Do Solar Panels Increase Home Value in 2026? What the Data Says

By SolarCostData Data Desk · Reviewed September 2026 · Corrections log

“Solar adds value to your home” is one of those claims that’s true, widely repeated, and almost never accompanied by an actual number. Here are the numbers — including a newer one that pushes higher than the classic figure — and the fine print the sales pitches leave off.

How much do solar panels increase home value?

Two landmark pieces of research get cited over and over, and it’s worth knowing what each really measured:

• Zillow analyzed home sales and found that houses with solar sold for about 4.1% more than comparable homes without it. On a $400,000 home that’s roughly $16,400; on a $500,000 home, about $20,500. That study drew on 2018–2019 listings, and it also noted solar homes sold up to about 10 days faster.
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — a U.S. Department of Energy lab — went deeper, examining around 22,000 home sales across eight states. It found buyers consistently paid a premium of about $4 per watt of installed solar, which works out to roughly $15,000 for a typical system of its era. That analysis covered 1999–2013.

Both point the same direction: an owned solar system shows up in the sale price. But notice the dates. Neither study captures today’s cheaper, larger systems or the 2026 disappearance of the federal credit, which is exactly why you should treat the headline percentages as directional evidence, not a promise about your specific home.

The newer number: a 2025 replication found even more

Because the classic figures were getting old, a research team at SolarReviews spent weeks replicating Zillow’s method in 2025 — comparing recently sold homes with and without solar, matched on area, size, and timing across dozens of states. Their result came in higher than Zillow’s original: solar homes sold for about 6.9% more, translating to roughly $25,000 on an average sale, and again tended to sell faster.

That’s encouraging, but read it with the same caution as the older studies, in both directions. The sample was smaller than Zillow’s or Berkeley Lab’s, and — importantly — the premium was not uniform. In several states the bump was under 2%, and in at least one (Alabama) comparable non-solar homes actually sold for a few percent more. The honest takeaway across all three studies is a range, not a single magic percentage: owned solar reliably adds a measurable premium in most markets, the size swings hard by state and system, and a minority of markets barely reward it at all.

The owned-versus-leased line is everything

If there’s one distinction that decides whether solar helps or hurts your sale, it’s ownership. Every measured premium above — Zillow’s 4.1%, the 2025 study’s 6.9%, Berkeley Lab’s $4 per watt — was found for owned systems that convey with the house. A leased or PPA system is a different animal at closing: the panels belong to someone else, so your buyer either has to qualify to take over the lease payments or you have to buy the contract out before the sale closes. Real-estate agents will tell you a lease can turn into a negotiating snag or even scare off a buyer who doesn’t want a 20-year obligation attached to their new roof.

So if resale value is part of why you’re considering solar, that’s a concrete point in favor of buying over leasing — the lease-vs-buy breakdown weighs the rest of that trade-off.

The three study results on one scale, and the two ways solar can show up at your closing:

How an appraiser actually credits your panels

Homeowners often assume the resale premium is automatic. It isn’t — it has to survive an appraisal, and appraisers don’t guess. The standard approach for owned solar is an income method: most commonly the PV Value tool, which estimates the present value of the electricity your system will produce over its remaining useful life, using your local rates and the array’s specs. That figure is documented on a green-features addendum to the normal appraisal form so a lender can accept it.

The catch is that the method is only as good as the paperwork you hand over. To get full credit, an appraiser typically needs proof you own the system, the specifications (size, panel and inverter models, install date), the warranty, and ideally a year or two of production data. Hand those over and the premium has a documented basis; lose them, and an appraiser may credit little or nothing, because they can’t value a system they can’t verify. That single administrative step — keeping the solar file with your closing documents — is one of the cheapest things you can do to protect the premium.

The property-tax exemption: value without the tax bill

Here’s a piece that quietly improves the math. Normally, anything that raises your home’s market value also raises its assessed value, and therefore your property-tax bill. Solar is often the exception: around 36 states offer a solar property-tax exemption that excludes the system’s added value from your assessment. In practice that means the panels can lift what your home sells for without raising the taxes you pay to own it in the meantime.

Two details matter. First, like the resale premium itself, the exemption generally follows ownership — a leasing company, not you, holds the equipment on a leased system, so the exemption tracks to whoever owns it. Second, several states require you to file for it (Texas, for instance, uses a specific exemption form with a filing deadline), so it isn’t always automatic. Confirm your state’s rule and any paperwork in the incentives-by-state comparison rather than assuming it applies.

