Solar Panel Placement and Impact on Home Resale Value

[peakbagger]

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.

[Mike90250]

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.

[NCSD]

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.