an area with a strict HOA and they are fighting you on your solar project, remember that California law has your rights protected. If you want to go solar and need a strong advocate at your side, contact our team and we will be glad to help!

 

We have been getting a ton of questions lately about the new solar tariffs signed by Pres. Trump and how they will affect our business and pricing going forward. The great news is that the majority of our prices will not change because we mostly install American made panels.

On January 22nd, Trump signed a new 30% tariff on solar panel and solar cell imports. This will have a negative affect on solar installers, especially at the commercial and utility scale.

For our residential installations, we always quote American made panels, and rarely install imported panels. These tariffs will have no affect on most of our customers going forward, so there is no reason for concern.

If you have any questions or concerns about how the tariffs might impact your solar project, please give us a call. We are here to help.

Say goodbye to our outdated site, and hello to our clean, modern streamlined site designed to get you the information you need about solar. Whether you casually learning more about solar or are ready to install a system for your home or business, our goal is to present you the information that you need.

We will continue to add content and information relevant to your solar project, so keep checking back and see what more you can learn! If there is anything you would like to see added, please let us know.