Every solar company in Utah will tell you the same thing: solar adds value to your home. They'll cite national studies, throw out percentages, and leave you with a glossy brochure and a quote for a $25,000 system. What they won't do is pull your actual local MLS data and show you what Saratoga Springs buyers are really paying for homes with solar — compared to comparable homes without it.
I did that analysis. Here's what the data actually shows.
What I pulled and how I looked at it
I ran a CMA report on single-family home sales in Saratoga Springs, filtering for homes with and without solar across neighborhoods including Wildflower, Wander, Highridge, Fox Hollow, Harvest Hills, Ridgehorne, Starhaven, Legacy Farms, and others. The dataset included 82 closed sales with solar status and ownership type (owned vs. leased) recorded in the MLS.
The goal was simple: control for size, finish level, and neighborhood as much as possible, then see whether solar-equipped homes actually closed at higher prices.
Utah is a non-disclosure state, so no individual addresses are disclosed here — only aggregate neighborhood-level analysis.
The numbers: what the data shows
| Homes | Median Price | Median $/SqFt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All solar homes | 18 | $675,000 | $192 |
| Owned solar | 15 | $680,000 | $192 |
| Leased solar | 3 | $660,000 | $192 |
| No solar | 64 | $660,000 | $192 |
The headline finding: owned solar homes closed at a median of $680,000 vs. $660,000 for non-solar homes — a $20,000 difference, or roughly 3%.
That 3% premium for owned systems is meaningful. On a $660,000 home, that's real money. But the details matter enormously, and there are three important nuances in this data that every Saratoga Springs homeowner needs to understand before making a solar decision.
Nuance #1: The price per square foot is identical
Here's the finding that should make you pause. Despite the $20,000 median price difference, owned solar homes and non-solar homes sold at exactly the same median price per square foot — $192/sq ft across both groups.
What this tells you: solar homes didn't trade at a premium per foot — they traded at a premium because they tended to be slightly larger homes. The median square footage of solar homes in the dataset was 3,540 sq ft vs. 3,440 sq ft for non-solar homes — a 100 sq ft difference that accounts for much of the price gap.
The practical takeaway: in Saratoga Springs, buyers are not paying a meaningful per-square-foot premium specifically because a home has solar. The market is pricing solar homes on the same $/sqft basis as everything else. Solar isn't hurting resale — but it's also not commanding a reliable premium above and beyond what the home's size and finish would otherwise support.
Nuance #2: Leased solar shows no premium at all
This one is unambiguous in the data. The three homes in the dataset with leased solar closed at a median of $660,000 — exactly the same as homes with no solar.
This aligns with what national research consistently shows. A 2025 analysis by SolarInsure across more than 5,000 homes found that "third-party-owned systems (leases/PPAs) do not consistently increase home value or resale value, as buyers may be wary of taking over contracts." The Zillow research that found a 4.1% premium for solar homes specifically applied to owned systems — not leased ones.
When you lease solar panels, you don't own them. They're someone else's equipment on your roof, and the buyer has to agree to take over the lease contract — usually 20+ years with monthly payments and escalating rates. That creates a complication that many buyers won't accept. Some walk away from homes because of lease assumptions. Others negotiate the price down to compensate for the liability.
If you're considering solar in Saratoga Springs and you might sell within the next ten years, leasing is a risk. Owning is the only structure that has any realistic chance of adding resale value.
Nuance #3: The market has shifted — and timing matters
This is the context the national studies miss because they look backward. Two significant things changed in 2025 that affect the solar calculus in Saratoga Springs specifically.
The 30% federal tax credit expired at the end of 2025. For years, homeowners who purchased solar could claim a 30% credit on their federal taxes — meaning a $20,000 system had an effective net cost of $14,000. That credit is gone for systems installed in 2026. A homeowner who bought solar before the deadline and now sells has a meaningfully lower net cost basis than someone who installs today. The resale math was more favorable for early adopters.
