What percentage of your listings come with a solar energy system in place?

  • Less than five percent (94%, 47 Votes)
  • Between five and 10 percent (4%, 2 Votes)
  • More than 10 percent (2%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 50

Saving with solar energy just got easier — the California Energy Commission has rolled-out its new online estimator for calculating the potential energy savings of purchasing a home equipped with a solar energy system.

The new user-friendly function is called the Solar Advantage Value Estimator or SAVE. SAVE provides a straight-forward and simple tool for homeowners, prospective homebuyers and real estate agents to determine the present value of a home’s solar energy system by calculating its energy-cost savings over its remaining life.

The homeowner does need some basic information relating to the type of solar energy system installed, such as the overall system capacity, which should be easily obtained from the system provider. Once the information is entered in to the SAVE estimator, the projected annual savings is delivered in an instant.

first tuesday take: SAVE is a particularly useful weapon in the savvy real estate professional’s arsenal if they have a listing equipped with any type of solar energy system. [For more information on energy costs and property marketing, see the February 2011 first tuesday article, A property’s energy demands: an evolving factor in marketing.]

Although green homes have been a trendy conversation of late, many homebuyers are skeptical of the true dollar value of green living. With SAVE, a real estate agent or broker can provide homebuyers real numbers relating to how much they stand to save on their energy bill by purchasing a solar-powered home.

Innovations such as these quick and easy calculators bring everybody one step closer to closing the information gap that continues to separate buyers and sellers in the heinous asymmetric divide still hanging-over from boom-time arrogance.

Check out SAVE and other clean energy calculators at www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov. [For a home energy marketing resource, see the October 2010 first tuesday farm letter, Home energy efficiency; save money by upgrading your property.]

re: “Online calculator estimates savings from home solar systems” from the Los Angeles Times