Buying a home existing solar...

[fishinfirefighter]

Hello everyone. The home I am purchasing is through a bank and has existing solar, there are no liens or anything to suggest the system was leased. After we take ownership I will consider the system mine bought and paid for lol. That said I have absolutely NO clue about anything on solar systems, companies, leasing or anything really. It is a photovoltaic system with 30 panels, there are two boxes with shut offs near the main electric meter. No batteries anywhere I could tell. There are no company names or logos from what I could tell other than a photovoltaic system sticker on the boxes. What is involved in these systems? Im sure the system has passed inspection, it was built (from what the agent knows about it) in 2011 on a line of credit and is in perfect condition. Can I just turn it on when we get the keys and enjoy some free energy? Do I have to contact a company that will attempt to charge us a monthly rate to use it? We really have no clue. The home is located in southern california, its 2600 sq ft and It also has its own well also.

[russ]

See if you an get a solar company to come and inspect the place. You should have had a homeowners inspection before purchasing as well.

[fishinfirefighter]

See if you an get a solar company to come and inspect the place. You should have had a homeowners inspection before purchasing as well.

We have an inspection scheduled for next week. I hadnt thought of having a solar company come out, Ill check into that thanks. It all looks brand new, the home was built in 2007 and the system was installed in early 2011. I have searched the internet and youd think with solar becoming popular Id be able to find answers to these simple questions I have but I cant. Unfortunately the previous owner was foreclosed on so I cant ask them anything..

[Naptown]

Are the switches outside in the on position?
I would doubt the bank would turn the system off as it would reduce their carrying costs before you take possession.
If you see a large box with a display that would be an inverter look at the display and verify it is working and all switches and circuit breakers are turned on. It will take a little over 5 minutes for the incerter(s) to wake up if they are off

[Wy_White_Wolf]

Contact the Power Company. You most likely will have to sign an interconnection and net metering agreement with them. That will have to be done before they will turn the power on to the house.

WWW

[J.P.M.]

Hello everyone. The home I am purchasing is through a bank and has existing solar, there are no liens or anything to suggest the system was leased. After we take ownership I will consider the system mine bought and paid for lol. That said I have absolutely NO clue about anything on solar systems, companies, leasing or anything really. It is a photovoltaic system with 30 panels, there are two boxes with shut offs near the main electric meter. No batteries anywhere I could tell. There are no company names or logos from what I could tell other than a photovoltaic system sticker on the boxes. What is involved in these systems? Im sure the system has passed inspection, it was built (from what the agent knows about it) in 2011 on a line of credit and is in perfect condition. Can I just turn it on when we get the keys and enjoy some free energy? Do I have to contact a company that will attempt to charge us a monthly rate to use it? We really have no clue. The home is located in southern california, its 2600 sq ft and It also has its own well also.

Just a thought: being in CA, there was probably (?) a CSI rebate and paper trail involved for the original install (we all hope), which the utility would probably know about. Also, get up on the roof & get the panel info - make/size/model/etc.etc. do the same for the inverter(s). Then, check the "Go Solar California" website. Download the current data and sort by zip code and/or date. Some rooting around in that data base and you may likely find your system by matching what your equipment search on the roof and for the inverter turned up and what your CSI database search finds, which will lead to a vendor and lots of other stuff.

Good luck,

J.P.M.

[snic]

Can I just turn it on when we get the keys and enjoy some free energy? Do I have to contact a company that will attempt to charge us a monthly rate to use it? We really have no clue.

Definitely contact the power company about net metering.

I doubt a company will try to charge you for using it. I guess it's possible that the system is leased - so here's a question for those who have leases : does the leasing company put a lien on your house, so that they can force a sale of the house if you default on your payments? If so, then that lien would be recorded and the title company will have a record of it. You and your real estate agent should look at the title report carefully and see if there's any lien that hasn't been removed.

I'm not sure what happens, though, if the leasing company doesn't have a lien. I'm guessing they'd have the right to come and take the system away if you refuse to keep up the payments - but I really don't know!

[J.P.M.]

Definitely contact the power company about net metering.

I doubt a company will try to charge you for using it. I guess it's possible that the system is leased - so here's a question for those who have leases : does the leasing company put a lien on your house, so that they can force a sale of the house if you default on your payments? If so, then that lien would be recorded and the title company will have a record of it. You and your real estate agent should look at the title report carefully and see if there's any lien that hasn't been removed.

I'm not sure what happens, though, if the leasing company doesn't have a lien. I'm guessing they'd have the right to come and take the system away if you refuse to keep up the payments - but I really don't know!

If you can find the system and are confident about it, lease/own info is also on the CSI data base. It's nice to know the answer before you ask the question(s).

