If solar panels added value to a home, no one would proclaim this louder than one of the largest environmental proponents in the US. However, in Richmond California (which sees 49 more days per year of sun than Richmond VA), the Sierra Club admits that without subsidies, solar panels would take 30 years to return their investment... about 5 years more than the most ambitious of studies show for the economic life of solar panels (resulting in a loss of 17% of value in an area with 14% more sun).
As stated in past RVAValue blogs, until the cost of solar decreases or the subsidy of solar goes up, this remains at best a net wash on value to your property. For the Sierra Club, this remains the primary reason to subsidize solar at the local level AND to subsidize utilities to implement more solar. Solar may be the future and may be the ethical choice for some homeowners, but it remains a poor investment at this time.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/18/1081661701/there-s-a-fight-brewing-in-california-over-incentives-to-go-solar