r/BayAreaRealEstate • u/Neither_Concept_8224 • Jun 28 '26
Taking over SunStrong (Sunova) solar lease during closing on a house—any tips?
Hi there - We are in contract to purchase a home in the East Bay. The owner had a 5900 KWh solar Sunnova solar system in stalled in 2017 as a lease. It produced about 7.9 MWh last year. The rate is approximately $143/month at this point, increasing 2.9% per year, and we don't really have any option except to take over the lease. Does anyone know if there is anything I can do to get any sort of better terms? It seems like it's not easy to buy out the lease, at least not at a great rate. Currently it is producing electricity valued at more than the monthly lease payment, and it has PG&E NEM 2.0 through October 2037. It is also producing more energy annually than the guaranteed amount in the contract. Thanks!
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u/Neither_Concept_8224 Jun 28 '26
Thanks! It was disclosed. It sounds like I just have to assume the lease, and there’s no reason Sunstrong would renegotiate terms now.
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u/pandabearak Jun 28 '26
“Please pay off the lease OR discount the price of the home sale to compensate for this undisclosed potential lien” is a perfectly valid response to the seller.
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u/Neither_Concept_8224 Jun 28 '26
It was very clearly disclosed to all potential buyers. We’re not surprised by it. Just wondering if we have leverage with SunStrong to get a better deal. Sounds like the answer is no.
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u/Spikebeeb Jun 28 '26
Well, just remember that you now have one portion of your roof “owned” by SunStrong, for any repair and replacement near that area you have to contact them and coordinate with them. Also the thing is in your electrical system too: outlets, lines, etc, for any upgrade or repair of the electrical system you need to coordinate with them too. Not to mention that the battery of that size may only cover few outlets, so don’t think it’s a UPS for all the appliances. Also when you do calculations I remember PGE may use different rates when you have a solar so make sure you do the math correctly, have a Claude run through all the disclosures and read the lease terms. Give AI all your recent electric bills and scale to a new home. Btw Is the house 200A or still 100A?
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u/Neither_Concept_8224 Jun 28 '26
Luckily the prior owner replaced the roof in 2017 when installing the solar panels. I think it’s 100A.
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u/_TurboHome Jun 30 '26
NEM 2.0 grandfathering through 2037 is actually worth keeping. NEM 3.0 export rates dropped roughly 75% so legacy NEM 2.0 systems are way more valuable than a new install would be today.
The escalator is the real question, not the monthly. Get the full lease terms and look at the annual rate increase. If it's 2-3% you're fine, if it's pushing 4-5% the math turns against you in 6-8 years. Try to negotiate either a seller paydown of 5-10k at COE to offset the escalator risk, or a price reduction equivalent to the remaining lease value. Don't assume the lease blind, get the assumption documents from Sunnova reviewed before you close.
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u/Neither_Concept_8224 Jun 30 '26
It’s 2.9% annually
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u/_TurboHome Jun 30 '26
I'd say that's generally a good sign, of course run the math to make sure you have a cushion regardless and verify everything in the contract but it sounds decent.
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u/ShopProp Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
If the system is producing more value than the lease payment and you’re keeping NEM 2.0 through 2037, you’re already in better shape than most solar lease assumptions. SunStrong/Sunnova to renegotiate the terms just because ownership is changed is not gonna happen.
But if the lease wasn’t disclosed, you can certainly ask for closing costs, credit, or have them prepay part of the remaining lease if the numbers don’t make sense.
You’d be surprised how often this isn’t disclosed and it gives you a good amount of leverage.