[inetdog]

Contact the Power Company. You most likely will have to sign an interconnection and net metering agreement with them. That will have to be done before they will turn the power on to the house.

WWW

Also check the building department. If the installation was properly permitted and inspected there is a good chance that the name on the permit request will lead you to the company that did the installation.
If no permit was pulled, then it is also likely that POCO does not know about it either, since they would have asked to see the inspection sign off.

I would have expected any commercial installer to have put a label with their name on it somewhere in the system for marketing reasons if not for servicing.

[silversaver]

Do what JPM suggested.

http://www.californiasolarstatistics.ca.gov/current_data_files/

download the Excel file. Use the zip code, panel, inverter... etc

You also can find out if the solar were lease, finance or cash. Most of time you will find yourself lucky with free solar because the house you bought was a foreclosured

[fishinfirefighter]

I would have expected any commercial installer to have put a label with their name on it somewhere in the system for marketing reasons if not for servicing.

Me too and I looked over it carefully for this reason. Ill have to stop by on saturday when I get some time a look even closer. My boss has a leased solar system and he said SCE should be able to tell me everything I need to know but the solar department is only open 8-5 and Im at work during that time with no cell service.. uh.

Oh and that excel file? LOL, wow, I doubt I could find anything in that disaster! Geez why cant they just put a dang address in there. Ill keep you guys posted...

[J.P.M.]

Me too and I looked over it carefully for this reason. Ill have to stop by on saturday when I get some time a look even closer. My boss has a leased solar system and he said SCE should be able to tell me everything I need to know but the solar department is only open 8-5 and Im at work during that time with no cell service.. uh.

Oh and that excel file? LOL, wow, I doubt I could find anything in that disaster! Geez why cant they just put a dang address in there. Ill keep you guys posted...

I'd respectfully suggest giving it a chance. I think privacy may have something to do with no addresses. That, and the name of the applicant are about the only data missing. FWIW, lots of folks considered the database a goldmine - it contains almost everything you could ever want to know that people with stuff to sell don't want you to know or don't want to share - mostly pricing, but lots of other stuff as well. That alone made it a powerful tool. Now that rebates are ended or winding down, new information will be missed. If that database were more widely known and/or easier to use, my guess is that prices in CA would be lower. Many of us have found it a real help, well worth the small effort in comparison to the information obtained. Given a zip code and some system information, I suspect most anyone could look for your system in that database with a pretty high probability of success in about 5 min., but I could be wrong.

J.P.M.

[SoCalsolar]

the database?

Is a nice snapshot of the overall market. Identifying one particular system with a zip code, city, a year, number of panels and 2 inverters is more akin to a needle in the hay stack. Posting pictures of the inverters on this board might be slightly easier. Look for any type of bar code on the bottom side of the equipment. Whats your zip code if you are near by I might be able to stop by and take a look.

[J.P.M.]

Is a nice snapshot of the overall market. Identifying one particular system with a zip code, city, a year, number of panels and 2 inverters is more akin to a needle in the hay stack. Posting pictures of the inverters on this board might be slightly easier. Look for any type of bar code on the bottom side of the equipment. Whats your zip code if you are near by I might be able to stop by and take a look.

Actually, I've not found it to be that difficult at all, and I'm quite a Luddite in such matters. Sort by date, then sort by zip. I then copy to another sheet to more easily handle the results. Continue to sort the smaller sheet by what you know about the system - size, # of panels, mfg., inverter # /size/model - etc. etc. Often the quest converges to your system or the one you're looking for. Part of what makes the data set so powerful is the amount of detail contained. It's surprising to me (not really maybe), just how unique most systems are, one from the next, and how easy they are to single it out. Sort of like the auto exec. who said in the 60's that Chevy Impala's come with so many combinations of options that GM could meet an entire year's demand and theoretically not produce two identical cars. I reiterate - give it a chance if you want. It really does work. And it really does take about 5 min. If nothing else, It will afford the opportunity to perhaps get information and perhaps stay under some authority's radar for a while longer.

J.P.M.

[fishinfirefighter]

So after hours of digging and phone calls turns out it was a lease. I told the agent that changes everything for us especially considering the increase in price we justified because we thought it came with the solar. Shes telling me that once we take title its ours either way but she's double checking now for us. She sais it is included with the house and they cannot legally take it once we own it. I don't know how true this is and I'm not confident that she's certain either. What happens when I have it turned on? Will edison contact the solar company and refuse to hook me up if its leased and we have no contract? Or do they just turn it on regardless assuming that's our problem?
The solar company told me I can trnsfer the lease or they will come take them off my roof...I told them that is NOT going to happen after we get keys! Good luck with that lol.
What do you guys think?