Solar is becoming standard practice
Whether Apollo or Helios is the god of the sun may be up for debate among scholars of Greek and Roman mythology. But the fact remains that even prehistoric man appreciated the power of the sun. Nevertheless, they certainly couldn’t have fathomed the value the sun would add thousands of years later. Take new home construction, for example. While some of today’s new-home buyers are already taking advantage of the sun, by 2020 it will be California law for builders to install solar solutions in all new homes, given the standards adopted this year by the California Energy Commission.
Although California’s building energyefficiency standards
are the first in the nation to require solar, some Bay Area builders already make a habit of doing so. TRI Pointe Homes has been installing solar energy systems as a standard practice across many of its 15 Bay Area communities since 2012, according to Carrie Newbery, vice president of sales and marketing for the Northern California division of TRI Pointe Homes. “That year, in our Brentwood community, we developed a partnership with SunPower.” With shared cultures on customer experience and mutual goals of ensuring
that everything about a home is suited perfectly to its buyer, they teamed up to include solar in each new TRI Pointe build.
It might be surprising to know how much information a solar company should request when determining a homeowner’s solar solution. “SunPower spends a good deal of time consulting with the buyer, asking about their lifestyle,” Newbery said. “They take into account who lives there now, whether anyone works from home, if they’re away from the home for extended periods and even how long they plan to live there.” The information from these consultations helps San Jose-based SunPower and TRI
Pointe Homes make solid recommendations without overselling or underselling to the client. “They can always upgrade to more panels later if their lifestyle or usage change.”
TRI Pointe buyers have enjoyed the experience of having preinstalled solar. “They know when buying the house that they’re going to have solar,” Newbery said. “After the consultation they decide if they’re going to purchase or rent the system; there are good reasons for choosing either, and we help them understand those.” Some new homeowners, she added, enjoy not only the cost-savings and environmental sensibility of solar, but they have fun with it.
“We have the analytical ones who love going online and seeing what their home is doing every day! They can get all kind of reports and see when they’re spending the most or when they’re making the most.” Many will even make minor lifestyle adjustments to maximize the benefits of their system and quickly see the effects of those changes by following the daily reports.
Interestingly, for a number of new-home buyers — especially those who are taking on new or larger mortgages with their home purchases — preinstalled solar energy systems increase their spending power. “Solar not only gives them the feel-good feeling and
saves them on their PG&E bill, but some find they have more buying power because of the energy savings,” Newbery said. When people realize that they won’t have a massive energy bill every month, they can envision a modest increase in the mortgage payment or more money in the bank for a nest egg.
In addition, having solar installed during construction saves all kinds of time and complications down the road. TRI Pointe Homes has witnessed since 2012 that buyers are happy that the decision to install solar was already made for them; all they had to do was choose the type of system to meet their needs. “Years later, they won’t have to deal
with rearranging their schedules to accommodate the installers or worry about broken roof tiles.” They might even enjoy fewer solicitors at the doors; well-installed tiles on their rooftops tend to send salespeople walking on past their homes.
Whether by California state legislation in 2020 or by working with a builder and a solar partner to install solar during construction, new-home buyers will notice the benefits of solar almost immediately. “We got ahead of the curve and we’re all about improving everyday life,” Newbery said. The experience of new-home buyers whose solar is preinstalled is bringing homeownership into a whole new light.