Does installing solar panels increase home value?

Where exactly do these numbers come from?

Take into account a study by the real estate company Zillow Group , which indicates that houses with solar installations tend to sell for 4.1% more than those without them.

It is certainly an average since in some places the value added is higher, in New York it is 5.4% and in others it is lower, such as in Riverside, California, where it is 2.7%.

An older study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reveals an increase in resale value of approximately $5,911 for every kilowatt of solar power installed.

The figures for this can vary quite a bit from one geographic location to another, even for comparable homes with similar solar panel systems.

Factors that influence the added value of solar panels

There are several factors in the value that the installation of solar panels adds to a home. However, the most prominent are the following:

Geographic location: Electricity costs vary from one community to another, this means that if electricity costs are higher, the value added by solar panels is greater.

Geographic location also influences the amount of sun exposure you get, as well as the social benefits of installing a solar power system .

Prices of local solar installations: The local costs of a solar system installation can vary according to the geographical area. Which means that if a buyer saves money by buying a house with a system already installed, it will make the house much more valuable.

System performance: A larger solar power system with higher power generation capacity will provide more value added to the home.

Figure 1. Added value provided by a solar energy system .

Age of the system: If the house has an old solar system, it will be necessary to take into account its depreciation. Older systems will not add as much value to the home at the time of sale, since the buyer is more likely to have to make repairs or replace parts.

System replacement value: Along the same lines as the age of the system, the cost or difficulty of replacing parts in your system affects the added value of the overall system.

Are buyers looking for homes with solar panels?

An important element to consider when calculating how much a solar system would increase a home’s value is how attractive it is to buyers. Once again, the geographical location will vary this calculation and the local culture must be added regarding the importance of a system of this type.

Simply put, buyers will not be as willing to invest in a solar system if they don’t really understand how solar panels work or how they can benefit from them.

There is some data that shows most homeowners are quite open to energy efficient features.

For example, more than 80% of home buyers say that energy efficiency is a priority , according to the Zillow Group’s Housing Trends Report.

Some data from a few years ago from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows that houses with solar panels sell 20% faster and for 17% more than those without them. There is now more supply and more demand for houses with solar panels, which means that these figures have probably changed positively.