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Buying or Selling a Home With Solar

Solar changes a transaction in ways an inspection report will not cover. The questions are answerable, but only if somebody asks them before closing.

Free to read. No account needed.

If you are buying

The first question is not about the panels. It is about who owns them.

  • Is the system owned outright, financed with a loan, leased, or under a power purchase agreement? Each has completely different consequences for you, and the last two involve a contract you may have to assume.
  • Ask for the interconnection agreement with the utility, the installation paperwork and the permit.
  • Ask for equipment makes, models and the installation date, for every system on the property, not just the electric one.
  • Ask which warranties are still live and whether they transfer, and on what conditions. Some transfer freely, some once, some for a fee, some not at all.
  • Ask for the monitoring account details, and confirm that the account can actually be transferred to you.
  • Ask how old the roof is under the array. A roof with five years left under a system that is expected to last twenty is a cost waiting to happen.
  • Ask for the service history, including any removal and reset.
  • If there is solar pool heating or solar water heating, ask when it was last serviced. These are the systems most likely to have been quietly failing for years.
A general home inspector will look at a solar system from the ground and note that it exists. That is not the same as an assessment of whether it works.

If you are selling

A documented system is an asset. An undocumented one is a question mark that buyers discount.

  • Gather the installation paperwork, permits, interconnection agreement, warranty documents and any service records.
  • Confirm what transfers and start the process early rather than in the last week before closing.
  • Arrange to hand over the monitoring account rather than leaving the buyer locked out of their own system.
  • If the system has a fault you know about, having it diagnosed is usually better than having it discovered.

Transferring an AllSolar warranty

For work AllSolar performed, the 1 Year Limited Workmanship Warranty is transferable once, with written notice within 30 days of the title transfer.

The 25 Year Limited Solar Electric Penetration Warranty is also transferable once, and that transfer requires a $500 fee and a passed paid inspection within 30 days of the transfer. It is solar electric only.

These are AllSolar's own terms. Every other company's warranty has its own, so read the documents that came with your system rather than assuming.

The handover pack

Everything above is one folder: equipment records, documents, warranties, monitoring details and service history for every system on the property. A Solar Home account is a reasonable place to assemble it, and it gives the next owner something coherent rather than a shoebox.

Common questions

Does solar add value to a Florida home?
That depends on the local market, the age and condition of the system, and above all on whether it is owned or under a lease or power purchase agreement. An owned, documented, working system is a straightforwardly better proposition than an undocumented one, whatever the appraisal says.
The seller has no paperwork. Should I walk away?
No, but do get the system assessed rather than assumed, and treat the equipment as being of unknown condition until somebody has actually looked at it.
Can I take the system with me?
In practice, no. It is affixed to the property, it was permitted for that address, and removing and reinstalling it costs more than most people expect.

Related topics

Warranties Installer Closed Roof Replacement Monitoring