***PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING SOLAR*** One of the most frequent questions I am asked other than “how’s the market” is, “should I get solar?” It’s an important question because it’s a large investment if you’re purchasing it and a large commitment if you’re leasing the solar. I’ve decided to dedicate this entire page to the question without any graphs or charts so that I can fit as many words as possible into explaining why I am mostly not a fan of solar…not always, but usually. I want to be extra clear before I proceed that this article is written purely as an opinion piece. There are many factors to consider when making any major decision and I think it’s always good to seek advice from differing perspectives. The reason I’m offering my opinion here is because I’ve sold hundreds of homes for over a decade and have seen an awful lot of solar contracts and appraisals during that time. I’ve seen the side of solar that they don’t talk about when you’re making the decision to put it on your home, and I’ve seen countless deals nearly fall apart or never come together because of the existing solar on the home. I also want to say up front that if you are someone that has already put solar on your home, I truly hope that you don’t take this as an admonishment of your decision. This is simply an attempt to articulate another side of the discussion from the ones that the solar salespeople are having with homeowners. I’m not setting out to call out to question the integrity of the salespeople, but I’ve yet to hear a pitch that has swayed me. I’ve seen more than enough through my direct experience to reinforce what I’ve come to understand over the years about the downsides of solar. I have no horse in this race and have no stake in solar one way or the other, but I do care about my friends, clients and neighbors and want what’s best for you and your family's pocketbook.
The questions around solar fall primarily into two main categories; those that are about the economics or ROI (return on investment), and those that are about the environment. Both are valid in their own respects, and both should be considered before purchasing or leasing solar. Most of the people asking me my opinion are asking from the economic perspective, wondering if it makes financial sense for them to “go solar” and if it will help or hurt the resale potential of their home. This is the area I am most qualified to speak on and so this is the primary aim of this article. Due to limited space, I’ll also focus on purchasing rather than leasing, but would be happy to discuss leasing in a future article if there is interest. That being said, I do feel strongly that the environmental considerations are extremely important and would highly recommend that anyone thinking of purchasing solar do their research beyond what the solar salespeople have to say. While there are many upsides to being freed from fossil fuels, there are many other sides to this complicated issue and I do not believe it’s as “clean” of an energy source as it is portrayed to be. One simple question I think anyone should be asking is, where do those panels go when they no longer have any use? It costs $20-30 to recycle a solar panel and only $1-2 to put it into a landfill. The panels are only getting more efficient, which means we will have an awful lot of perfectly functional panels making their way to a landfill in the near future.
Solar is one of the largest investments that a homeowner might make for their home and it is also one that, unlike a pool or a kitchen, has no “enjoyment value”. It is purely a monetary investment, meaning that you are adding it to your home in the hope that it will save you money and you’ll have a return on that large investment you made. So let’s talk about the numbers. Depending on which source you are looking at, the average cost of a solar system in Phoenix is somewhere between $10-15,000 after the tax rebates. I can tell you anecdotally, however, from my own experience that I have seen many systems that cost as much as $60k or more. According to ecowatch.com, the typical homeowner will breakeven on their investment between 8 and 12 years after the solar is turned on by the utility company. That’s JUST to breakeven, which means you haven’t yet realized an actual return on your investment. Contrast this with the average amount of time the typical homeowner lives in their home before selling, which here in Phoenix is 8.3 years, according to a study done by Redfin in March of 2023. Without even factoring in the amount of time a homeowner lives in the home before installing solar, most are still selling their home before reaching the typical break even period. While these are the averages, I could tell you about many (too many) homes I’ve sold within a year or less of having the solar installed, and some of those had the $60k systems I referred to earlier. To add insult to injury in these cases, these very expensive solar systems received at most a $25k adjustment on the appraisal. So, who might you ask, really benefited from the installation of the solar system and the seller’s hefty investment? Usually… The buyer of the property, the salesperson who sold the system, and the solar company.
You might be asking why I said “mostly not a fan” at the beginning, when everything I’ve written has been against solar. I say this because there certainly have been cases where the solar made sense. I’ve seen very large, older homes that had poor efficiency and the solar saved a tremendous amount of money per month. In these situations, the math worked much more quickly towards saving money. I also believe that a buyer can benefit from a seller’s investment and would never advise a buyer to not purchase a home just because it had solar. Like most things, it can be said that it depends on a lot of factors, but so often the math simply doesn’t add up. Most people cannot predict with any degree of certainty where their life is going to be in 8-10 years, but your return on investment is predicated on you staying in your home for at least that amount of time. If you are considering getting solar, I would ask yourself how long you truly plan to stay in your home and figure out if it makes sense for you. It may very well make sense, but it very well may not. I am very open to hearing from you if you sell solar or have a different perspective, and would honestly welcome another opinion. Also, if you have questions or would like to discuss your specific situation, please feel free to reach out. As always, I’d love to talk nerdy with you :)