What makes the premium bigger or smaller

That documentation row matters more than people expect, for the appraisal reasons above. And the electricity-rate row explains most of the state-to-state swing in the studies: in a high-rate market a buyer is really paying for a smaller future electric bill, so the premium is large; in a cheap-power state the same panels save less, so buyers pay less for them.

Do solar panels make it harder to sell a house?

Usually no — but sometimes yes, and it’s worth knowing which situation you’re in. The studies measure averages, and the average hides some losers. Solar tends to be neutral or negative when:

• The system is leased or on a PPA and the buyer doesn’t want the obligation.
• The array is old, small, or near the end of its warranty , so a buyer sees a looming replacement rather than free power.
• The roof mount was done poorly, leaving leaks or damage a home inspector will flag.
• The panels are aesthetically jarring for the neighborhood, or the home is otherwise over-improved for its street.

None of that contradicts the headline finding — it refines it. The premium is real for an owned, functional, reasonably current, well-documented system in a market where power is expensive. Move away from those conditions and the value fades.

Handing solar off to a buyer: the transfer checklist

The premium the studies measured doesn’t survive a messy closing. When an owned system changes hands, a handful of things have to travel with the house, and gathering them before you list is the difference between an appraiser and buyer crediting the panels and treating them as an unknown. Have ready:

• Proof of ownership — the purchase contract or paid-off loan documents showing the system is yours to convey, not leased or financed with a lien still attached.
• System specifications — array size in kilowatts, panel and inverter make and model, and the installation date.
• Warranties — panel, inverter, and (if applicable) workmanship coverage, plus how to transfer them to the new owner; many are transferable but require notifying the manufacturer.
• Interconnection and permit records — the utility agreement that lets the system export, and the signed-off local permit, which reassures a buyer the install was inspected and legal.
• Production history and monitoring access — a year or two of output data and the login for the monitoring app, handed over at closing so the buyer inherits a working system, not a mystery on the roof.

If there’s an outstanding solar loan , resolve how it’s handled early: many sellers pay it off from sale proceeds so the panels convey free and clear, because a lien or a balance a buyer must assume can stall a deal the same way a lease does. None of this is expensive — it’s paperwork — but skipping it is one of the most common ways a real, documented premium quietly evaporates at the appraisal.

Why this lever matters more in 2026

When the 30% federal credit was in play, resale value was a nice bonus on top of an already-good deal. Now that a 2026 purchase gets $0 federal credit , homeowners are scrutinizing every remaining source of return — and the resale premium is one of the few that survived intact. It’s real, it’s measurable, and it’s yours to keep, but only on an owned system, only with the documents in hand, strongest in a high-rate market, and never guaranteed for a specific house. Check where your state sits on rates in cost by state , model the bill savings that drive the premium in the 2026 savings calculator , keep your ownership and production paperwork with your closing file, and remember the property-tax exemption many states offer, which lets that added value show up in your sale price without showing up on your tax bill. Resale value is the bonus, not the case — whether solar is worth it still rests on your rate and export rules first.

General information, not appraisal or tax advice. Your actual resale impact depends on local demand, market conditions, and the age and condition of your system.

Sources

• Going solar, general — U.S. Department of Energy, Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar .
• Electricity rates — U.S. Energy Information Administration, average price by state .
• State and utility programs — DSIRE program index , Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, NC Clean Energy Technology Center.

Figures on this page are estimates built from the sources above, not quotes. State and utility programs change and are often budget-limited — verify current terms on DSIRE and with your own utility before relying on them. Nothing here is tax, legal or financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.

Where to go next

• Lease vs. buy in 2026 — Every premium in the studies above was measured on owned systems. This is what a lease does to a closing.
• How long panels last — Remaining warranty and system age drive how much an appraiser will credit, so the lifespan data is really resale data.
• Incentives by state — Check whether your state’s solar property-tax exemption applies automatically or has to be filed for, with a deadline.
• Loan vs. cash — An outstanding solar loan can put a fixture lien between you and your own closing. Worth reading before you finance.
• Cost and rates by state — The premium is largest where power is expensive. Find where your state sits on rates.