Utah Residential Solar: Selling Energy Efficient Homes

When you go to sell your home, what you do with your solar array is a big decision that can have a momentous impact on your savings, sale price, and more in the state of Utah. Keep reading to learn more about Photovoltaics’s place in the sale or refinancing of your home. 

The Sale of Your Solar Panels with your Utah Home

A study done by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory revealed that solar panels can boost the value of your home. This value increase pretty much pays for the array, and that’s not including the savings on the energy bills themselves. 

Take Your Investment with You

Some people don’t want to sell their panels when they move. If you love your solar array and don’t want to part with it, there are solutions.

Panel Removal with a Full-service Company

If you purchased your system from a full-service company, they can uninstall your solar array. If you are a Go Solar Group customer and you move to another area that we serve, we can reinstall your panels onto your new home as well.

Panel Removal with Installation Contractors

Homeowners who use two different companies to undertake the installation and purchasing of the panels won’t be as lucky. It’s hard to find a company or contractor who is willing to take on the risk that comes with removing panels that weren’t installed by them. If you decide to go with a company that contracts out their installs make sure you know who the contractor is and what their panel removal policies are.

For many looking into solar in the state of Utah, there is a fear that a solar investment is going to prove to be a hindrance. Like most good investments,however, the hindrance is only psychological. You have to wait to see the return, and if you can weather the initial stages and make a few smart moves, you will see the ROI ten-fold. 

Does Solar Require a Lien on Your Home?

When you get solar, there are a couple of ways to obtain it. Although the best option is to pay in cash most either aquire a lease or loan. Which option sounds more appealing to you depends on your priorities. 

When you get your system through a lease, you pay for power produced by a system you don’t own. When you purchase a solar array through a loan you continue to produce power for the next 10 plus years after the loan is paid for.  In both cases ,however, the solar financing company will take measures to secure the panels. 

Lenders Need to Secure Collateral

If your home foreclosed and your lenders didn’t have any claim, the solar array would go with the home. This is why, as with any large investment that isn’t paid in cash, there needs to be protection in place for the lender.  

When you get a loan, this protection is in the form of a purchase money security interest or PMSI. This secures the collateral for the lender.

It is important to note that for solar, your collateral is the solar array you have installed, not your home.  So, the short answer is no, there shouldn’t be a lien on your home.

Refinancing Your Utah Home with Solar Panels

Although the PMSI or UCC-1 fixture filing on your panels is not a lien on your home it will show up as a filing on the title of your home.

If you want to refinance, your lender may not allow you to do so until this filing is cleared. There are a couple of ways that you can get around this.

Getting the Filing on Your Title Temporarily Removed

The company that installed your solar panels can help get filing removed during the refinancing process. Make sure you ask the solar company what their process for temporary title removal is before you get your system installed. The installation team may not know, but a sales assistant or project manager will be able to equip you with the information and resources you need.   

Consolidating Your Loan Before Purchasing Solar

If you want to avoid having a hold placed altogether you can refinance before you purchase solar. When you do this, you can pay for your system in cash, which eliminates the need for a UCC-1 fixture filing.