C.A.R. Form SOLAR, the California Association of Realtors Solar Advisory and Questionnaire, is the disclosure a seller completes to tell the buyer what solar equipment is on the property, who owns or finances it, what it costs each month, and what has to happen in escrow to transfer or clear it. Fill it out thoroughly at listing and escrow moves on schedule. Leave gaps and title clearance, lender underwriting, or the buyer’s expectations can stall the deal.
Where To Get the Form
The form is proprietary to C.A.R. and is not available as a free public download. If you are listing with a California agent, the brokerage pulls it into the transaction package through zipForms or a similar C.A.R.-licensed platform, alongside the Transfer Disclosure Statement. For sale by owner, you can purchase individual forms through C.A.R.’s portal or ask your escrow officer whether they can supply one.
System Details and Documents To Attach
The hardware section asks for the panel manufacturer, inverter brand and model, total number of panels, mounting type (roof or ground), rated capacity in kilowatts, installer name, and the date the system was first connected to the utility grid. If you no longer remember the specifics, three places have them: your original installation contract, the permit records at your city or county building department, and your utility’s interconnection agreement.
Attach what you have. The installation contract, service or maintenance logs, the manufacturer’s warranty certificate, and a current utility bill showing energy credits or usage offsets give the buyer a paper trail to verify what you wrote. Missing paperwork is one of the most common reasons a buyer’s due diligence stalls, so gather everything before the form goes out rather than after questions come back.
Ownership, Lease, PPA, or PACE
This is where most solar disclosures get complicated, and where a vague answer causes the most trouble downstream. Identify one of the following:
- Owned outright. You paid cash or financed through a personal loan that has been or will be satisfied. The panels convey with the house like any other fixture.
- Leased. A third-party company owns the panels and charges you a monthly fee. The lease contract controls what happens at sale.
- Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Similar to a lease, but you pay a set per-kilowatt-hour rate for the electricity the system produces rather than a flat monthly fee. The provider still owns the hardware.
- PACE financing. You own the system but financed it through a Property Assessed Clean Energy program. The balance sits on your property tax bill and runs with the land, so the buyer inherits it unless you pay it off at closing.
For a leased system or PPA, list the provider’s name, the monthly payment or per-kWh rate, the remaining term, and whether the contract includes an escalator clause that raises payments over time. The buyer’s lender needs these numbers to underwrite the loan accurately, and a missing escalator can change what the buyer is actually taking on.
For PACE, disclose the remaining assessment balance. Title companies and mortgage lenders scrutinize PACE closely because these obligations can take priority over the mortgage. Sellers sometimes miss PACE because it shows up on the tax bill rather than as a separate loan statement, so check your most recent property tax statement before you complete this section.
UCC-1 Fixture Filings and Title
When a solar company retains ownership of the panels through a lease or PPA, it typically records a UCC-1 fixture filing to put the world on notice that the equipment belongs to the provider. Under California Commercial Code Section 9502(b), a fixture filing must describe the real property, indicate that the collateral is or will become a fixture, and be recorded in the real property records.
A UCC-1 fixture filing is not technically a lien on the house. It is notice of the provider’s ownership interest in the equipment itself, which keeps the panels from being treated as part of the real property in a foreclosure or other creditor action. Title companies still treat it as a cloud on title, and most will not issue a clean policy until the filing is released or subordinated. The SOLAR form asks whether any UCC-1 or similar notice has been recorded. Check your original contract and pull a preliminary title report early so you can answer accurately.
If the system is being paid off at closing, the provider files a UCC-3 amendment marked as a termination. For transfers, the provider coordinates with the title company to update or release the filing once the buyer assumes the agreement. Tesla, for example, charges a $150 document processing fee to release or subordinate a UCC-1 or Notice of Solar Contract on title.1Tesla. Transferring Ownership of Your Solar System
Transferring a Lease or PPA During Escrow
If the buyer will assume the lease or PPA, the transfer runs alongside escrow. Start early. Some providers take several weeks to process a transfer, and waiting until the buyer removes contingencies is often too late. The general sequence:
- You contact the provider with the buyer’s information and escrow details, either directly or through the provider’s online portal.
