Solar Panel Placement and Impact on Home Resale Value

[J.P.M.]

Installing Solar Panel for residential houses definitely increase your property values as compared to the market competitors.
When you are planning to sell out your home customers will definitely find your home more valuable than other options. They act as a small power plant for your home.
Hence installing a solar power plant for your home will surely impact your home resale value.

To more about solar power systems you can

Please do not include links to other solar web sites in your post without first getting permission from the Admin.

Given the way prices have dropped for new stuff, and with existing installers going out of business, seems to me the value that a, say 5 - 10 yr. old PV system sized to someone else's load would potentially add to a single family home is roughly comparable to the value added to the home if a 5 - 10 yr. old Buick were to be thrown in to sweeten the deal, That is, not much unless you believe a 5-10 yr. old Buick has lasting value. But beauty/value is in the eye of the beholder.

I've got an 8 yr. old system on my roof. Its performance is very well documented, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't add to the perceived value of the property, unless I B.S. the agents and potential buyers - something very easy to do after all the brainwashing done by the greenwash media and shills like you.

FWIW, given what I think I might know and what I know I've seen installers do, I wouldn't consider any house with existing PV on it unless that PV was removed or the value of the removal and any required repair was deducted from the offering price.

Most folks are too ignorant of PV to take a chance on believing what equally solar ignorant real estate slugs try to sell their marks.

Caveat Emptor.

[AmitBajpayee]

Installing Solar Panel for residential houses definitely increase your property values as compared to the market competitors.
When you are planning to sell out your home customers will definitely find your home more valuable than other options. They act as a small power plant for your home.
Hence installing a solar power plant for your home will surely impact your home resale value.

To know more about solar power systems you can explore the various options available in the market.

[Alipiama]

It's not a bad idea. You'll have free electricity, operating without the general power grid, where interruptions are expected. My friends who recently designed their house told me that the approximate payback period will be 5-7 years, depending on the region and the type of your mini plant. Just the price of solar panels in five years has fallen many times and continues to fall. The minuses remain the high cost of a complete set of an alternative power plant and the relatively low ratio of cheaper types. However, you can decide to install it yourself and save up to 10% on the necessary components.

Please do not include links to other websites unless you first get permission.

[azdave]

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.

[SunEagle]

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.

[Mike90250]

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.

[SunEagle]

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.

[balalath]

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!

[nwdiver]

Are general buyers really that dumb?

Yes

[J.P.M.]

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 .

[khanh dam]

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.

[J.P.M.]

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.

[discodanman45]

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.

[khanh dam]

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.

[J.P.M.]

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.