Dramatically. For starters, most buyers will find the energy savings to be very attractive. By showing them before/after bills, you could easily make the case that your home *costs* hundreds of dollars less per month than an identical house down the street that runs exclusively on grid energy. This savings can very easily translate into a quicker sale and/or a better offer. There’s also a significant cool factor with solar.
Solar systems and appraisal values
We aren’t just making a rhetorical case here. The US Department of Energy sponsored a pretty huge study that showed thousands of California home prices increasing by more than $15,000, due to having even a pretty basic solar system. Selling Into the Sun Study if you really want to geek out. Fannie Mae has also issued a guideline instructing appraisers to analyze the system and market to see what value it adds to the home. Changes in the real estate business are comparatively slow to become institutionally adopted, so hard, fast rules haven’t been set. But with well over half-a-million solar-powered homes in the US, there’s undisputedly a market.