Homes With Solar Sell for $10,000+ More — But Only If the Listing Actually Mentions It

A new study of more than 500,000 U.S. home sales has put a hard number on something solar installers have long suspected: homes with rooftop solar sell for meaningfully more — but only when buyers actually know it's there. The research, conducted by home energy intelligence company 257 as part of a broader industry study with the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative, examined homes sold between 2024 and 2025. It found that homes with solar panels sold for about 2% more — the equivalent of roughly $10,000 on a median-priced $557,000 home — when the listing specifically mentioned solar. Homes with heat pumps saw a similar, smaller bump: up to 1%, or about $3,900 on a median-priced $399,000 home. The catch is that the premium only shows up when the feature is advertised. One-third of homes with solar present didn't mention it anywhere in the listing, and heat pumps were referenced in just 8% of listings where they existed. In other words, a meaningful number of sellers are leaving value on the table simply by not telling buyers what's already installed.

What This Means for the Math on Going Solar

Solar's return on investment has traditionally been calculated almost entirely through utility bill savings over the life of the system — typically 20 to 25 years. That calculation changes for anyone who might sell before then. At 2026 average installation costs of about $30,500 for rooftop solar only (no battery), a $10,000 resale premium represents roughly 33% of the upfront cost recovered at the point of sale alone — before counting a single month of reduced utility bills along the way. For heat pumps, the roughly $3,900 premium works out to about 27% of the average $14,529 installation cost.

Changing incentives and rising energy costs have made it harder for homeowners to rationalize large home energy improvements," said Scott Rosenberg, CEO of 257, the firm behind the research. "This data shows that homeowners who invest in upgrades can both save on their bills over time and make nearly a third of their money back upon selling their home.

Why This Is Becoming More Relevant

Listings mentioning energy efficiency features have nearly tripled since 2015, even though only about 8% of listings advertised them last year — suggesting buyer awareness (and demand) is still ahead of what most sellers and real estate agents are actively marketing. As energy costs and grid reliability concerns continue to grow nationally, that gap is likely to close, meaning early movers may benefit most from being ahead of the trend.

What to Do If You're Considering Solar

If resale value has been a question mark in your own decision about solar, this research offers a more complete picture: the investment isn't purely a bet on staying in your home for 20+ years. Between ongoing bill savings and a documented resale premium, solar can pencil out on a meaningfully shorter timeline than the traditional payback-period math suggests — as long as it's properly documented and marketed when it's time to sell.

My Home & Solar Solution can walk you through the full picture for your home: expected monthly savings, payback timeline, and how a system would likely be valued if you sold. Visit myhomesolution.org to see the numbers for your situation.