Whether you are buying or selling a home with solar panels, you may find yourself asking, “Do solar panels increase the value of a home?” The answer is, yes! Not only do solar panels cut your electric costs, a standard solar panel system has the potential to add up to $15,000 to the value of your home.
It is important to note that while the value of your home does increase, so will the cost of your homeowner’s insurance; as it is based on the value of your property. However, it is a small price to pay once you consider all of the benefits that come with adding solar panels to your home.
Solar panels are becoming more popular among home buyers, making them a feature that appraisers take note of while assessing your property. When selling your house, be sure to mention ‘solar panels’ in your listing – the fact that your home can produce its own electricity will allow you to increase your asking price.
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This may or may not be typical. My first solar PV system was on a home that had East and West sloped roof. The longer array production from the East/West orientation actually gave me more usable power production than the accepted south facing array. I purchased the system out right and used the system for about 12 to 13 years when we sold the house. Over that period of time the addition to my house insurance for the solar PV system was $10 a month. When the house went on the market, it was summer and the housing market had slowed way down. The first day the home was listed, by afternoon the buyer put in a full price offer, by evening the contracts were signed.
I have heard of horror stories of the “no down” lease with a promise of a PPA for 25 years at a levelized $100 a month electric bill. When someone wants to sell a home with a “leased” system on the roof, the solar PV company actually “leases” your roof and the system is still theirs. You now have to payoff the system, have the prospective buyer contract with the solar PV company or have the system removed and buy out the solar PV companies contract. This has caused sales to fall through, it is something to consider up front when installing solar. I would never rent a solar PV system, or lease roof space for a solar PV system. I do not lease a pool pump, hot water heater, air conditioning. So why lease a solar PV system? Sell the solar PV ‘appliance’ with the home and take what the market can bear at the time. Get a new home, get a new solar PV system with energy storage.