Solar Panels

[Walter Kirk]

I have just been assigned an appraisal of a small town property improved by a sixty year old ranch house. Similar properties in the area have recently sold in a range of seventy to one hundred thirty thousand. The appraisal is for use in a divorce.
The wife hasn't lived in the house in several years and the husband recently installed solar panels which reportedly cost twenty thousand.

I haven't found any recent sales of properties in this price range with solar panels and no sales in the town with solar panels.

My problem is how to approach this problem. New Jersey allows an offset against electric bills for solar installations and also has state tax incentives which< I believe, run with the property. I am looking for references to any publications that address this situation.

 

[timd354]

I have just been assigned an appraisal of a small town property improved by a sixty year old ranch house. Similar properties in the area have recently sold in a range of seventy to one hundred thirty thousand. The appraisal is for use in a divorce.
The wife hasn't lived in the house in several years and the husband recently installed solar panels which reportedly cost twenty thousand.

I haven't found any recent sales of properties in this price range with solar panels and no sales in the town with solar panels.

My problem is how to approach this problem. New Jersey allows an offset against electric bills for solar installations and also has state tax incentives which< I believe, run with the property. I am looking for references to any publications that address this situation.

I was over in Jersey in the Freehold area last weekend to pick up a couple loads of trees I want to plant on my property since I found a nursery with terrific prices over there. I was astounded at how many homes I passed that had solar panels.....many more than I have ever seen over here in PA...I figured that Jersey must have some pretty large incentives for residential solar panels.

 

[Meandering]

Walt,

What electric company?
PSE&G?

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[Meandering]

How do SRECs work?
http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/project-activity-reports/srec-pricing/srec-pricing

Each time a solar installation generates 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, an SREC is earned. Solar project owners report the energy production to the SREC Tracking System. This reporting allows SREC’s to be placed in the customer's electronic account. SRECs can then be sold on the SREC Tracking System, providing revenue for the first 15 years of the project's life.

Electricity suppliers, the primary purchasers of SRECs, are required to pay a Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP) if they do not meet the requirements of New Jersey’s Solar RPS. One way they can meet the RPS requirements is by purchasing SRECs. As SRECs are traded in a competitive market, the price may vary significantly. The actual price of an SREC during a trading period can and will fluctuate depending on supply and demand. See recent SREC trading prices

From the chart at the link $70 a megawatt seems typical over the year
1 Megawatt hour = 1000 Kilowatt Hours (Kwh)

Because of physics, there are losses in converting the energy from the sun into DC power, and turning the DC power into AC power. This ratio of AC to DC is called the ‘derate factor’, and is typically about 0.8. This means you convert about 80% of the DC power into AC power.

To figure out how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) your solar panel system puts out per year, you need to multiply the size of your system in kW DC times the .8 derate factor times the number of hours of sun. So if you have a 7.5 kW DC system working an average of 5 hours per day, 365 days a year, it’ll result in 10,950 kWh in a year.
http://understandsolar.com/calculating-kilowatt-hours-solar-panels-produce/

Divide by 1,000 that's how many SRECs (mWH) that can be sold back into the system for between $50-$100 each SREC.

Here is the PSE&G solar loan program

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[Meandering]

PSE&G's Solar 4 All Program

 

[Walter Kirk]

Marion,
My Subject is in lower Gloucester County I think its in Atlantic City Electric territory but the program is statewide.

 

[Meandering]

AC electric
1-800-642-3780

You'll have to call them about the rate of reimbursement. There are no disclosures on their website, but they have links to the state program which is a portion of what I posted previously.

They do have a printable W-9 form on their website, so don't forget that any electric sold back into the grid is income taxable.

http://www.atlanticcityelectric.com/connect-with-us/about-us/sustainability/

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[Tim The Enchanter]

so don't forget that any electric sold back into the grid is income taxable.

Good times. Err, another 1099 form, what a pita.

 

[Cob]

https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/selling/b2/3/04.html

 

[Amy Perkins]

If you can't find one with a solar panels as a comparable sale, you can resort to match pairing two other properties to extract the value. You should make sure it is not a leased system, but an owned system. Take a picture of it. Ask how much it cost to install.