The benchmark for residual value in real markets
The Buckstop Solar Residual Value Index replaces guesswork with a transaction-backed benchmark for resale, recycling, and scrap value across real solar markets.
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What the Solar Residual Value Index measures
The Solar Residual Value Index tracks what solar assets actually return in real markets as they age, degrade, and exit service.
Observed market returns across asset lifecycles
recovery values
condition
This creates a market-anchored reference point teams can use consistently across financing, underwriting, recovery, and asset strategy decisions.
How pricing is derived
Buckstop pricing is grounded in real transactions, from thousands of global sources
The Solar Residual Value Index is built from:
Secondary market resale transactions- Recycling and material recovery pricing
- Asset-level attributes such as manufacturer, wattage, vintage, and configuration
- Location-specific factors that materially impact value
Values are expressed as ranges with confidence scoring, reflecting market reality rather than single-number guesses.
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Why solar residual value needs a benchmark
Value your assets in minutes
Without a shared benchmark
- Recovery value is underpriced or ignored
- Bonds and premiums default to conservatism
- Capital is locked up unnecessarily
- Disagreements surface at audit, claim, or exit
The Solar Residual Value Index allows teams to
- Replace subjective assumptions with defensible ranges
- Align internal stakeholders around a single reference point
- Defend decisions under scrutiny from credit committees, reinsurers, or regulators
How different teams use the Solar Index
Insurers & sureties
- Size bonds, limits, and premiums accurately
- Reduce over-bonding and reserve inefficiency
- Support claims recovery and subrogation with transaction-backed pricing
Lenders & structured finance teams
- Stress-test downside exposure at default or decommissioning
- Validate recovery assumptions used in financing models
- Protect IRR from mispriced end-of-life risk
Recyclers & resale operators
- Decide whether solar assets are worth acquiring
- Avoid underpriced buys and margin surprises
- Choose refurbish, resale, recycle, or scrap pathways with clarity
Asset management teams
- Offset decommissioning costs through recoverable value
- Plan upgrades and retirements with timing and pricing visibility
- Understand recovery potential before capital decisions are locked
What makes the Solar Index different
The same benchmark applies across underwriting, financing, recovery, and asset strategy.
No assumption drift. No rework.
Generate decision grade insights
The Solar Residual Value Index powers:
- Defensible value ranges
- Outcome-driven scenario analysis
- Confidence scoring based on data breadth and recency
- Audit-ready assumptions for internal and external review
Buckstop layers reporting and workflow on top of the index so teams can apply it consistently without rebuilding analysis for every deal or asset.
Part of a broader residual value intelligence layer
The Solar Residual Value Index is the first live index
within Buckstop’s residual value intelligence platform.
Additional indexes on the roadmap include:
- Battery and energy storage systems
- Data center and industrial equipment
Each follows the same methodology while reflecting the realities of its specific market.
Residual value should not depend on who you ask.
It should depend on what the market shows.