Buying a house with solar panels in 2025: Everything you need to know

Buying a house can feel like an overwhelming task, but one easy decision? Purchasing a home with solar panels. Not only do solar panels increase your home's value, but they also lower or completely eliminate your electric bill, and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time.

The most popular time to buy a home is from March to June, so if you're currently looking to buy a new house, you’ll probably come across listings for homes that already have solar panels. Solar adoption is growing across the country, so no matter what state you live in you should be able to find a home with solar already installed.

Before buying a solar-equipped home, it's important to understand how the panels were purchased, what condition they’re in, and the pros and cons of solar panel ownership so you can get the most out of your future home’s solar system.

Solar panels will save almost all homeowners money, even if you're not the original buyer. If the previous homeowners bought their solar panels with a loan or a lease, make sure they provide you with thorough documentation on the solar panels so you can learn about the system’s financing, age, performance, design, and warranty. This should ensure a smooth ownership transition.

Even if the solar panels were bought outright with cash, it’s still smart to make sure you have all of the documentation for the purchase. Make sure you connect with the installation company directly  so you can contact the installer for any questions or maintenance calls after closing on your home. 

There are a few scenarios you’re likely to come across when you're shopping for a house: solar panels purchased with cash, leased solar panels, solar panels purchased with a solar loan, and PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financed solar panels. Regardless of whether the solar panels are owned, leased, or loaned, you’ll want a copy of the solar contract for your records. Here's what you should know about each scenario.

"Solar panels can be a valuable asset, offering reduced electric bills and potential tax incentives, but make sure you get documentation of warranties, maintenance history, and verify the roof condition before committing," said Adam Shulman, a realtor with Leading Edge Real Estate in Melrose, Mass. "If the panels are leased, carefully review the contract terms, monthly payments, and transfer requirements as these could complicate your mortgage and future sale."

Buying a house with fully-owned solar panels

If you find a property with solar panels, ideally the current homeowner will have already paid for the system in full so you don’t have to worry about taking over any remaining lease payments. Panels purchased upfront don't come with any strings attached because they’ve already been paid for in full. If that’s the case, you can sit back, relax, and simply enjoy having no monthly electric bill when you move into your new home. 

Since you won’t have to worry about handling any lease or loan obligations, transferring solar ownership should be fairly straightforward. The seller will need to initiate the process by contacting the installer, who can walk you through completing the ownership transfer paperwork and verify that the manufacturer and installation warranties can be transferred to your name. Once you’re the new owner, you’ll also want to notify the utility company and fill out an NEM (Net Energy Metering) agreement. 

Without any monthly payments or interest, a fully paid-for system provides a faster payback period and quicker return on investment, as your electric bill savings start immediately after installation. The average solar panel owner breaks even on their solar investment in about seven years, according to EnergySage data. Solar panel ownership also grants you energy independence, reducing your reliance on grid electricity from a utility company.

If you’re hoping to take advantage of solar incentives, keep in mind that the federal tax credit can only be claimed by the original owner and can’t be claimed again by the new owner. However, it’s a good idea to check with your state or local government, utility company, installer, and equipment manufacturer to ensure you’re not missing out on other tax incentives or rebates.

You’ll also want to look into performance incentives such as net metering, which you can set up through your utility company. If your state still offers them, SRECs also offer lucrative benefits (the original owner will need to transfer the rights to you). 

Buying a home with leased panels

If the house you're interested in has a leased solar energy system, the current homeowner pays a fixed monthly payment to their lender, similar to a car lease. The original lessee has several options when selling their home with leased solar panels: transfer the lease terms and agreement to the new owner, buy out the remainder of the lease and have the system removed, purchase the solar panel system at market value and leave it on the roof, or cancel the lease contract early (which can come with early termination fees and be a complicated process). 

Before you buy the home, you'll want to look into the lease terms by reviewing the original solar lease contract and talking with the bank or financial institution that holds the lease. Your realtor, the bank, the original lessee, and the leasing company should help you get all the answers you need about the lease agreement:

• What are the monthly lease payments? A solar lease is usually paid monthly, and when you take over a lease from a previous homeowner, you gain responsibility for those payments.

• Does the lease include an annual escalator? An annual rate increase, or escalator, means that your monthly lease payments increase over time. Not all solar leases have annual escalators, but many do. If one is included in your lease, it will increase your monthly payments by a preset rate over the term length (typically 1-5% each year).

• What is the lease term? Solar leases usually last 20 to 25 years, matching the usual lifespan of the panels, but can be as short as ten years. Check the remaining lease term to know how long you’d potentially be on the hook for making payments.

• Is there a buyout option? Similar to auto loans, most solar leases have a buyout option based on a predetermined price or fair market value—but buyout fees can be expensive.

• .Can you cancel the lease contract? Most solar leases are usually accompanied by hefty early termination penalties and can be difficult to cancel without legal action.

If you’re buying a house with panels that were installed with a power purchase agreement (PPA) rather than a solar lease, there’s one key difference to be aware of. While lessees pay a fixed monthly amount for solar leases, for solar PPAs, lessees pay for the solar energy they consume at a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh) instead of a fixed dollar amount. 

