A Case Study of Solar Valuation from a Past Customer

Sharon Sausedo, of Sausedo Realty, bought a property in Penn Valley that needed extensive work and upgrades before selling. She repaired and remodeled the house, and then put it on the market in late 2018.

Prospective buyers saw the existing solar panels on the roof as a desirable feature which added value to the home.

But Sharon explained that what they thought were functioning solar panels were in fact the remnants of an outdated solar water heating system (originally from the 1970s). Interested buyers said they would buy the property if it had solar.

In order to continue with the solar power theme, but bring it to the 21st century, Sharon added solar panels to the property. The buyers made an offer on the property with the contingency that solar was completed prior to close of escrow. SEG decommissioned the solar water heating system and replaced it with a very modestly sized, 8 panel, solar electric system. 

Sharon closed escrow on the home without difficulty. Sharon stated that the appraiser indicated that the property would likely not have come in at the offer price without solar.

The addition of a solar electric system increased the property value of the home by $5000 BEYOND the actual cost.

Sharon emphasized that she would consider the value of adding solar to all properties in the future because it enhanced the property value, adding greater market appeal, and offered a tax credit to the seller. In addition, an easy-to-use, monitoring system is included with purchase of a solar electric system, so the homeowners can easily track system performance and energy production from a mobile device.

She was pleased that the buyers were so happy and said it was a great learning experience. “It seems this is a no brainer for most sellers as long as the roof is good and they have proper sun. Since solar will be required in most new homes in California in 2020 and it has become much more affordable, I’ll be working with sellers to maximize return and appeal on their properties by adding solar.”