08.25.09
PASO ROBLES - Switching to solar power at your home or work, often requires getting a loan to cover the high cost of installing the system. Solaralos owner, Jack Hanauer, says while the systems are a great investment, he understands how tough it can be to qualify.
"It is difficult to get financing, people have to be well qualified now to get loans," Hanauer said. "And, even if you're well qualified it seems to be a bit of a struggle to get that financing in place. Hopefully that will loosen up as the economy loosens up a little bit."
Paso Robles resident Lucy Hartzell says she and her husband Jerry have great credit, but still had a hard time getting a loan.
"When I first went in, I was told it would just take a few days to get the loan approved and I think it ended up taking at least four weeks," Hartzell said.
Pushing for the loan can really be worth it in the long run though. Besides the obvious energy savings and great state and federal tax breaks and incentives, there are other benefits to going solar as well.
"For every thousand dollars that you save on your annual PGE bill, your house goes up in value by 20 thousand dollars, Hanauer said."That increase in value is also property tax exempt."
Local banks we spoke with said loans are very difficult to come by currently.
