Increase in home value

Not only does adding solar panels reduce or remove your power bills it has the added benefit of adding value to your house. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that investing in solar panels could increase the value of your home by up to 4%. Their studies showed those houses with solar technology consistently outpaced houses (of similar dimensions and standing) without solar by often 10s of 1000s of dollars.

Their research concluded that investing in solar panels was very similar to the result that you could expect from adding another bedroom or undertaking a high spec conversion of your kitchen or bathroom. And the impact is self prophesying, as more people start seeing the benefits of solar, the more people will value solar and this capital in your home will increase proportionally.

The NBER study focused primarily on the fiscal benefits of solar conversion, which admittedly are always very high up on peoples purchase reason, but there are numerous non-tangible benefits including the fact that you are converting your home from using coal and natural gas to the sun for your  power generation, which help in reducing air pollution, greenhouse gases and your overall carbon footprint.

There have also been exploratory talks in Parliament committees of a Sustainable Homes green tick of approval within the real estate industry which could mean that houses that have solar (and other renewable aspects like wind generators, double glazed windows, LED lighting etc) will have an approval from a yet to be determined association or regulator. Not only will this tick make your house more attractive to couples focused on sustainable living but there are exploratory discussions on these houses receiving concessions on stamp duties and taxes, for the seller AND buyer.

In addition to all the above, your conversion is also partially funded by Federal AND State Government, and most states still have a feed-in tariff AND the price of solar is continuing to fall as technology and manufacturing improves; there really never has been a better time convert your home to solar.