Thursday 11 September 2014

Adding Solar Panels when Buying a New Home

Buying or building a new home is a great time for upgrades you have always wanted. You can often build a little extra into the mortgage for a new kitchen or a bathroom renovation.

If you are building your dream home, rather than buying an existing property, it can be a very exciting time. It can take months of planning. Buying a property, going over floor plans and selecting a contractor are all critically important decisions to make sure that you will be making a sound investment.

The array of options available today for new homes is incredible. Couples can have a lot of fun selecting kitchens, bathrooms, cabinets, counter tops and flooring. Additional dream home options include hot tubs, decks, saunas, pools and home theatre. Landscape and garden plans add to the list.

Why not consider an option for your new home that will help pay for all the extras. When you are building or buying a new home, it’s the perfect time to consider solar panels. Maybe you can even orient your new build so that you have the perfect south facing roof for solar.

The Ontario Government has several programs in place to encourage the development of renewable energy including wind and solar. The program of interest to homeowners is called microFIT. FIT is short for ‘feed-in-tariff’.

Simply put, if you put solar panels on your roof to produce electricity, the government will buy that power from you. The contracted rates currently offered by the government allow you to invest in solar panels and realize an attractive return on investment (ROI).

A typical solar panel system will add $20-$40,000 to the cost of building your home. Solar panels can generate up to $100,000 in income, depending on the size of your system. The income is guaranteed by a 20 year government contract. Your solar panels will produce an ROI of 10-13% on average.

Buying or building a new home is the perfect time because you can build the cost of your solar array into your mortgage. You’ll be paying 3-4% interest and earning 10-13%. If you are taking a 20 year mortgage, you’ll have income to offset your mortgage payments over the entire term.

Solar Panels for your home is similar to having an income property, you just don’t have to deal with tenants. Solar Panel systems carry 25 year warranties so your investment is virtually risk free.

Before taking advantage of this opportunity, you should review your solar contractor just as thoroughly as your home builder. Solar is a new industry and it has attracted many upstart companies.

The Hayter Group has been in business since 1952. We are a diversified company. We are one of South-Western Ontario’s largest geothermal contractors. We’ll be around to service you over the next 20 years and beyond. We’ve recently gained a solid reputation as one of Ontario’s leading solar contractors. The Better Business Bureau selected The Hayter Group as the winner of its’ Business Integrity Award in 2013. Building your dream home is also a great opportunity to be ‘green’ at the same time as you are making a sound investment, that will actually help pay for your new home.

Chad Hayter