There’s something special about the newly built homes coming from Evan Scesa and his company, Creekwood Homes. Each one is solar ready, meaning everything is already in place for an easy and affordable future solar installation. That includes plenty of sunny rooftop facing the optimal direction, a pathway for wiring, and enough space near the electrical panel to hook up a solar power system.
Scesa believes in the value of planning ahead for solar and that’s why solar ready is a standard part of the Creekwood Homes building process. “I think solar will be bigger moving forward. It makes a lot of economic sense as prices go down and efficiencies go up. This way, the home is ready,” he said.
The price of installing solar has dropped by more than 40 percent in recent years. And when you combine tax credits with cash incentives from Energy Trust of Oregon, homeowners can offset up to 50 percent of the installation cost. Having a solar ready home makes it that much easier to start enjoying clean, renewable energy from the sun.
To build solar ready, Creekwood Homes works with Energy Trust’s EPSTM New Construction offering, which provides incentives and marketing resources for qualified high-efficiency homes. Scesa uses solar ready and EPS to not only improve the overall quality of his homes, but to also gain an advantage in a competitive market.
“It’s a cost-effective selling point to be able to let the buyer know it’s solar ready. We include solar ready on our standard features list and it gives realtors something different to present to the buyer,” said Scesa.
It also doesn’t take much to incorporate solar ready elements into the building process. For Creekwood Homes, it’s simply a matter of planning Energy Trust solar ready requirements into the design, communication with the contractors, making sure everyone’s on the same page when it comes to roof penetration, orientation and other simple considerations. The end result is a standout feature that gives buyers one more reason to be happy with their purchase.
Energy Trust offers incentives and resources to support builders interested in solar ready. To learn more, call the EPS New Construction trade ally hotline at 1.877.283.0698 or email eps@energytrust.org.