Real Estate Agent 路 Beverly, MA 路 Member since 2013 路 353 posts 路 93 votes
Has anyone looked into installing solar power into investment properties? Is it possible to sell excess power to utility company and generate additional income?
Rental Property Investor 路 Seattle, WA 路 Member since 2016 路 2 posts 路 0 votes
9y
@Glen Sonnenberg , thank you for sharing your experience. I'm looking into this for Phoenix and Tucson markets for apartment complexes. Given your experience in the past 3 years, do you have any complaints or negative experience with having gone solar?
As you include utilities in your rent, are you able to recoup or charge a premium based on the solar installation?
I don't know if you're still there, but if you are, how has it been? It's been several years now? Are the panels holding up? Are you getting the same power saving that you did when they were brand new?
Investor 路 Sunnyvale, CA 路 Member since 2013 路 62 posts 路 19 votes
5y
The panels are holding up pretty well. From what I can tell they drop about 1% per year in efficiency depending on how clean you keep them which is a challenge in Phoenix. I'm about to see how well Solar City/Telsa handles repairs as when I cleaned them last week I noticed one panel had been shattered by some impact. I called and they are sending out someone to repair it on November 11th. We'll see how that goes.
Garland, TX 路 Member since 2019 路 15 posts 路 1 vote
5y
@Brian Ortins
Hello everyone, it's been 7-8 years since this post and a lot of things have changed in the solar industry. As a solar consultant I can say that prices for equipment have dropped making solar more affordable, and increasing the ROI.
There鈥檚 also a federal tax credit currently at 26% but as of 2021 it鈥檒l be 22% which is still good on return.
There鈥檚 a lot of benefits: installation is $0 dollars and no down payment needed.
The extra energy you don鈥檛 consume the utility company buys it from you.
If doing a loan on the panels, Interest rates are really low. 2.99 %
The ROI is different for every property. Not all homes consume the same amount of energy so every house is different. The only way to know is getting a free quote so you can compare the numbers.
Investor 路 Albuquerque, NM 路 Member since 2017 路 5 posts 路 6 votes
5y
I'm very interested in this. I specialize in small multifamily properties in New Mexico, and I'm hoping to wrap utilities into rent and install solar as soon as I can get to about a 5 year payoff, assuming loans are available. Based on cap rate appraisals, if I can eliminate electric and gas utility payments I should be able to increase valuations on properties by 15 - 20%.