Free Solar Panels: a New Spiff from Real Estate Developers

Trilogy by Shea Homes, a builder within the mega-sized property developer Shea Homes, will give home buyers in select communities in California, Arizona, Washington and Florida free solar systems on their homes through August 31. After that, homeowners can buy the 3-kilowatt systems as an upgrade.

The solar systems, from BP Solar, can reduce power bills by up to 60 percent. BP and Shea are working with local installers to put the system in.

A gimmick to sell homes in particularly depressed real estate markets? You bet. But being cheap what this country is all about. The most popular unofficial motto for the place is “The Land of the Free” and the second most popular is “Senior Citizens—Ten Percent Off!” It was a big appeal of the Linux revolution. Give me your tired huddled masses looking for a bargain. Expect to see more of these kind of deals.

Trilogy isn’t skimping either. The solar systems revolve around EnergyTile, BP’s solar roof tile, product line or the Integra low-profile system.