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  • Solar Panel Placement and Impact on Home Resale Value

    I am interested adding PV solar panels to my home for a combination of financial reasons and being generally interested in electrical/electronics/computer type tech. I've seen a good amount of information about estimating related energy savings and predicting long term impact on net energy expenses, under different types of power plans, including how TOU impacts things. However, what is far less clear to me is how PV solar panels impacts home resale value.

    I expect the impact on home value is complex and depends on many factors such as whether the panels are owned (I plan to buy outright without loan), the target buyer for the home, and the panel placement. I live on the north side of the street, so I get the greatest TOF with panels on the front of the roof, facing the driveway and street. I am concerned that these front roof panels may negatively impact curb appeal of my home, more than other placements that are less visible from the street, such as side or rear of home. And that negative impact on home value may have as great an impact on net financial gain/loss as energy loss from alternative placements, with less optimal TOF. Searching online, solar panel sellers usually say solar positively impacts home value regardless of placement; while realtors have more varied and inconsistent comments, sometimes recommending avoiding panels on the front side of the roof, for aesthetics reasons. The few studies I've seen are simplistic and do not control for solar panel placement or a variety of other important differences. Does anyone have additional information about how solar panel placement may impact home value?

    My home is in a San Diego suburb where ~1/4 of homes have solar panels. The home has 2 floors. With the angle to the 2nd floor roof, the solar panels would be clearly visible from the street, but people would only see side edges of the panels while standing in the driveway or walkway to the entrance. There have been only a small handful of sales with front roof solar panels for similar homes in my neighborhood, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions based on past sales.
    Last edited by NCSD; 07-17-2019, 11:22 PM.

  • #2
    If the system is shown to be functioning when being sold, the impact is nil. If not-functional, it's going to be requested to be removed and roof repaired. Mostly, homebuyers are not looking for solar in their home, it's that new, scary stuff.
    But this could change if you and your sales agent, educate prospective buyers, and they can be show that the system mostly eliminates a $300 mo electric bill.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

    Comment


    • #3
      The old comment "every real estate market is local applies". In your case it appears as solar has some level of penetration in your neighborhood so it does not standout. California has passed a requirement that all new housing has to have solar or access to community solar so its likely that solar is going to be increasing installed. Of course some installs are downright ugly compared to others. Lot to be said for black frames which would reduce the edge effect.. The other thing to consider is there are flashing systems that blend the arrays into the roof by sealing off the gaps between the array and the roof. There are also some no racking systems that appear to sit lower to the roof. Both of these solutions do extract a slight penalty do to reduce convective cooling on the back of the panels. but that can be offset by just installing a few more panels if you have the roof space or going with premium higher efficiency panel. There other tradeoff with reducing air flow under the panels is if there are optimizers or microinverters on the back of the panels, this makes the environment for sensitive electronics even worse.

      On the other hand if the array is the only one in the neighborhood it will stick out and could impact the initial curb appeal, that's where a realtor has to do his job which is educate the buyer before the initial visit that the solar array is positive indicating that a future owner is showing their environmental chops and proud of it. Sort of like a green ribbon hanging on the front door. Real estate agents post a lot of photos that have been photoshopped including showing grass and landscaping that doesn't exist and obscuring features that disrupt the image and expect the same process could mute any sharp edges and tone down any glints from shiny components. When the potential owner makes their first visit they have already made a decision that the house is potential future home for them and will tend to ignore the manipulations of photos that are currently being used to sell real estate.

      I have seen installs where folks had shading issues, gables and roof vents that went with sawtoothed non symmetrical arrays or even more annoying to me missing panels in a square array to clear a vent instead of rerouting it. IMO, a missing panel looks like the equivalent of missing front tooth. If its visible from the street stick to a rectangular array with no gaps. Solar installers are in rush and their goal is to maximize profit so they do not want the hassle of moving vent pipes but in most cases if the attic is open, its not that difficult for a pro to reroute the vent pipe under the roof up to the ridge pole which typically needs to be kept clear of panels due to fire code. The biggest hassle is usually patching the decking and the roof from where the vent was previously relocated.

      If and when Tesla or some other company makes a viable solar integrated roof product that is affordable, folks will get in line to buy them even at a premium but given the many failures to date of roof integrated solar technologies and reports that the Tesla roofs currently installed are really just R&D funded by a consumer the day of solar integrated roofs still seems to be far off.

