The Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBL) has conducted a study about solar system’s impact on property value. It showed that installing solar panels in your home significantly increases your property’s value. This is witnessed in how California’s homes with solar panels really do sell for more money than those without them.
As such, the study analyzed over 20,000 homes for sale in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New York and Pennsylvania, and discovered that solar system’s impact on property value is significant (known as “the solar premium”). Clearly, solar panels really do add value to your home.
How Solar Panels Improve Your Home
Besides increasing your home’s value, there are some other benefits you’ll receive when installing solar panels in your home. These include:
- Retrofit solar installations are just as valuable as systems that are built into new homes.
- Buyers are willing to pay a set amount for a specific size of solar system, and a little more for a bigger renewable energy generation technology system.
- Nobody knows for sure how solar system’s impact on property value is affected by solar leases, since research currently focuses on owner-owned systems.
How Solar Panels Increase Your Home’s Resale Value
Anyone who’s wondering about whether solar panels make a significant impact on their home’s resale value will be pleasantly surprised. This is because the average, 5 kW solar system offers 5,000 watts of power. According to LBL, each solar watt adds between $3 – $4 to a home’s value, depending on where you live.
This means that your home could sell for $15,000 – $20,000 more, which is what you’ll pay for a new solar system before factoring in the generous 30% Federal tax incentive. So, it is possible to recoup most or all of your investment without even taking into account how much you’ll save on your power bills.
You don’t need to be too concerned about the payback period for your new solar system. If you choose to sell your home right away, your new solar system will increase your home’s value. Otherwise, it’ll pay for itself in the amount of money you save on your bills. Either way, you’ll make a sound investment.
[…] your house into a power station, and generating your own electricity can result in big savings. Installing solar panels in your house also increases its resale value. Like every big life-style decision, generating your own solar […]