To the editor:
I was somewhat puzzled by the commentary by realtor experts Ilyce Glink and Samuel Tanklin in last week’s newspaper. While I agree that solar panels should only be installed on a new or renewed roof, I find many of their other declarations questionable. Their argument that solar panels (even on a new roof) do not add to the value of a home is not true for many of us buyers. I assume buyers take into account costs – mortgage, taxes, and utilities. Solar panels, heat pumps, induction stoves and dryers, and improved insulation can reduce utility costs by thousands of dollars a year or even completely eliminate them.
That’s what makes them good investments for house owners as well as for society as a whole.
To suggest that some home buyers would “stay away” because of solar panels might be true for those very few of us who still have our heads buried in the sand, but other buyers, like me, look at the viability and cost of making our new home sustainable – with solar panels and heat pump – before we buy. So, despite the experience of Glink and Tanklin, an increasing number of us buyers are aware of the benefits of solar panels, and I think most of us do take utility charges into account. I am not a realtor, but your experts’ advice is based upon wrong assumptions. Solar panels alongside other sustainable improvements can be a great investment.
Ed Barker
Elm Street