Solar Installations and Property Values An Examination of Ground Mounted, Primary Land Use, Two Plus Megawatt Solar Installations on the Total Estimated Market Value of Abutting Residential Parcels

Abstract

This paper will examine the relationship of ground mounted, primary land use photovoltaic (PV)solar installations with a nameplate capacity greater than two MegawattsAC on abutting residential land parcels in the seven county Twin Cities Metro Area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington Counties) in Minnesota. It will provide a more detailed analysis of the three counties with the largest number of installations (Carver, Dakota and Washington Counties) based on propensity score matching to determine a representative counterfactual control group based on Estimated Market Values at the parcel level determined by county assessors, as well as an example assessor’s report on comparable property sales post solar facility installation similar to those employed by local governments and renewable energy developers in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina. Lastly, a variety of policy drivers will be examined to address the needs of communities and solar installation developers, based on the local effects of the installation in a specific location, community or county.