Putting solar panels on a multi?

[Tyler L.]

I've been going back and forth on whether to put solar on my triplex or not.

If I did, I'd be buying the panels, financing them at $200/mo for 25 years. The company I'm working with could still submeter everything so I could bill the tenants for electric, probably somewhere around $50/unit. Additionally, included in this is about $15k worth of electrical (mostly knob and tube removal) that I will be doing anyway.

I'm getting a site survey out soon but the building seems to be a pretty good candidate for solar and would likely result in me being able to sell electricity back in addition to charging the tenants.

What's TBD for me is whether or not it will add any additional value to the building-if it doesn't, it kind of seems more or less like I'd just be breaking even, but if it does it could be worth it.

Does anyone have any additional insight? What other questions should I be asking? I'm in Massachusetts if that makes a difference.

[Adam Lacey]

Hi @Tyler L.. I think it would actually lower the value if a prospective buyer would have to assume the monthly payment. I've had a realtor friend mention this before related to single family homes. Having these solar panel contracts makes it harder to sell homes.

[Adam Lacey]

Hi @Tyler L.. I think it would actually lower the value if a prospective buyer would have to assume the monthly payment. I've had a realtor friend mention this before related to single family homes. Having these solar panel contracts makes it harder to sell homes.

[Joshua Dickman]

Tyler ,  are you in national grid utility? Has your solar rep talked to you about the SMART incentive program? You may be entitled to significant state and federal incentives living in Mass.

Also, think of it like this: every time you make your electric payment you are throwing money away to the utility (a sunk cost) but when you go solar every time the solar bill is paid, you’re paying off the system.  Additionally if your tenants can pay it off for you and have a locked in rate for power while they live there that is the same, cheaper or even a little more expensive than the current payment, that is a pretty fair deal to both parties. As Zillow shows that solar does in fact increase home value…

https://www.zillow.com/researc...

I work with investors all over the country, making going solar easy. 

If you’d like another competitive quote I’d be happy to provide that for you. Is the solar company quoting you $15k for electrical? That sounds a bit high.

Let me know.

Cheers,
Joshua 

[Will Stewart]

@Adam Lacey agreed if it is a lease agreement, but it sounds like he is purchasing, so any loan balance would be paid off (like a 2nd mortgage would be).

I think it’s an awesome idea and am working on the same thing for my properties in the area. 

[Brian Dungey]

I’ve also just signed a contract with Sun power to put solar panels on my roof. I currently own a duplex and live in one unit and rent out the others. My wife and I plan to move out in the next two or three years and keep the property as a long-term rental. I was thinking about ways to account for the solar panels which will be tied into the unit one electric account but I wasn’t sure if I could bypass and just sell directly back to the grid and have that account still get a regular electric bill. Something I was going to continue to look into further.

I did read that on average solar panels at about 3% to your home value and one of the things I was considering doing was talking to a home appraiser to see if solar panels are included in the appraisal analysis page where they typically have a unit cost plus or minus adjustment across comps. It would be interesting to see if there’s anything included there that would help normalize the value add or lack of to add a solar panels