[RE-wrenches] Value of PV system to a home

[Joel Davidson]

Consider not moving or selling your PV powered home. Making your PV powered home your retirement home is a better investment than a savings CD and definitely a hedge against increased grid electricity prices for retired people on a fixed income. Plant some roots and lead your neighborhood by example.

Joel Davidson

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Kirpal Khalsa 
  To: RE-wrenches 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 9:33 PM
  Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Value of PV system to a home


  What I have been putting forth to our customers and potential customers, is that a PV system when looked at like an appliance is simply equal to the value of the energy it produces over a given period....for straight grid tied systems I have used what I think is a conservative number of 20 years and then I multiply that by today's energy costs.......so if a system is installed in Oregon and electricity is $.09/kWh and the system is expected to produce 4500kWh per year then that system would add 4500kWh x $.09 x 20 years = $8100 in value to their property.....in Oregon......
  Certainly you could add average utility price increases over time to the value of the energy produced, as well as reductions in system output overtime as equipment degrades.....additionally if a party is buying a house equipped with a PV system they may not want to calculate a full 20 years into that formula if the system was installed years earlier.......I prefer to use conservative numbers in my formula inputs, however the argument could be made stating that the 20 year time span is too short and if the lifetime is potentially double that the value of the system also doubles..... 
  In my mind an off grid system can be more directly tied to the cost of the equipment as the grid is not an alternative to the power that is supplied.....
  Finally, we have never had a customer disagree with this basic approach, however it still falls flat on its face if the customer is not planning on moving or selling their property!

  -- 
  Sunny Regards,
  Kirpal Khalsa
  NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
  Renewable Energy Systems
  www.oregonsolarworks.com
  541-218-0201 m
  541-592-3958 o


  On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 7:44 PM, Exeltech <exeltech at yahoo.com> wrote:

          I spoke last October with the Appraisal Journal, and specifically with Rick Nevin,
          author of the referenced articles.

          Mr. Nevin stated a recent review conducted by the Appraisal Journal confirmed
          the information in the reports is as applicable today as it was when the study
          was conducted, and even more so given the increased cost of energy that's
          occurred since the study was published.

          Dan

          --- On Tue, 3/22/11, Jamie Johnson <jjohnson at spefl.com> wrote:


            From: Jamie Johnson <jjohnson at spefl.com>
            Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Value of PV system to a home
            To: "Keith Cronin" <electrichi01 at yahoo.com>, "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>, "Joel Davidson" <joel.davidson at sbcglobal.net>
            Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 5:01 PM


            Keith & Joel,

            The old metric was $20 in value for each $1 saved in energy, however the Appraisal Institute has not supported that valuation metric for some time now and neither has Fannie, Freddie or FHA.

            Using the gross sales price that the customer paid for PV as a valuation number was also shot down.

            And unfortunately most regional MLS databases don't provide a category for solar electric, solar hot water or solar pool heaters, so that makes it difficult for an appraiser to use the sales comparison approach.

            A year ago I began developing a valuation model for PV for the Appraisal Institutes Educational Committee and they are now incorporating parts of it into their training programs on "valuation of sustainable buildings" for appraisers.  Earlier this year DOE awarded a grant to Sandia Natl Lab to essentially do the same thing for the Solar America Cities program (soon to be the Solar America Communities program) and they have since picked up my work on the valuation model.

            A proof of concept spreadsheet (which takes all of the fun out of it) and pdf explanation of the valuation model should be released this summer.  I will provide the download link to the list when it is available.  

            It's important to note that any valuation model for PV needs to be accepted by Fannie, Freddie and FHA before it is relied on and quoted by the PV industry.  There are currently ongoing discussions between FF&F, AI and DOE on PV valuations and hopefully they will resolve the PV valuation issues for loan transactions soon. 

            Jamie Johnson
            NABCEP Certified PV Technical Sales Professional PVTS012911-44
            NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer 031310-118

            General Manager
            SOLAR POWER ELECTRIC






              -------- Original Message --------
              Subject: [RE-wrenches] Value of PV system to a home
              From: Keith Cronin <electrichi01 at yahoo.com>
              Date: Tue, March 22, 2011 2:57 am
              To: RE-Wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>


              Hi


              Was wondering if anyone has any new data points on the additional value a PV system adds to the home?


              If someone spends $X for a system and saves $Y a month/year, how is this being calculated?


              Do we have actuaries with enough empirical data to suggest what the numbers would look like?


              Realizing alot has to do with location, current cost per kWh of electricity etc.


              Could have swore there were some studies done to imput the value of two homes on the same street, one with solar and one without- for some granular details on the delta in values.


              Thanks


              Keith


         


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