Home Sellers Are Reaping The Rewards Of Their Solar Energy Systems

By now, we've all come to realize that the installation of residential solar panels can have a major impact on our overall electric bill. In fact, according to an article from The Wall Street Journal, a woman named Etta Kantor can power her New Canaan, CT home, pool and electric car for under 100 a month. Her secret? 48 silicon solar panels mounted to the ground on her property. With her home currently listed at 4.5 million, Kantor and many homeowners just like her are quickly discovering something that puts them on top in the real estate market. According to Ben Hoen, lead author of Berkeley Lab in California study, "Exploring California PV Home Premiums," homes with photovoltaic (PV) systems are now selling for much more than homes without. These findings were discovered after researchers examined 1,598 PV homes and 6,140 non-PV homes that sold in California between 2000 and 2009. In order to isolate the effects of the PV systems, the study was controlled for home features, such as square footage and number of bathrooms. In the end, it was found that homes" with" a typical 3.1-kilowatt system sold at an average of 24,705 more overall. Homeowners have only recently started to embrace the power of PV panels for their homes. However, with the increase in technological improvements and product promotion, roughly 32% of all PV systems in the U.S. were added in 2013 alone. Today, nearly half a million U.S. homes power their homes using these systems. As stated by Palm Springs real estate agent, Benjamin Leaskou, "It helps sell a property, to be quite honest. When you have multiple fridges, pool lighting, landscape lighting and HVAC zones, you can run into 1,000 to 2,000 a month electric bills. But if you put in a large enough kilowatt system, it can offset that by half if not 75%." And it seems as though many potential homebuyers are starting to realize what a huge asset that can be. Subscribe to Solar Solutions of Texas by Email