Last weekend, the first nine of the new homes at Orchard Heights (3,600-square-foot or larger homes starting at around $1 million) went on sale, and seven were sold. And this in a fragile housing market where sales of new homes fell to a 13-year low nationwide in January and sales in Santa Clara and San Benito counties dropped 45 percent last year."We think when a buyer has a choice between a home that isn't energy-efficient and doesn't have solar power and one that does, the choice will be very easy," said Greg Pinn, vice president of his family-owned, San Jose-based home-building company.
The solar systems cost an estimated $20,000 to $25,000 for each home, but Pinn said that cost won't be passed along to consumers. Instead, by using it on all the homes, pushing for savings elsewhere in the construction process and with incentives coming from the state and PG&E, Pinn can price the homes at the same point as non-green certified homes. He readily admits that the homes' location in San Jose's Evergreen area, and the relative scarcity of new homes going up there, makes Orchard Heights attractive to potential buyers.
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