Rocky Mountain Power cut its net billing export rate by 26% in March 2025. Utah solar homeowners send excess power back to the grid and receive a credit. That credit rate dropped from roughly 5.70¢ per kWh (summer) to about 4.12¢ per kWh — well below the retail rate you pay when drawing from the grid. This makes solar's monthly savings story less compelling than it was even a year ago. Buyers know this, or will know it when they ask questions. A solar system's value to a buyer depends on how much it actually saves them — and the net billing economics are less attractive in 2026 than they were in 2023 or 2024.
The combination of higher installation costs (no tax credit) and lower export rates means that new solar buyers in 2026 face a harder path to ROI than those who installed earlier. That affects how buyers will value those systems when they come to market in a few years.
What Utah solar incentives actually look like right now
For full context, here's where things stand in 2026 for Saratoga Springs homeowners considering solar:
- Federal tax credit: Gone for new installs starting in 2026. If you installed before December 31, 2025, you're grandfathered in.
- Utah state tax credit: Utah's Renewable Energy Systems Tax Credit (RESTC) provided up to $1,600 — but that program has also expired.
- Sales tax exemption: Solar equipment is still exempt from Utah's sales tax, providing an immediate upfront cost reduction.
- Rocky Mountain Power net billing: Export credits of approximately 4.1¢–5.6¢/kWh depending on season — well below the retail rate of electricity.
- Rocky Mountain Power Wattsmart Battery Rebate: $400/kW (up to $2,000) plus $15/kW annual bill credits for batteries installed alongside solar.
- Property tax: No confirmed statewide property tax exemption for solar in Utah — meaning if solar increases your assessed value, your property tax bill could increase as well.
The picture is meaningfully less favorable in 2026 than it was two years ago.
So is solar worth it in Saratoga Springs?
Here's the honest answer based on the data and the current landscape.
If you're planning to stay in your home for 10+ years and you install an owned system: Solar can make financial sense primarily through monthly electricity savings — not guaranteed resale value. The monthly savings story is real, even with lower net billing rates. If your electric bill is $200+/month, owned solar will cut that substantially. Over a decade, those savings accumulate. The resale premium, if it exists, is a bonus — not the foundation of the investment thesis.
If you're planning to sell within 3–5 years: Be careful. Our local data shows a $20,000 median premium for owned solar — but it also shows that premium disappears at the $/sqft level. In a flat or softening market, a buyer who can negotiate may not pay extra for solar at all. With the tax credit gone, your system costs more than your neighbor's did two years ago, and you'll be asking a buyer to value it at a time when the economics of solar are less compelling than they were at purchase.
If someone is trying to sell you a leased system: Walk away from that conversation as far as your resale value is concerned. The data is clear. Leased solar added zero premium in this Saratoga Springs dataset. It adds complication to your sale and zero documented value to your price.
If you already have owned solar: Good news — you're in the best position. Our data shows a real, if modest, premium. Price it correctly relative to comparable non-solar homes, be transparent about the system details (age, warranty status, utility agreement), and let buyers do the math on their savings.
"The solar companies aren't lying when they say solar can add value. They're just not telling you that the details — owned vs. leased, timing of installation, local utility policy, and how long you plan to stay — matter more than any national average."
What buyers should ask when a home has solar
If you're buying a home in Saratoga Springs and it has solar, these are the questions that matter:
- Is the system owned outright or leased? If leased, get the full lease agreement. Understand the monthly payment, the escalation clause, the remaining term, and the buyout cost.
- What is the system's age and remaining warranty? Solar panels typically carry 25-year performance warranties. A 15-year-old system is not the same asset as a 3-year-old one.
- What is the current Rocky Mountain Power net billing agreement? Older agreements under the grandfathered net metering schedules (Schedule 135/136) are significantly more favorable than current net billing rates — and those agreements may transfer with the property, which is actually a valuable asset.
- What did the system produce last year? Ask for 12 months of utility bills showing solar production and credits.
- Does the HOA allow solar panels? In Saratoga Springs, most HOAs do — Utah law prevents HOAs from banning solar outright — but some have aesthetic requirements about panel placement and visibility.
The solar question in Saratoga Springs is not a yes or no. It's a math problem, and the math is different for every homeowner depending on when they installed, how they financed it, how long they plan to stay, and what the buyer's energy needs will be. That's exactly the kind of conversation worth having before you sign anything — whether it's a solar contract or a purchase agreement.