Solar Installation During Construction vs Retrofit

tony

New member
Hello,

My wife and I are purchasing a new home and there is an option to get solar while the home is being built. SunPower is quoting $17,593 for a 4kW X-series panel system. I'm still trying to gather some more retrofit quotes from SunPower and LG, but it seems that retrofitting might be cheaper. For comparison, Tesla quoted an early estimate (because the home is not built yet) of $14,600 for a 4kW system.

Does anyone have any experiences/opinions about getting a solar panel installed during construction vs retrofitting after the home is built?
 
I chose to do my SunPower panels during construction. If I had done it after COE I would forfeit my warranty on my roof. Since I moved in during the rainy season, I didn?t want to risk it.

Verify if your builder voids the roof warranty if you chose to do the panels on your own.
 
Dresden215 said:
I chose to do my SunPower panels during construction. If I had done it after COE I would forfeit my warranty on my roof. Since I moved in during the rainy season, I didn?t want to risk it.

Verify if your builder voids the roof warranty if you chose to do the panels on your own.

Pretty much all solar companies (reputable ones) will offer 20-25 year roof warranty. It would supersede builder warranty.

The only benefit of adding solar during construction is that you can amortize the cost of it on a year 30 loan. The cost of solar adds to your property tax base though.

Personally I would do it after taking possession from the builder.
 
Thanks for the responses. I asked the builder and they confirmed it would void the roof warranty.

As for adding to the property tax base, you can fill out a BOE-64, "initial purchaser claim for solar energy system new construction exclusion" so that it wouldn't get added to the assessed value of the property. Even if this form didn't exist, I was under the impression that retrofitting solar panels would also add to the property tax base when the county reassesses the property? At least, that's what the assessor told me when I called their office.
 
I'm under the same dilemma, of either getting it during construction or retro fitted. I agree that getting it done at construction would help add it to the mortgage and amortize the cost, since no other financing option would do a 30 yr (obviously). Any other pros/cons of doing a retro fit?
 
snoozeBuyer said:
I'm under the same dilemma, of either getting it during construction or retro fitted. I agree that getting it done at construction would help add it to the mortgage and amortize the cost, since no other financing option would do a 30 yr (obviously). Any other pros/cons of doing a retro fit?

builder may not warranty the roof if you do it post closing and you'll have to see if the solar company will warranty the roof
 
Can buyer cancel the solar lease after COE and just return the solar panel?

And if you are leasing the solar panel and selling the home in the future, does the new buyer require to sign up that solar lease?

 
Kings said:
snoozeBuyer said:
I'm under the same dilemma, of either getting it during construction or retro fitted. I agree that getting it done at construction would help add it to the mortgage and amortize the cost, since no other financing option would do a 30 yr (obviously). Any other pros/cons of doing a retro fit?

builder may not warranty the roof if you do it post closing and you'll have to see if the solar company will warranty the roof

I am chatting with a couple solar companies today to understand the roof warranty. Irvine Pacific is partnered with Petersen Dean - anyone got solar panels by them?
 
lnc said:
Can buyer cancel the solar lease after COE and just return the solar panel?

And if you are leasing the solar panel and selling the home in the future, does the new buyer require to sign up that solar lease?

you can cancel the lease, but there will be a significant cost that negates any savings you would receive by going with another solar company post closing.

yes, the new buyer would need to assume the lease (or you will have to cancel it, typically a function of years remaining and a set termination fee schedule) - this makes leasing a potentially costly and limiting factor when selling your home.  many buyers do not want to assume a lease for an old solar system that has fixed increases in cost (sometimes 3%+ per year).
 
We chose to retrofit so we could shop around with different solar companies and the different solar panels they offer.
 
$14,600 / 4,000 = $3.65 / watt

Local solar installers are charging between $2.60 ~ $2.90 / watt. 
If you are only getting a 4,000 k array, the dollar per watt will be at the higher end.


Who are the local installers?
Altair Solar
Infinity Solar
Solar Optimum
Solar Max
etc.
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
I'm going to get a quote from Sunlux and Sunpower.

Amazon Is The Second Company To Report Tesla Solar Panel Fire

Key Background: Tesla?s embattled solar business has been plagued by plunging sales, production delays and layoffs since CEO Elon Musk acquired solar company SolarCity for $2.6 billion in 2016.

Amazon is joining Walmart in pointing the finger at Tesla solar panels for fires on the roofs of their facilities in what is yet another hiccup for Tesla?s embattled solar business.

Musk hasn?t tweeted about the Walmart or Amazon complaints, but instead announced a revamped pricing plan in an effort to boost the slowing solar panel business. The new pricing model allows residents in six states to rent solar power systems starting at $50 a month ($65 a month in California) instead of buying.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachel...ced-tesla-solar-panel-roof-fire/#4466fba872c2

$50 -$65 a month to rent solar panels? I told you that prices will eventually drop
 
Cornflakes said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
I'm going to get a quote from Sunlux and Sunpower.

I got $2.90 per watt quote for sunpower 12 kW system here in SD. Let's compare the quotes once you have it.

12kW system is huge.  $2.90 seems really high.  Be sure you are getting an enphase micro inverter.  If they are quoting solar edge string inverter, then the quote should be lower.  Apparantly, 95% of solar industry uses enphase or solaredge. 


We are approaching the back end of 2019.  These solar companies are getting really busy.  I think solar companies are quoting high because they got too much business.
 
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