- The provider reaches out to the buyer, who reviews the payment terms, remaining term, and obligations. Some providers run a credit check; others simply require the buyer to acknowledge the terms.
- Both parties sign a Transfer Assumption Agreement, which formally shifts responsibility under the existing contract.
- The provider releases or subordinates any UCC-1 filing or Notice of Solar Contract so the title company can close.
- After escrow closes, you notify the provider so they can update the account to the new owner.
If the buyer refuses to assume the agreement, or the provider declines the transfer, you will either pay off the remaining balance at closing or negotiate a price adjustment with the buyer to cover it. Some contracts add an early termination fee, which can be substantial on newer systems. Disclosing the possibility on the SOLAR form lets both sides see the potential exposure before making commitments.
Warranties, Insurance, and the Utility Account
Manufacturer warranties on panels and inverters generally transfer to the new owner, sometimes automatically and sometimes with a short registration form. Panasonic, for instance, transfers all warranty rights to the new homeowner under the original agreement terms.2Panasonic. Photovoltaic Solar Panel System and Warranty Transfer Form Gather the warranty documents before listing so the buyer can register the transfer without hunting for paperwork.
Insurance sits with the dwelling for roof-mounted panels because they are permanently attached to the structure. Ground-mounted arrays or systems on detached structures may fall under “other structures” coverage, which is often capped lower. If the system is leased, the homeowner’s policy may not cover the panels at all, and the leasing company sometimes requires separate coverage or carries its own. The buyer should confirm coverage with their insurer before closing.
If the home is on Net Energy Metering or the newer Net Billing Tariff, note which version applies (NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or Net Billing) on the form. Older NEM agreements tend to be more favorable, and some are grandfathered for a set number of years from the original interconnection date, which affects what the system is actually worth to the buyer. Credits accumulated under your account do not transfer; they belong to the account holder when the billing cycle closes. Coordinate with the utility so the buyer can open a new account and reinterconnect the existing system without a gap in service. The utility may require an updated application, and sometimes an inspection, before approving the new agreement.
Property Tax and Federal Credit — Two Corrections for the Buyer
California Revenue and Taxation Code Section 73 excludes active solar energy systems from property tax reassessment, so the panels themselves do not raise your assessed value.3California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 73 SB 710, enacted in October 2025, clarified that systems installed before January 1, 2027, continue to qualify for the exclusion until there is a subsequent change in ownership.4DSIRE. Property Tax Exclusion for Solar Energy Systems The exclusion ends when the property changes hands, and the county assessor will reassess at current market value after the sale records. Flag this so the buyer is not surprised by the first post-sale tax bill.
Buyers sometimes assume they can claim the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D on a home with existing solar. They cannot. The IRS confirmed the Section 25D credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.5Internal Revenue Service. Residential Clean Energy Credit Even before that expiration, the credit applied only to the original purchaser who installed a new system, not to a subsequent buyer of a home with panels already installed. Worth clarifying during negotiations so the buyer does not price in a tax benefit that isn’t there.
Mistakes That Delay Closing
Most solar-related escrow problems trace back to the same handful of errors:
- Starting the transfer request too late. Providers can take three to six weeks to process a lease or PPA transfer.
- Leaving the financing field vague. “Leased” without provider, monthly payment, remaining term, and escalator terms forces the buyer’s lender to chase information.
- Ignoring the UCC-1 filing. If a fixture filing exists and nobody tells the title company, it surfaces during the title search and stalls closing until the provider issues a release or subordination.
- Forgetting PACE. The balance shows on the property tax bill rather than a separate statement, so it is easy to miss until title flags it.
- Skipping the attachments. Missing installation contracts, warranty certificates, and utility agreements grind the buyer’s due diligence to a halt.
Complete the SOLAR form at listing with the documents in hand and the financing details verified, and the solar piece of the transaction stops being a source of surprises.