Due Diligence Regarding Solar Panels

[Christopher Giannino]

I'm not all that familiar when it comes to the purchasing/selling of homes that have solar panels.  As an agent, I'm starting to see more and more properties in my area be listed with solar panels so I'd liked to gain more knowledge around this topic.  What are some of the more important questions I should be asking or things I should be looking for regarding due diligence of solar panels?  I know some of the very basics like are the solar panels purchased outright or leased?  If they are leased, how many more years are left on the lease?  Do these solar panels provide SREC certificates?  

Any insight would be helpful regardless of whether its investor specific or residential specific.  In fact, I'd like to hear both sides if possible!

[Kevin Schaefer]

Word of caution on Solar Panels. When my father passed last year he was 2 years into a 20 year contract on leased panels. They, in my opinion, conned him into buying a massive amount of power he was paying over $100/month in utility bill (they were home 24/7 with the lights and AC on, but still). Anyway, as we were selling his house it quickly became apparent that noone wanted to take over the lease on the panels due to the high monthly bill. So we asked how much to get out of the contract and in the end (after hiring a lawyer to fight with them) we wound up paying 32k out of my father's estate to buy out the remaining 18 years of his contract, and then the buyers basically had free electric for the next 18 years.