Home Builders Tap the Sun
Solar Panels Are Standard for New Houses in Some Areas; Electricity at 20% Off
GOLDEN, Colo.—When Donnie and Michelle Holsworth bought a three-bedroom house here in October from builder Lennar Corp. , they got more than a home. The purchase included 20 years of cut-rate electricity powered by a Lennar-owned solar system on the roof.
Many companies have been trying to make it easier and cheaper for homeowners to generate electricity from the sun, chipping away at the utilities’ monopolies. The number of residential solar installations has climbed, aided by their declining cost and government incentives.
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Now home builders have jumped in. Such systems are less expensive to install during a house’s construction than afterward, while some builders offer the cheaper option to lease a system rather than buy one.
The moves are applauded by solar advocates, who say the involvement of builders will increase solar usage while eliminating the steep upfront cost of the equipment, which can run from $10,000 to $20,000.
“Up to this point, retrofits have been by far the largest portion” of homes with solar power, said Rhone Resch, chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. But that could change, he said, as more builders incorporate solar.
Few companies have gone as far as Lennar, the nation’s second-largest home builder. Consumers shopping for a Lennar home in more than 100 of its developments in California, 11 in Colorado and a handful in Nevada find that almost all the houses have solar panels. The company plans to expand the program to more states, focusing on locations that have programs to encourage renewable energy.
“We aren’t offering homes with solar as an option—it’s a standard feature” in certain communities, said David Kaiserman, president of Lennar Ventures, which oversees the builder’s solar project.
Other builders, including KB Home and Meritage Homes Corp. , don’t keep ownership of the hardware but opt to either sell the entire system to buyers or let a third-party provider install and operate the solar gear.
Sources: Wall Street Journal OxBridge Research, OTCKING, DailyStockDeals, OTCstockIQ