Solar Panels on Landlord Metter

[Steven Clark]

I own a 3 family and currently living in one unit. I was thinking what if I got solar panels installed and put them on the landlord meter and just profit off the sun? Has anyone done something like this before? It would be roughly a 10k investment and would need to look at the ROI a little bit more but my intentions for the property is to hold for a long time.

[Steve K.]

Yes I have installed solar panels on all my primary residences and a live-in flip. They were paid off in less than a year (I work in solar, piggy-back my panel orders onto large multi-MW solar farms I work on so I get a volume discount and then install them myself reducing the cost quite a bit). Now the utility writes me a check every month for $10-16. I don't feel bad about taking advantage of the tax credit (from the GW Bush presidency some may be surprised to learn;)), because every form of energy is heavily subsidized, not just solar. If you're living in one unit then you should be able to take advantage of the investment tax credit making it more attractive (consult a CPA about that first). The payback period is a little long for some even at 8 years but compared to paying your electric bill with an infinite negative ROI it's a much better option over time. Whether or not it adds resale value or not has been debated heavily on here. In my experience I have been able to sell my 100% solar-powered homes for a $20k premium, which jives with the study the appraisal institute did as well as data Zillow and others have collected.