A PPA will also need to be transferred to the new homeowner, just like a solar lease. Potential homebuyers should likewise look into the individual terms of the PPA contract (yearly escalator, price per kWh, buyout clauses) and compare the PPA rates to the price of electricity in their area to ensure it’s a good deal.

Navigating a home purchase with leased solar panels can be tricky, but it doesn’t need to be a dealbreaker—there are plenty of options on the table for you to negotiate with the seller. You should always start by requesting to review the fine print of the lease contract, and make sure that keeping the lease makes financial sense for your personal situation. In most cases, the benefits of solar—leased or not—usually outweigh any hassles. 

Buying a house with solar panels financed through a solar loan

If a homeowner installs solar with a solar loan, they pay for the system with fixed monthly installments over a fixed loan term. There are two types of loans you can typically take out to go solar: secured and unsecured loans. A secured loan, such as a home equity loan, typically uses your property as collateral for the loan. An unsecured loan, such as a personal loan, isn’t tied to your home and doesn’t require any collateral, so your interest rate will likely be higher than a home equity loan, for example.

Typically, a solar loan isn’t assumable and remains the previous homeowner’s responsibility, even if the property is sold. If the lender does allow homebuyers to assume the loan, the process to take over the loan is similar to a solar lease: The lender will determine the buyer’s eligibility and transfer the solar loan to the new homeowner. 

In most cases, the current homeowners will pay off the loan rather than transfer it, and the value of the solar panels will be factored in the price you pay for the house. If the house checks all of your other boxes, don’t let a solar loan stop you from moving forward. The long-term financial benefits are usually worth any initial hassles throughout the process. Again, you’ll want to crunch the numbers and be prepared to negotiate, while taking into account certain factors like: 

• Interest rates for the solar loan

• Expected solar panel output 

• Anticipated electric bill savings

• Payback for energy overproduction (net metering) 

Several states—California, Missouri, and Florida—also offer residential PACE financing, a type of solar loan that residents pay back through their property taxes over a term of 10 to 30 years. PACE loans are attached to the property, not the homeowner, so the payments will transfer to you with the sale of the property. Before taking on payments, you should talk to the PACE lender to learn more about the financing terms, interest rates, and duration of the loan.

While taking on solar loan payments as a new homeowner may seem confusing at first, you’ll benefit from thousands of dollars of annual savings through lower electric bills and net metering credits. Another bonus? Your monthly energy costs will be fixed, protecting you against electricity price spikes in your area. And the cost of electricity is currently skyrocketing in the U.S.: Electricity rates increased in 67% of states between the first quarters of 2024 and 2025, according to EnergySage data.

The condition of the roof

When purchasing a new home, you’ll want to assess the condition of the roof, especially if it’s equipped with solar panels. While a home inspection is a no-brainer for all buyers and should include a standard roof inspection, you may want to consider paying for a specialized roof inspection, which typically costs between $150 and $500. A roofing professional will more thoroughly examine the roof for signs of damage, leaks, and wear and tear. 

If the roof needs replacing, you’ll need to pay for solar panel removal and reinstallation which can add anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000 to the cost of your roof replacement. If the roof does need replacing, you can use that information to negotiate a lower selling price that takes into account the additional cost of solar panel removal for any necessary roof repairs.

The condition of the panels 

The typical lifespan of solar panels is about 25 to 30 years, with the panels slowly losing efficiency over time. Standard solar panel warranties usually come with at least 10 years of protection, and most are transferable to the new homeowner. Most systems have a solar monitoring app that you can download on your smartphone, which allows you to view performance and track energy consumption. 

If you truly want to maximize your new system’s energy efficiency, you can also look into a home energy audit, in which an energy auditor can propose home improvements to make your new home more efficient.

Solar is an excellent low-risk, long-term investment for your home, and purchasing a property with panels already installed is a great way to save money by avoiding the cost of the initial installation process. The benefits of solar panels outweigh the cons for most homeowners:

• Reduces your electric bills

• Lowers your carbon footprint and carbon emissions

• Increases your home value

• Allows you to gain energy independence from the grid

Between transferring warranties and paying for additional inspections, solar can introduce a few extra hurdles to the homebuying process. Before making an offer, it’s worth thinking about the drawbacks a solar-equipped home may present:

• Loss of solar panel efficiency over time

• Effect of seasonal changes and weather patterns on energy savings

• Poor net metering buyback rates in your area

• Potential interest rates and fees with solar leases/loans

• Possible roof replacement costs

Don’t feel intimidated if you find a home for sale that has solar panels installed. While a solar ownership transfer adds a few additional steps to the home buying journey, new homeowners can start benefiting financially from solar as soon as they move in. Both buyers and sellers should speak with the installer, review the solar contract and warranty carefully, and make copies of all the necessary documents to avoid any escrow headaches. Buying a home with solar panels is worth it in the long run, even if it takes a little more time to work out a deal at the start of the home buying process.