Value of Your Home and Renewable Energy
Generally in areas where there are concentrations of solar water heating and photovoltaic installations, such as in New Jersey, housing prices with solar installations have been rising as quickly as homes without these systems - and in some cases bringing even higher prices for home resale.
A solar electric system increases home value by $20,000 for each $1,000 in annual reduced operating costs, according to The Appraisal Institute. A solar electric system compares very favorably with other home improvements in percentage of cost recovered. Often, a solar system can recover much more than 100% of its cost, and this percentage actually increases overtime as electric rates rise."
Bad looking PV installations could be a disincentive for others to buy homes..." High quality installations taking into account aesthetic aspects in every detail from piping and wiring runs, color homogenization of exposed system components -- play a huge part in resale value. In areas where appraisers and realtors have little experience with solar and the home market is poorly saturated, solar installations have dampened resale values a slight bit. But overall, with extremely high natural gas prices and ever increasing electric utility rates coupled with increased experiences of poor electric power reliability and quality - solar installations on homes, if done professionally, significantly increase the home's value -- and that is why many states actually exempt that increase in value from local tax assessments -- as a way to encourage solar even though it will increase the home's base tax assessment.
In New Jersey, until the end of 2008, and perhaps beyond, there is a 30% tax credit up to $2,000 for the purchase and installation of residential solar electric and solar water heating property.
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