All Forum Posts by: Eli Winkelman

I'm pro-solar, I don't think it is a good investment for everyone, but I also think there is a good about of misunderstood, old and outdated, or just plain misinformation out there, and it is often a much better investment for many people than they realize. 

As far as Maryland and Virginia go for solar, I'd say go for it in Maryland, but not in Virginia. Maryland is a pretty good place for it, but Virginia is definitely one of the worst states in the country. If you want to look at all the state rankings, or want more general information about solar, try solarpowerrocks.com, they have a pretty great and informative blog.

Thank you for all the responses, I'll take what you guys said into account (especially about learning from mistakes, and learning the basics.)

Okay, thank you. I don't think I would be getting a big enough dividend to make it taxable, although I may need to start filling out tax forms anyways, just for good form. Is it not taxed like capitol gains are normally? I can ask my dad's accountant.

Hey guys,

I'm Eli Winkelman and I'm a new member here. I'm only 15, so I don't have enough money to buy a property, but I am interested in real estate investment, and I'm probably going to invest in a REIT. Even if I did have the money I'm way too busy with high school and my startup (we're creating a program to help landlords get solar power on their building and sell it to tenants so that it becomes financially viable when electricity isn't included in rent.), my startup is actually the reason I found this site. If anyone knows anything about REIT's, I'd love to hear, also any feedback on my startup is also welcome.

If I can chime in, SoCal is a great place for solar energy, but as people above pointed out their are challenges if it is for a rental property. They make sense if you can figure out a way to get paid for the energy, since it is a rental, there are three ways to do this.

1. Include electricity in the rent, then you're saving money from the solar power. Might not be the best option because it can make the rent look higher, and tenants overusing electricity could wipe out any returns you get.

2. You could set up a separate lease agreement for the solar system with the tenants of the building, that will last the length of the lease agreement, and will be extended with it, then just transfer it on to the next tenant. This is in most cases the best option, you can also decide if you want to pass on substantial energy savings to tenants, (you could pass on 20% electricity savings, good way to decrease vacancy rates/times).

3. Similar to 2, but instead of a lease you can do a Power Purchase Agreement. Both of these agreements can take some work to set up, but would probably be worth it. In a power purchase agreement you set a rate at which the electricity is sold at, and the tenants just pay for what they use. In this case, you have to have a wireless way to monitor the systems output. Again, you can pass along some savings to the tenant if you want.

Keep in mind that the payback time has decreased substantially just in the last year, and while panels will likely get cheaper, you aren't buying at the most expensive, that would be when they cost about $76 a watt. In SoCal the panels will also probably increase the value of the apartment by at least what you paid for them, and maybe more. You might not be able to get the federal tax break, depending on how you pay for them, and what type of building it is. If you want to get solar and set up a lease or PPA with your tenants, I'm part of a startup working on making a reusable template for the docs, as well as other services to help landlords get solar in a financially viable way.

Solar seems like it would make a lot of sense for you. If you want better pricing you might want to try energy sage to get multiple quotes from local companies, sometimes it can decrease the cost by 20%.

If you're in Oregon I'd look at solar power. It's one of the better states for it (a lot of this is because of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards, Energy Trust Rebates, etc.). Apparently a 7 year payback for a 5kw system (according to solarpowerrocks.com), this changes yearly and a big solar bill just got passed in Oregon. You can include electricity in the rent or lease the panels to tenants, but it now falls in the category of great environmental thing to do, and the math works out, as long as you can find a way to sell the energy, which is what my startup is trying to create a system for. We're in Portland, OR, and we're trying to start a pilot program with 20 or so people, let me know if you're interested in talking or have any questions about solar energy for rental properties, I can answer most questions about it.

I applaud you for thinking green. 

As far as solar panels go for house valuation, it depends on the location, in some areas it will raise valuation, other places it will lower it, there isn't a blanket statement to be made about it. Keep in mind that if you pay for the panels outright you cannot get the 30% federal tax credit on a residential building (if you set up a rental company you could probably get the commercial tax credit however). My startup is trying to make it easier for landlords to go solar, help getting tax credit, leasing the system to tenants, etc. DC is a good place to go solar, with an estimated 6 year payback (5kw system) or a 17.5% IRR. It's great that you are looking into this. If you have any more questions about solar power, feel free to ask.

Hey,

I'm glad you're interested in this, my startup is working on a program to help landlords go solar and set up a lease or PPA with their tenants (if tenants pay for electricity), as well as so that they can get the tax credit, and monitor and bill for usage.

The feasibility is definitely there, but quite reliant on your location, for sunlight, tax credits, prices, electric rates, etc. Pennsylvania isn't the best place to get solar, but it has gotten better from last year, with an estimated IRR of 11% and an 11 year payback time for a 5kw system, but this will depend on your specific roof.

Things to keep in mind are that if you buy the system outright then you probably can't get the 30% federal tax credit (we are trying to work around this with our startup), if you do a lease or PPA for the panels you can though (different tax break for residential vs. commercial), but it goes to the installation company, you may or may not see the benefit of it. If you pay for electricity than it's much easier, with net metering you will get credited on your bill for however much you put onto the grid, and it will carry over month to month, and if there is still a credit at the end of the year you will get a check in the mail.

If you want to get an approximate estimate based on satellite imagery and weather data try http://pvwatts.nrel.gov. For an actual price quote and earnings estimate you should talk to a local solar installer.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask!