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YES Solar Brokers — Commercial | Residential Book an Inspection
Greater Sacramento

Buying a home with solar? Inspect it first.

You're inheriting the system — and possibly its lease or loan. We verify what it actually produces, whether it's owned or encumbered, that the permits are in order, and exactly what it takes to transfer — before you waive contingencies.

Flat fee from $399 · negotiation-ready report in 48 hours
See what's included
PAGE 2 · PRODUCTION & FINDINGS
12-MONTH PRODUCTION (kWh)
JulOctJanAprJun
String 2 underproducing since March — service recommended.
Array intact — no cracked, lifted, or shaded panels.
Inverter firmware current · no fault codes.
Rapid-shutdown label present at main service.
What we check

Three things that kill solar-home deals — verified up front.

01 · PRODUCTION

Production Health

Actual output vs. what the system should produce — dead panels and failing inverters get found now, not in week 3 of escrow.

02 · OWNERSHIP

Ownership & UCC-1

Owned, financed, leased, or PPA — plus a UCC-1 fixture-filing search so title surprises never kill the deal.

03 · PAPERWORK

Permits & Transfer

Building permit and utility interconnection verified, with a clear transfer roadmap for you, the seller, and escrow.

California buyers

Buying a California house with solar? Here's what a general inspector won't catch.

Solar on a house you're buying is either a genuine asset or a set of obligations you didn't know you were inheriting. A standard California home inspection checks roofs, panels and structure — it isn't built to answer the questions that actually decide a solar deal.

What transfers with the house, and what doesn't. A system the seller owns outright transfers like any other fixture. A lease or power purchase agreement usually has to be formally assumed — commonly a credit check and lender-style approval, not a signature at closing. Financed systems are often recorded as a UCC-1 fixture filing against the property, which works like a lien: it has to be identified and resolved — paid off, assumed, or released — for clean title, and it won't appear in a general inspection report.

Net metering status doesn't automatically travel with the panels. California's rules have changed twice (NEM 1.0, 2.0, and today's net billing tariff), and Sacramento has actively debated legislation about how a new owner inherits an old NEM agreement — a 2025 bill that would have ended transferability on sale was amended to remove that provision, but the terrain is still moving. The safe assumption: don't take the seller's rate structure on faith. Confirm the NEM status and its transfer terms with the utility for that specific address, before your contingency period expires.

The permit gap. Not every California install pulled the right permits and passed final inspection — original installers skipped steps, and owners added DIY expansions. An unpermitted system can complicate the sale, cause trouble with homeowner's insurance on any roof or electrical claim, and sometimes needs resolving with the building department as a condition of closing.

Escrow timing is the whole game. Everything about the solar system is negotiable during your inspection contingency — repairs, credits, price, or walking away. Past contingency, your leverage is gone. That's the entire argument for a solar-specific inspection early in escrow rather than after: the $399 inspection below verifies ownership status, permit and interconnection records, and the physical and electrical condition of the array — and hands you a plain-language list of what to raise with your agent while it still counts.

Pricing

Two flat fees. No hourly, no surprises.

Both include the full records review and the negotiation-ready report in 48 hours. The difference is how far we go physically — from the ground, or on the roof and under the panels.

Standard Inspection

$399 flat
Right for most deals. Array inspected from the ground and from a ladder at the eave.
  • Production health vs. expected output
  • Owned / financed / leased / PPA status
  • UCC-1 fixture-filing search
  • Permit & interconnection (PTO) verification
  • Inverter, disconnects, main panel & meter
  • Transfer roadmap + negotiation-ready report
Book the standard — $399
ROOF WALK + PANELS LIFTED

Extensive Inspection

$699 flat
For when production is down and the data won't say why — the answer is usually under the panels. Performed by a licensed solar contractor.
  • Everything in the Standard inspection
  • On-roof access — panels lifted where needed
  • Under-panel wiring, MC4 connectors & wire management
  • Microinverters / optimizers inspected at the unit
  • Rodent & pest damage beneath the array
  • Racking, lag bolts & standoff attachment
  • Close-range photos of what we find
Book the extensive — $699

Both inspections cover the solar system. We don't assess the condition of the roof itself — that's a roofer's call, and we'll tell you if you need one. If the roof turns out to be unsafe to walk on, we complete the standard inspection, show you why, and refund the difference.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Can't find your answer? Reach us at ask@yes4.info.

Doesn't a regular home inspection cover the solar system?
No. General home inspectors explicitly exclude PV systems from their scope. Our inspection covers what they don't: actual production vs. expected, ownership status, UCC-1 filings, permits, and what it takes to transfer the system to a buyer.
What does the $399 inspection include?
A site visit plus records review: production health vs. expected output, own/lease/PPA status, a UCC-1 fixture-filing search, permit and interconnection verification, and a transfer roadmap — delivered as a clean 2-page, negotiation-ready report within 48 hours. We inspect the array from the ground and from a ladder at the eave. The $699 extensive inspection adds a roof walk and lifts panels to inspect the wiring and electronics underneath.
How do I know if I need the standard or the extensive inspection?

Start with the standard — it's the right call for most deals. What usually kills a solar transaction is paperwork and production: whether the system is owned or leased, whether a UCC-1 is filed against the title, whether the permits were finaled, and whether the system actually makes the power it should. The $399 standard inspection answers all of that in full, and walking the roof adds nothing to any of it.

Choose the extensive $699 inspection when the numbers say something is wrong but nothing on the surface explains it. A licensed solar contractor gets on the roof and lifts panels where needed to inspect the wiring, the connectors, and the microinverters or optimizers underneath, along with rodent damage and how the racking is anchored. Chewed conductors and dead optimizers hide under the panels — that's where an unexplained production drop usually ends up. It's also the one to book on an older system, or ahead of a re-roof, when you need to know how the array is actually attached.

Not sure? Book the standard and tell us what's worrying you. If the report says it's worth going under the panels, you can add the extensive from there. And if the roof turns out to be unsafe to walk on, we do the standard inspection and refund you the difference.

What if the inspection finds problems?
That's the point — you find out while you still have room to act. A documented finding is leverage: you can ask the seller to repair it before closing, negotiate a price reduction that covers the fix, or agree who takes it on. Every report includes plain-English next steps, so you and the seller are working from the same facts instead of arguing over a guess. The same problem found in week 3 of escrow — by your lender or after you've waived contingencies — is just a fire. We cover all of greater Sacramento.
I'm buying a home with solar — should I get it inspected?
Absolutely — you're inheriting the system, and possibly its lease or loan. Before you waive contingencies, we verify what it actually produces, whether it's owned or encumbered, that permits are in order, and exactly what you'll need to do to take it over. No surprises after closing.
The seller says the solar is "paid off." How do I confirm that before closing?
Ask for the original financing or lease agreement — or documentation showing it was paid off — and have title checked for any UCC-1 filing tied to the solar equipment. "Paid off" from a seller in conversation and "clear on title" are two different things, and only one of them protects you at closing. Our inspection includes the UCC-1 search.
Will I inherit the seller's net metering rate?
Historically, NEM grandfathering has generally transferred with the house for the remainder of the agreement term — and a 2025 bill that would have ended that on sale was amended to remove the provision. But the rules here have moved more than once and could move again. Don't assume: confirm the specific NEM status and transfer terms for that property with the utility before your contingency period expires.

Know what you're buying — for less than the home inspection that skips the solar.

Book an inspection — from $399
On the podcast

Listen: Buying a Home With Solar

27 July 2026 · 26 min · Watt Matters

Why nobody in a residential transaction is assigned to inspect the most expensive machine on the property — the leases and UCC-1 filings that survive closing, the permits that were never finalled, and why every one of those findings is negotiable during the contingency period and none of them afterwards.

Show notes for this episode → · All episodes →