Josh Graff Zivin On Solar Panel Subsidies
How Much Do Solar Panels Boost Home Sale Prices?
08/01/2011
Ashlea Ebeling,
The Best Revenge, Forbes.com
Add a new steel front door to your house and you’ll likely recoup the investment if you have to sell. But what about a solar power system?
A group of California economists looked at that question in a recent study and found that on average, homeowners in California who install photovoltaic solar panels to power their homes can recover nearly all the investment costs if they move–and that’s on top of the annual energy savings.
And if they live in a liberal community (with more registered Green Party members and Toyota Priuses) there’s an even greater payback.
The economists looked at utility data, sales records of single family homes and building permit data in San Diego County and Sacramento County from 2003 through year-end 2010.
Click here to read the full article.
Related Links
Josh Graff Zivin is Associate Professor of International Relations and Pacific Studies and Affiliated Faculty of Economics. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Research Director for International Environmental and Health Studies at the Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC).
