The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently developed and released SAVE to evaluate existing solar systems placed on real property.
SAVE has been designed to be used by appraisers, REALTORS®, and others in order to provide a means for evaluating existing solar systems and to determine their expected capacity (i.e. this system, can, on average, generate this much electricity).
SAVE will provide appraisers with a tool that can place an actual dollar value on solar systems, and will help to provide prospective purchasers with information on the average energy savings that can be achieved by the system. The information contained in the tool is derived from information obtained by the CEC through coordinated efforts with utilities, installers of solar systems, property owners, and their respective agents. Properties not included within SAVE can manually input property information and solar system specifications in order to obtain an estimated capacity valuation.
Solar Advantage Value Estimator (SAVE) is a tool designed to estimate the Present Value of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system including the estimated value in annual energy savings. The results provided by SAVE are estimates only and do not take into consideration real estate market factors that may affect the overall valuation of the property and/or solar installation. We recommend that you contact us your real estate professional when determining the value of your solar installation.
If you are considering investing in your own solar PV system, we recommend using the Clean Power Estimator
For more information about the Solar Value Estimation Tool. Please access online Help System.