I might sell my home in a couple of years. How does installing a solar system change the resell value?
An energy efficient home can actually increase the resell value of your home! There have been many studies that show buyers are willing to pay a premium for a home that has a PV installation.
A study funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the United States Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) studied the market values of energy efficient homes using the tradeoff between the homebuyer’s fuel savings and the after tax mortgage interest cost. The study found that “home value increases by about $20 for every $1 reduction in annual utility bills”. By this model, if your solar system saves you $1000 per year, the resell value of your home could increase by $20,000.00!
The largest study to date on this subject matter was concluded in 2013. The US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley Laboratory in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, universities, and appraisers analyzed homes almost 22,000 sales of home over 15 years and across 8 states. The study “found that home buyers consistently have been willing to pay more for homes with host-owned solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems —averaging about $4 per watt of PV installed—across various states, housing and PV markets, and home types. This equates to a premium of about $15,000 for a typical PV system”.
Makes sense to us!