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I live in a state where solar installation comes with an upfront payment for the estimated market value of the expected tradable renewable energy credits your s

I live in a state where solar installation comes with an upfront payment for the estimated market value of the expected tradable renewable energy credits your system will generate over the next 15 years. The solar installers sell it as a rebate of approximately 33% of the purchase price - you get a check in the mail a few months later. But behind all that is a really complicated process that the homeowner doesn't understand, buried in a bunch of contractual fine print that nobody reads. What happens when you sell the house? The closing needs to accurately prorate prepaid items that one side owes to the other. In the case of solar, the seller needs to pay the buyer for the portion of the "rebate" that hasn't been "used". In your scenario, the buyer needs to pay the seller for the energy that has been paid for but not used. This is a big issue that can't be solved with an energy audit. Your house will now need to be permanently connected to the internet so a 3rd party can collect the energy data. They aren't going to do that for free! What we are seeing with solar is that the whole process is opaque enough that it supports a collection of companies who structure things so that you get just barely enough of a discount for it to be worth it, and pocketing the rest of the savings for themselves.

biomcgary 4y ago
Sorry, my description wasn't clear. When a house is built and sold for the first time, the initial owners have to put money into escrow equivalent to 30 years worth of projected energy use (at current rates for electric and gas). They aren't pre-purchasing energy. The escrow pays out at a fixed rate over 30 years to whoever currently owns the house. No need to track energy usage. More efficient houses (insulation, solar panels, etc) will have much less projected energy use, so far less money needs to be put into escrow, which would make new efficient houses cheaper than new less efficient houses. Unfortunately, it does nothing about existing stock.

biomcgary 4y ago

Sorry, my description wasn't clear. When a house is built and sold for the first time, the initial owners have to put money into escrow equivalent to 30 years worth of projected energy use (at current rates for electric and gas). They aren't pre-purchasing energy. The escrow pays out at a fixed rate over 30 years to whoever currently owns the house. No need to track energy usage. More efficient houses (insulation, solar panels, etc) will have much less projected energy use, so far less money needs to be put into escrow, which would make new efficient houses cheaper than new less efficient houses. Unfortunately, it does nothing about existing stock.