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      • #4
        I'm in 92026. I review/recommend/monitor all the solar installs for my HOA. ( ~ 150 +/- and counting). I also keep an eye on housing prices around here and have familiarity with most of the PV installers and real estate peddlers who sell in my HOA.

        1.) Most real estate agents are clueless about PV.
        2.) Vendors are overly optimistic to the point of deception.
        3.) 1 and 2 above also apply seemingly universally to homeowners, at least to my experience.
        4.) Surveys and studies, such as they exist, are mostly local and done usually done by folks who seem to know about real estate or about solar, but usually not both.

        Bottom line as far as for what I can see in N. County after doing all that for 12 yrs. : A property is worth no more than someone is willing to spend.

        Get a copy of "Solar Power Your Home for Dummies". A good primer. Don't assume your prior/existing knowledge will be sufficient to make intelligent choices about PV choices/design.

        Never lease.

        Get familiar w/SDG & E pricing and policies. PV is less cost effective than in the past because of them by ~ 25 % or so. Peddlers won't tell you that or don't know and real estate slugs don't know and wouldn't care if they did.

        Welcome to the neighborhood.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post
          A property is worth no more than someone is willing to spend.
          Are general buyers really that dumb? I mean you just show them the electricity utility bills before and after solar was installed. Many home buyers would be super happy to save $100 a month or more on their mortgage, but saving $100 or more on their electricity bill is not appealing?

          As far as looks go. Yes the general public can be so superficial so unless the solar panels make a super nice rectangular layout on front I would avoid it. Better to build a pergola structure in the back yard. 30% of pergola cost will be reimbursed as tax credit AND if well made a nice backyard pergola will increase home value since most people like outside shade structures.


          Comment


          • #6
            In California solar only adds to a property if it is functional. It is mandated that all new homes install solar and it will be the norm pretty soon to have at least a small array on a house. In my area, people can care less about aesthetics. If you try to keep your house at 72 degrees you will be facing a $400 to $1000 PG&E bill with the tiered system we have. Solar panels are ALWAYS a positive to selling a house in the Central Valley and it is the major selling point if you have a paid off system. Never ever lease!!! I have a friend that is a real estate agent and she hates selling houses with leased systems. She says a leased solar system has often cancelled the sale of a house two or three times at the last second.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by khanh dam View Post
              Are general buyers really that dumb? I mean you just show them the electricity utility bills before and after solar was installed. Many home buyers would be super happy to save $100 a month or more on their mortgage, but saving $100 or more on their electricity bill is not appealing?

              As far as looks go. Yes the general public can be so superficial so unless the solar panels make a super nice rectangular layout on front I would avoid it. Better to build a pergola structure in the back yard. 30% of pergola cost will be reimbursed as tax credit AND if well made a nice backyard pergola will increase home value since most people like outside shade structures.

              Dumb isn't a word I'd use. More like ignorant of the situation and seeing what they want to see without looking into it.

              It can be more complicated than that. Example: If/when I sell my home, I expect the mostly non-existent electric bills I have will be a selling point to some potential buyers. The reality is not quite that simple. The low bills, while partially due to the PV on my roof, are more due to my low total use of ~ 7,000 kWh/yr (since 10/01/2007, running 365 day mean = 7,021 kWh, low = 6,431 kWh/yr., high = 7,838 kWh/yr., pop. std. dev. = 295).


              Now, the ave. annual elec. use in my HOA is ~ 18,000 kWh/yr. which, - because mine is a larger home than most around here (3,214 ft.^2) - is probably lower than the average user of my home might burn through in a yr. As a SWAG, I'd think anyone buying this home will most likely have a bill a lot higher than mine. At current tiered rates for example, 18,000 kWh/yr. less what is PV generated will result in an annual bill of very approx. $2,700/yr. Now, that's still better than the ~ $6k/yr. non PV bill not having the array would incur, and a significant savings, but $2,700+ is a long way from the current close to zero bills I can show.

              That possible ~ $3K difference, if unaccounted for by virtue of the possible likely ignorance of a potential buyer thinking of (and perhaps budgeting for) close to a zero elec. bill, and may come as a surprise not figured on when the first bills come in. NOMB, but just an example that I've seen more than once around here on resales w/ PV of how ignorance can get your tit in the wringer without some critical and head's up thinking and situational awareness.

