It costs upwards of $30,000 to put solar panels on your house.

Or, you can just buy a house with solar panels on it already and save gobs on your electric bill.

This 3br/2ba home, for sale at only $149,000 has 3.6 kW of solar panels on the roof. What does this mean? It means that the owners, Ben and Seth, pay less than $100 per month for electricity –even in the summer.

They have a lease for the panels from Solar City, which were installed in 2009. That means that about $50 per month goes to pay the lease and “much less than” $50 per month, according to Seth, goes to pay the connection fees that APS requires for back-up power. (You know, for the 5 days that its cloudy in AZ.) See the listing for more details.

So, as the cost of electricity goes up for everybody else at over 6% per year, yours will probably increase at somewhere closer to 2%.

It also means that they are constantly off-setting CO2 emissions, just by being there. Since being installed in May of 2009, these panels have generated 13,308.00 kWh, or $2,395 worth of electricity. Their system has offset 17,048 lbs of CO2, or the equivalent of 8.1 mature trees.

Better still, this is a really beautiful home in Tempe, close to freeway access and shopping.

Ben and Seth did a wonderful job on the property, with water-saving desert landscaping, energy efficient windows, sky lighting via energy efficient solar tubes, a new kitchen and tile throughout.

This house presents an interesting example of a trend in Arizona. Many homes now have had solar panels installed through up-front purchase or a lease programs. Many of these are on the market –but a large percentage are $1 million+ homes!

This solar home is well within reach for the average buyer. And that means that the buyer, benefits directly and financially from whatever the seller installed. In some cases, the buyer takes on the lease for the solar panels, so be certain to talk with your lender about that. In those cases, the lease costs are relatively low, as are the electric payments. In this case, the buyer is taking on a lease for about $50 per month, but the total cost of electricity is lower than the average home, even when you combine the APS payments and the solar panel lease.

By installing solar tubes in the kitchen and the bathrooms, they also cut down on the amount of electricity needed to heat and cool the home.

This property is worth a look. It is bright, neat, well presented, in a great neighborhood and, in a way, pays for itself with the sun’s energy!

Learn more by clicking the pictures, clicking here or calling me at 602-456-9388.