Common Sense Solar
The presentation on May 12, 2015, in front of members from the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers and the Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, was intended to bring clarity to the subject of solar power and provide appraisers with a familiarity of the subject and tools that they can make use of in the event of an appraisal assignment of a property that is equipped with a solar panel array. The speakers were chosen for their expertise in their respective fields of endeavor.
Jordan Cohen, as Vice-President of Sales for A1 Solar, has trained and manages the sales staff so that the panel arrays that are sold are properly represented to the buying public. His presentation was similar to what would be presented to an audience such as an Home Owners Association (HOA) or Condominium Board that was considering a solar panel array either as a development project or an allowed use under amended CCRs.
Steven Davis, ASA, MRICS, who as an appraiser of residential properties has been required to develop a valuation approach in the absence of direct comparison, shared the results of his analysis of the worth of a solar panel array as an investment vehicle that can show a net present value and an internal rate of return.
James Finlay, who was on staff at Wells Fargo as their LEED Properties specialist, discussed Mr. Davis’ approach from the standpoint of a commercial use property, and then discussed his own personal experience with a residential property lease that was made with Solar City.
This presentation was an introduction to the subject, and covered as much ground as possible within the time constraints of a dinner meeting. What did become evident was the need for a more in-depth treatment of the subject as the valuation of the panel system relates to real property appraisal with updated real-time case studies that would provide the appraiser with the needed awareness of how to approach a valuation issue that is still under development and is maturing at about the same pace as the solar panel technology is maturing.
Attachments:
Solar PV – James Finlay ASA-AI – Solar PV v05-12-2015
Solar Panel Payback Spreadsheet – Steven Davis solar panel payback
A1 Solar Power, Inc. – Jordan Cohen ASA-AI JORDAN PRESENTATION