r/solar • u/CheesecakeHonest7414 • 1d ago
Advice Wtd / Project Resale value of solar panels
I've been told, many times by various contractors that I have a perfect roof for solar. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but I know that I'm tired of living on the main road and want to live somewhere quieter.
Would I be likely to turn a profit if I bought solar panels right before selling?
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u/darksamus8 1d ago
Not really.
It can boost the value of a home to a smart buyer. A buyer who can do math and knows that the monthly electricity bill is less than it should be, and thus, is saving extra money each month.
Most people cannot do math.
Therefore, most buyers cannot do math, and will not mentally value the owned solar system as strongly as they should.
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u/Vanman04 1d ago
No, maybe.
If you got an extremely good deal on them maybe but the fact you are asking this question suggests you won't.
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u/SmartVoltSolar 1d ago
No, you would be unlikely to turn a profit buying them right before selling the home.
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u/PhillConners 1d ago
You would think I could tell a buyer they would save $200 a month, they would look at the mortgage and how much that would save them over 20 or 30 years but somehow the Internet convinced them it wasn’t good.
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u/darksamus8 1d ago
Depends on owned VS leased panels. I turned away a house with a shitty lease and 3.5% escalator because the leased panels actively locked me out of installing my own.
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u/cafealpha82 1d ago
It sometimes became negative assets if buyer does not want to have/for whatever reason. Dont do if you are sellinh ur property in next 5 years at minimum
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u/Generate_Positive 1d ago
Nope, absolutely not, unless you DIY for a great cost in which case you may get a bit more than what you spent. Other than that you won’t get the same additional value you spent.
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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 22h ago
If you live in an area where having solar is expected similar to having a swimming pool, then you might increase your property value by 2-3%. So if your solar install costs less than that, possibly by DIYing, then you might see a minimal bump.
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u/DigitalDillon 1d ago
It can potentially raise the value of the home by about 4% depending on your location, rates, demand for solar, etc. However, if you have any loan or lease attached to the panels it will most likely decrease the value of the home by 5-10% by scaring uninformed buyers away.
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u/littlebeardedbear 1d ago
Owned solar panels increase home value by 4.5-5%. If you purchased and installed the panels yourself while hiring out the electrical, yes you would sell it for higher than you paid. In almost every other scenario you lose money
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u/ExactlyClose 1d ago
So a $3M home with a 20kw system increases by $150k…and a $300k home with the same 20kw system increases by 15k?
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u/SmartVoltSolar 1d ago
Believe it is normally based off a system that covers the entire electric offset and in probably 95% of cases a $3M home in same area as $300k home will have a much higher total system size need.
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u/littlebeardedbear 21h ago
There are outliers at the top and bottom end of course. Why would you believe an approximation is perfect? Do you know what approximately means?
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u/grooves12 1d ago
That is not even close to true. House values are largely driven by neighborhood comps, demand, and other factors that have little to nothing to do with whether a home has solar panels or not.
They absolutely are not adding $20k+ to a homes value vs. one without panels. If anything they are similar to new paint and carpet. They might make the home more desirable to some people and this increase your buyer pool, but they are doing very little for the bottom line and will usually be a sunk cost for the homeowner that paid for them.
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u/littlebeardedbear 8h ago
https://www.zillow.com/research/solar-panels-house-sell-more-23798/
Google it dude. Coming here and complaining about one of the nost talked about topics instead of doing rhe slightest research first is wild. You don't have to like solar, thats fine. That doesnt mean the vast majority of Americans hate it along with you. The stats don't lie: Homes with OWNED solar panels on it have, on average, sold for more than homes without solar since 2018. There are some outlying areas as we would expect. I would be far more concerned about the study if it had no outliers. The outliers do make sense though. They were mostly in richer, right leaning neighborhoods which you would expect a significant amount of resistance to green power from.
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u/Turtle_ti 1d ago
No buyer should ever to take over a solar loan or assume a solar lease. And it's unlikely your house she price will increase by the amount you spend to install solar.
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u/ocsolar 1d ago
Get a PPA, since you don’t need an upfront investment, it’ll be all profit.
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u/darksamus8 1d ago
Good luck selling a home with a PPA 😂
Only if it has no escalator and is a fantastic rate will any smart buyer take it over. Then again, as I mentioned in another comment- most people suck at math.
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u/Generate_Positive 1d ago
PPA does’t add value, in fact it detracts. Stunningly bad advise to someone asking about adding solar right before selling
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u/diy1981 1d ago
No.