By Jeff Risley, REFA Executive Director
Will a solar installation down the road affect your home’s value? It’s one of the most common concerns we hear from landowners and their neighbors. It deserves a straight answer based on facts.
The short answer: Research shows the impact is real but modest, highly localized and temporary. For agricultural land, the effect is often positive.
Why This Question Matters
If you’re a farmer or rancher considering a solar lease, your neighbors’ property values are likely part of the conversation, or maybe part of the conflict too. Community meetings can get heated, and rumors may circulate. Some will claim that solar will devastate home prices for miles around, while others insist there will be no impact at all.
The stakes feel high because they are. Property represents generational wealth for rural families. Nobody wants to be the neighbor who “ruined” the community’s home values, or the one whose concerns get dismissed as unfounded.
Over the past several years, university researchers and government laboratories have published peer-reviewed studies analyzing millions of real estate transactions near thousands of solar installations. Here’s what they found.
The Most Comprehensive Study: Virginia Tech (2025)
The largest and most rigorous study to date comes from Virginia Tech researchers, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in June 2025. They analyzed 8.8 million real estate transactions near 3,699 large-scale solar sites across the U.S.
Key findings for residential properties:
- Homes within three miles experienced an average 4.8% decrease in value
- Homes within half a mile saw a 7.2% decrease
- Homes on lots larger than five acres showed no significant impact
- Effects faded over time, returning toward baseline after approximately nine years
Key findings for agricultural land:
- Agricultural and vacant land within two miles increased in value by 19.4%
- The market recognizes future solar development potential
One finding stands out: The researchers built a national model to measure whether visibility of solar panels from a property affected values. It didn’t. Properties with a clear view of solar installations showed no greater decline than those without.
“The negative residential impacts appear to stem more from perception or a stigma effect than from any physical harm.” — Chenyang Hu, lead researcher
What Other Studies Found
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2023)
Berkeley Lab researchers analyzed over 1.8 million home sales near 1,500 solar projects across six states representing more than half of U.S. large-scale solar capacity.
Overall finding: Homes within half a mile showed a 1.5% average price reduction, roughly $6,000 on a $400,000 home.
The nuance matters: Significant negative impacts only appeared when all three conditions were present:
- Projects built on previously agricultural land
- Homes located in rural areas
- Larger projects (more than 12 acres)
California, Connecticut and Massachusetts showed no statistically significant impacts at any distance.
University of Rhode Island (2020)
URI researchers studied 420,000 housing transactions near 208 solar facilities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Their findings:
- A 7% reduction within 0.1 miles
- A 1.7% reduction within 1 mile (about $5,751)
- No significant impact beyond 1 mile
Prior land use matters: The greatest impacts occurred when solar replaced farmland or forest in areas where that land type was scarce. As researcher Corey Lang explained:
“When a farm or forest is developed into solar and there is a scarcity of that type of land in the area, you get a double negative: you lose the farm and forest amenities that are highly valued, and you get the disamenities of a solar development.”
Solar built on brownfields, landfills or industrial land showed no negative impact. In some cases, it showed positive effects.
University of Texas at Austin (2018)
The UT Austin study surveyed approximately 400 property value assessors nationwide. These are the professionals who determine assessed values for tax purposes.
Results:
- Sixty six percent of all estimates indicated zero impact on home values
- Eleven percent indicated positive impact
- Only one out of 18 assessors who had evaluated homes near solar had adjusted an assessed value due to proximity
- Negative perceptions were more common among assessors without prior experience evaluating homes near solar projects
Assessors noted that visual buffers like trees and hedges, as well as good design, helped mitigate concerns. Solar on previously unappealing land was seen as a positive.
What About Agricultural Land?
For farmers and ranchers, the research tells a different story than for residential neighbors.
Georgia Tech (2023) examined 451 utility-scale solar farms in North Carolina and found no direct negative or positive spillover effect on nearby agricultural land values. However, after solar construction, nearby agricultural land close to transmission lines increased approximately 4% in value. The market appears to recognize future solar development potential.
Purdue University (2024) found that Indiana farmland located one mile closer to a solar farm increased in price by 1.4% on average. High-value farmland showed even stronger effects at 1.6% per mile closer.
Loyola University (2024) examined 70 utility-scale solar projects in the Midwest and found a minor positive effect on surrounding property values, ranging from 0.5% to 2%. Researchers attributed this to economic development from jobs and tax contributions.
Distance Is the Key Factor
Across all studies, one finding is consistent: impacts diminish rapidly with distance.
Beyond one mile, most studies find no statistically significant impact. Beyond three miles, no study found any impact.
What This Means for You
If you’re a landowner considering hosting solar: The research supports the economic opportunity. Your agricultural land may increase in value due to recognized development potential, and lease income provides diversification independent of commodity prices.
If you’re a neighbor concerned about a proposed project: Your concerns are understandable and grounded in documented effects, though the research shows those effects are modest. Consider advocating for adequate setbacks (impacts are highly localized), visual screening where practical and keep in mind that effects are temporary and fade over time.
For community conversations: Lead with facts from credible sources. Acknowledge that concerns are legitimate while providing accurate context. Note that most professional appraisers and county assessors report no impact when they evaluate properties near solar.
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Sources Referenced
2. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2023): 1.8 million home sales across 6 states
3. University of Rhode Island (2020): 420,000 transactions in MA and RI
4. University of Texas at Austin (2018): National survey of approximately 400 property assessors
5. Georgia Tech (2023): Land Economics journal, 451 NC solar farms
6. Purdue University (2024): Indiana farmland study
7. Loyola University (2024): Midwest utility-scale solar study
