With gloomy December skies hovering above us, it may be hard to believe, but solar power is taking off in the Bay State. But while it’s clear that the panels can help trim your electricity bill, how much they may add to a home’s value is still up in the air.

A preliminary survey of data provided by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, shows solar installations popping up all across the Bay State in the past few years, and not just in environmentally-conscious towns like Cambridge and Northampton. The Boston neighborhoods of Dorchester and Roslindale have each issued about 150 permits for solar installations in 2014. So far this year, more than three dozen towns have issued over 100 solar installation permits, including Quincy, Medford, Lynn, Lexington, Fitchburg, Weymouth and Worcester.

A large part of the growth is due to a huge boost from the state, which provides a variety of tax incentives and credit programs to incentivize homeowners to install solar panels. One of the strongest is the Mass Solar Connect program, run by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The Solar Connect program works to connect solar installation companies with local neighborhoods. The companies agree to provide free evaluations of the properties’ suitability for solar, and to provide discounts to those homeowners who have the technology installed; the greater the number of neighbors who sign on, the deeper the discount.

Craig Foley, an agent with RE/MAX Leading Edge in Somerville and chief of energy solutions for the brokerage, said he’s seen programs like this help drive down the price of the technology substantially.

“Not too long ago – three or four years – the installed price per watt was about $7,” meaning it could cost about $35,000 to install enough panels to power a typical home, Foley said. Nowadays, “that’s been brought down to about $4.25.” Depending on energy prices and tax rebates, a homeowner can save enough on their power bills to break even on the deal in five to 10 years, partly through a practice called “net metering,” which allows consumers to sell excess energy generated by the panels back to the utility company.

Lenders See Growth

Figures like that are prompting many homeowners to take the plunge into installing solar, and lenders are rushing to help them do it. In October, Marlborough-based Digital Federal Credit Union announced a deal with specialist financing company Sungage Financial Inc. that would provide over $100 million in consumer loans for solar installations. Boston-based Admirals Bank launched its own specialist Renewable Energy Lending Division several years ago, and now works with more than 7,000 solar energy installation firms and contractors to help consumers obtain loans to have the equipment installed.

“We’re extremely bullish on this,” said Robert Banaski, executive vice president of Admirals Bank. “We’ve watched the solar market very carefully, especially what some big competitors are doing in the leasing sector. And what we saw is that consumers are quickly migrating over, especially as energy costs were rising.”

For homeowners who don’t want to invest the upfront cost of buying the panels themselves, many solar installation companies are now offering leasing programs as well: Under these deals, the installation firm retains ownership of the equipment (and benefits from any associated tax breaks), while the homeowner receives a set discount on their utility bills, for the life of equipment – up to 20 years.

Foley says he firmly believes that in the current environment, sustainable energy features like solar panels are “a real value-add to buyers and sellers.” But they still come with complications.

Though the efficiency of the technology has vastly improved in recent years, the Bay State’s northerly latitude means there’s simply less sunlight to harvest than in states like California or Florida. That means that details like the exact direction the roof is facing, shadows cast by nearby trees and buildings or the presence of architectural features that break up the roof line can make a big difference to whether or not it’s worthwhile to install the panels on a particular property. Industry studies estimate only about 15 percent of Bay State homes are well-suited for solar.

Both Sides See Value

But many lenders and appraisers remain unfamiliar with the technology and inclined to dismiss its value when it comes to assessing a home. Foley says he’s made it a practice to meet with the appraiser for any home he’s listing that has the panels installed, and when he does he’s ready and able to thrust a handout into their hands which covers the official Appraisal Institute guidelines for how to assess the value of such features.

While pointing out the value of the panels to appraisers can help, the rapid advancement of solar technology means that the value of installed panels can depreciate rapidly – homeowners may enjoy the benefit of lower bills for many years, but a few short years post-installation the panels may provide little boost to a home’s sale price. The panels also have to be removed and reinstalled if work must be done on the underlying roof, making installation on an older property sometimes a costly proposition.

The lengthy contract terms associated with leased panels may also prove off-putting to potential buyers, brokers say. Since the panels are physically attached to the property, under Massachusetts real estate law any rights and obligations associated with them convey to the new owner in a sale.

Ed Lyon, broker-owner of Preservation Properties in Newton, has long had an interest in green tech, and has listed a few homes with the panels installed.

“[Buyers] do worry about potential leaks to the roof, things like that. But they do get excited about green energy, lower costs, potentially selling energy back to the grid. So you have both sides of the coin,” said Lyon.

In his experience, while having environmentally sustainable features like solar panels is enticing to most buyers, if the features add substantially to the price, homebuyers will balk. “When you’re talking about an $800,000 house, saving a couple hundred bucks a month isn’t a huge thing … It can be a tough sell, still.”

Email: csullivan@thewarrengroup.com