Ownership
Owned, leased, or nobody knows yet
Ownership type is the first thing to establish and the thing that most often stalls a file. This lays out what transfers, what doesn't, and what to start early.
Pick what applies
Transaction impact summary
Select how the system is held
Primary financial impact
Before closing
Estimates only, and not an appraisal. Value added uses the published LBNL method — $4 per watt at installation, depreciated 5% a year — and battery value uses $625 per usable kWh plus $2,500 a unit where the battery backs up the home. Those figures predate current installed costs and the Net Billing Tariff, and an appraiser, not a calculator, establishes what a property is worth. Lease, PPA and loan figures reflect the terms you enter: confirm the payment, escalator, remaining term, buyout and payoff in writing with the provider or lender, and confirm the transfer requirements with them too.
Four routes, four different closings
The equipment on the roof can be identical. The transaction is not.
Owned
Conveys with the property. The usual surprise is a UCC-1 fixture filing that was never released after the loan was paid off.
Financed
The seller's debt, normally paid off at closing. Escrow needs a written payoff quote, not a statement balance.
Leased
Transfers only if the lessor approves the buyer. That approval has its own timeline and it is frequently the long pole in the deal.
PPA
A contract to buy power, not equipment. The buyer inherits the rate and its annual escalator, subject to the provider approving them.
Why there is no dollar figure here
Tools like this one often report an estimated dollar amount that solar adds to a home, usually derived from a $4-per-watt figure depreciated five percent a year. This one does not, and that is deliberate.
That figure predates both the Net Billing Tariff and the current installed-cost environment, and the straight-line depreciation simplifies what the underlying research actually found. It is not an appraisal, and a number like that can end up in a listing or in front of a seller. We would rather publish nothing than publish a valuation we cannot stand behind. An appraiser establishes value; we establish condition.
Common questions
The seller says it's paid off. Is that enough?
Not on its own. Ask for the payoff confirmation and check title for a UCC-1 fixture filing — a filing that was never released will surface at closing whether or not the loan was actually paid.
How early should we contact the lessor?
At the start of the inspection period. Lessor transfer packages and buyer credit approval run on the lessor's timeline, not yours, and that is the single most common reason a solar file misses a closing date.
Nobody can find any solar paperwork. What now?
That is routine. An inspection establishes the physical facts — equipment, condition, whether it is producing — and Solar Transaction Support is a separate paid service that helps assemble and interpret the documentation.
Working a weekend transaction? So are we
The office is open Monday–Friday 9am–6pm, but inspections run on weekends and requests are open around the clock. We'll call to confirm the date and time.
Requesting an inspection isn't a confirmed appointment — we'll contact you to confirm timing.