              Take what you want of the above. Scrap the rest.

              Comment


              • #8
                I think you will have an easy time selling the solar panels if your bills are close to zero. Most people will ignorantly assume that your bills will be close to theirs. Even if you tell them you conserve electricity by turning off tv, lights, etc those little things don't register like a written utility bill. I have noticed the same thing. rented a home and the utility bill went up double from when I was living there.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by khanh dam View Post
                  I think you will have an easy time selling the solar panels if your bills are close to zero. Most people will ignorantly assume that your bills will be close to theirs. Even if you tell them you conserve electricity by turning off tv, lights, etc those little things don't register like a written utility bill. I have noticed the same thing. rented a home and the utility bill went up double from when I was living there.
                  Precisely my point about ignorant and lazy driven (non)thinking. Also, I'm not worried about selling the panels. It's what, if any value the PV may or may not add to the perceived value of the property.

                  But back to something perhaps more germane to the OP's original post, more than a few real estate slugs and some other brain trusts think one way to figure the value added to a property by a PV system is (annual savings) * (20). So, does that mean if I can honestly and somewhat conservatively estimate ~ $3,000 in annual savings based on 18,000 kWh/yr usage, that my 5 kW the system ought to add $3,000*20 = $60 K to the value of my property ? Maybe to some ignorant tree huggers who believe everything that fits their version of reality that's been crammed into their skull by the greenwash media. Probably less to some of the more sentient and critical thinking members of this forum who know that a 5 kW turnkey system can be had for maybe $12-15K after rebate. The lazy and so uninformed thinkers will swallow the peddler's B.S. because : "They must know - they're in the business". Knowing what I think I know and after looking at a lot of the crap that's passed for good installs plus what I've seen up closer and personal about PV, I wouldn't consider buying a property w/existing PV on it. Maybe if the owner had it removed and the property was made whole I'd consider it at a reduced price. Maybe .
                  Last edited by J.P.M.; 08-24-2019, 03:29 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by khanh dam View Post
                    Are general buyers really that dumb?
                    Yes

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      If your installation is in total working order, then the correct presentation of the advantages of this system will only increase the price of your home. In addition, you say that this technology is widespread in your area. That is, it will not look strange and "not necessary".
                      The main thing is that your real estate agent correctly presents this information to your buyer. It is essential to find a good specialist, and it is not always so easy.
                      It took me several months to find a reputable law firm that would protect my rights in domestic proceedings <ad link removed>. But I succeeded.
                      Good luck selling the house!
                      Last edited by sdold; 11-02-2021, 01:24 PM. Reason: Link still worked for some reason, so I removed it

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by balalath View Post
                        If your installation is in total working order, then the correct presentation of the advantages of this system will only increase the price of your home. In addition, you say that this technology is widespread in your area. That is, it will not look strange and "unnecessary".
                        As I have stated before having an existing solar pv system on the home may or may NOT increase the value. It really depends on what people are looking for and if they feel solar is a benefit to the home price.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Alipiama
                          It's not a bad idea. You will have free electricity, working without the general power grid, where interruptions often occur.
                          And you are nearly 100% wrong. Bad information.
                          Yes, you spend $20,000 for panels, inverters and racking. Is that free ? Will not run when the grid is down for safety reasons.

                          What about night time - ok Batteries, Another $5K for batteries and charge controller. Now you don't need the grid, unless you have a week of rainy days, then you need a bunch more $ for a backup generator. And you have to watch everything, fix it, troubleshoot it.
                          Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                          || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                          || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                          solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                          gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Alipiama
                            It's not a bad idea. You will have free electricity, working without the general power grid, where interruptions often occur.
                            Unfortunately Solar is not free even if it provides you power during the day time. And unless you shut down everything electrical at night you will need to use the grid or some other expensive alternate power source.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              So new forum member "balalath" brings back a 2-year old thread by posting a semi-related comment and then later returns to edit the post and sneak in a commercial link for some law firm thinking no one will notice.

                              Time to ban someone in my opinion.
                              Dave W. Gilbert AZ
                              6.63kW grid-tie owner

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