In order to understand the impacts of adopting rooftop solar in the United States, customer review and consumer news platform ConsumerAffairs polled 1,000 US homeowners about their views on and overall experience with solar panels. Here’s what the homeowners said.
Reasons for – and against – adopting rooftop solar
Homeowners who have installed solar panels explained their top reasons for doing so, as well as how much they spent:
- To benefit the environment: 60%
- Energy security: 54%
- To reduce energy bill: 52%
- To reduce energy reliance: 49%
- Tax credits/rebates: 37%
- To shade roof: 29%
- To be off-grid: 28%
Homeowners who adopted solar spent $11,735, on average, and it took seven years to see a return on investment.
And, those who haven’t made the switch to rooftop solar shared their top deterrents:
- Too expensive: 22%
- Unsure how incentives work: 11%
- Waiting on next tech advancement: 10%
- Credit concerns: 8%
- Unsure how solar works: 6%
- Roof isn’t suitable for solar: 5%
How rooftop solar affects house values
St. Petersburg, Florida, and Knoxville, Tennessee, saw the two largest percentage increases in home sale prices for putting solar panels on roofs. Homeowners with solar in those two cities were able to sell for a staggering 159% and 149% more than others, respectively.
California, which is regularly at the forefront of green initiatives and legislation, had 11 of the top 75 cities with the highest price increases in clean energy home sales. New York had the highest number of clean energy homes listed for sale.
Even the four cities at the very bottom of the percentage value bump – Seattle; Columbus, Ohio; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Anaheim, California – saw a 1% rise in selling price on houses with solar panels.
70% of homeowners polled were pleased by the substantial increase in home value after installation.
Homeowners can make a significant amount of money from adopting solar, especially after the initial cost of installation is paid off. On average, US solar homes reported an average annual savings of $1,587 just from energy costs alone.
Readmore: Here are the 3 biggest trends in rooftop solar and battery storage
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