Almost every listing in Carmel Valley says "owned solar" now, and buyers treat it like a box to check. It isn't one. Two houses on the same street with the same panels can be worth very different things, and the difference comes down to a date most people never ask for.
Here's why. In April 2023, California moved new solar customers onto NEM 3.0, which cut what SDG&E pays for the power you send back to the grid by roughly three quarters. Systems connected before that cutoff keep the older NEM 2.0 terms for 20 years from their interconnection date. That status stays with the house when it sells.
So a system connected in 2021 is a different asset than one connected in 2024 across the street. The older one gets credit close to retail for the midday power it exports. The newer one mostly doesn't, unless it has a battery to store that power and use it in the evening when rates jump.
Buyers are starting to ask about batteries, and they should. SDG&E rates are among the highest in the country. On a NEM 3.0 home, the battery is what makes the panels pencil out. Out in Alpine or Ramona, where Public Safety Power Shutoffs can cut power for a day or more during fire weather, it also keeps the fridge cold and the well pump running. You'll notice that kind of livability the first time the grid goes down.
Here's my opinion, and I'll say it to anyone over coffee: sellers overprice solar and buyers underwrite it lazily. I've spent 20 years running real estate teams and now own a brokerage in San Diego and Chicago, and I've watched plenty of listings brag about the solar system's price like it's a pool. Appraisers don't see it that way. (And a lease is not "owned." Read the paperwork.)
Before you write an offer, ask for:
- The Permission to Operate letter from SDG&E, which shows the interconnection date - Whether the system is owned, leased, or on a PPA, plus the payoff if it's financed - Twelve months of actual utility bills, not the seller's summary - Battery size and age, if there is one
Investors and developers, put this in your pro forma. A grandfathered NEM 2.0 roof on a rental is real money every month for whatever's left of its 20 years. On new construction, plan for the battery from day one, because adding it later costs more than it should.
It's one PDF, and it tells you more than the listing remarks ever will.