Do Solar Panels Increase Property Taxes in Pennsylvania?

Is there a Pennsylvania solar property tax exemption?

No. The state’s assessment law has no solar exemption, and no bill in the 2025–2026 session that would create one has passed. That is the position as of October 19, 2026.

• What the law leaves out. The County Assessment Law lists the things that are not taxed as real estate: machinery in a mill, mine, factory or industrial plant, some farm structures, amusement rides, signs, wind turbines and high tunnels (a type of farm greenhouse). Solar is not on the list (53 Pa.C.S. § 8811(b)).
• What the law allows. Assessors “may change the assessed valuation” when improvements are made. Painting and normal regular repairs don’t count (§ 8817).
• What the law forbids. A county may not single out homes for reassessment outside a countywide reassessment (“spot reassessment,” § 8843). Adding a new improvement is not a spot reassessment (§ 8817(b)), so solar can be added without reassessing your whole home.
• Philadelphia and Allegheny County assess under their own laws. The state’s County Assessment Law only applies there for wind energy property (§ 8801). Philadelphia’s list of tax abatements has no solar program (its general improvement abatement is covered below). In Allegheny County, ask the Office of Property Assessments.

The bill that would change it: HB 1792

House Bill 1792, the Residential Solar Energy Incentives Act, was introduced on August 7, 2025, and sent to the House Finance Committee on August 10, 2025. That is its last action (PA General Assembly). It would add a 15% state income tax credit up to $2,500, a sales tax exemption and a property tax exclusion. The exclusion would only apply where a local government “enacts an ordinance or resolution adopting the exclusion.” So even if it passes, each county, town or school district would have to opt in. An earlier bill, HB 520 (2023), would have exempted solar from property tax. It was sent to the House Finance Committee on March 17, 2023, never moved again and died when that session ended in 2024 (PA General Assembly).

Claims to ignore

• “Pennsylvania law exempts solar from property tax.” Some websites say this and cite a statute number. We found no such statute. If anyone tells you this, ask them for the section number and check it with your county.
• “Solar panels are equipment, so they are not taxed.” That idea comes from solar farms. An assessors’ committee reads the factory-machinery rule as covering solar-farm panels, but those guidelines are “currently just suggestions” and not law (Penn State Extension). The rule itself names mills, mines, factories and industrial plants, not homes.
• “An installer can promise your taxes won’t go up.” No installer can. Only your county can tell you what it does.

Some towns run local tax-break programs for improvements in designated areas. For homes, these usually come under the Improvement of Deteriorating Real Property or Areas Tax Exemption Act. The Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act (LERTA) mainly covers business property. They are not solar programs, but an improvement in a designated area may qualify. Your municipality can tell you if one applies.

In Philadelphia, a 10-year abatement covers improvements to existing homes (Ordinance 961). You apply by December 31 of the year the building permit is issued. It is not a solar program, so ask the Office of Property Assessment whether a solar permit qualifies. There is a catch: a home with a 10-year abatement can’t get the Homestead Exemption, which saves most owners up to $1,399 a year (City of Philadelphia). Solar adds about $140 a year in tax per $10,000 of value, so most people who live in their homes should keep the homestead.

How solar gets onto a Pennsylvania tax bill, step by step

The path is the same in most counties. The deadlines below come from state law and from Chester County’s own guidance. Other counties use the same state deadlines but may work faster or slower.

1. Your installer pulls a permit

   Rooftop solar usually needs a local building or electrical permit. In Chester County, each municipality sends its list of building and zoning permits to the county assessment office every month (Chester County).

   You: keep the permit, the final invoice and the system size. You will need them if you appeal.

2. An assessor looks at the work

   Chester County assessors visit each municipality about every 2 to 3 months. They may measure from outside. Philadelphia uses mass appraisal along with aerial and street-level images (City of Philadelphia).

   You: ask how the county values solar. Is it added at cost, at what it adds to market value, or not at all?

3. The county mails a change notice

   By law the notice must show the old and new assessment, the base year and the effective date. It must go out within five days of the change (§ 8844(a), (b)). In Chester County the new value usually takes effect from the first month after the work is done (Chester County).

   You: check the improvement value on the notice against your invoice.

4. You have 40 days to appeal

   You can appeal to the county board within 40 days of the notice date (§ 8844(b)). This state rule does not cover Philadelphia or Allegheny County, which set their own appeal rules. Chester County charges $25 for a residential appeal.

   You: if you miss this window, you can still file the yearly appeal (step 5).

5. The tax bill changes, and the yearly appeal window opens

   Your county, municipality and school district apply their tax rates to the new assessment. Anyone can appeal their assessment once a year by September 1, or by an earlier date the county sets, no earlier than August 1 (§ 8844(c)). Chester County’s window runs May 1 to August 1. Philadelphia uses its own dates. For Tax Year 2027, a First Level Review was due September 1, 2026 and a formal appeal October 5, 2026. Both dates have passed. The formal appeal deadline is the first Monday in October of the year before the tax year, so October 4, 2027 for Tax Year 2028.

   You: put your county’s appeal deadline on your calendar.

How much solar can add to a Pennsylvania tax bill

The yearly cost depends on three numbers: the value the county adds, how your county’s assessments compare with today’s prices, and your total tax rate. Rates are quoted in mills. One mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.

Yearly tax increase = added market value × your county’s ratio × total mills ÷ 1,000

The ratio is the common level ratio. A state board (the State Tax Equalization Board) sets it each year for every county. It shows, on average, what share of today’s market value your county’s assessments reflect. Counties that still use values from an old reassessment (the “base year”) have low ratios.

Below are two real places, both in PECO territory. In Philadelphia, assessments are set at market value, so the examples use the full value (the state ratio there is 94.3%, close to 100%). The rate is 1.3998% of assessed value. The city says it has not changed since 2016 and stays the same in 2027 (City of Philadelphia). In Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, values date from the countywide reassessment that took effect in 1998. Total 2026 millage there is 40.6134: county 5.164, township 4.313 and Tredyffrin-Easttown schools 31.1364 (Chester County tax rates, 2026). Chester County’s ratio is 30.6% (STEB 2025 ratios, used July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027).

The $23,706 is the cash price of a typical 8.26 kW Pennsylvania system (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026). A kW (kilowatt) measures a system’s size. Few assessors would add the full price. For Chester County, the ratio is a stand-in: its assessors value new work with the cost model from the 1998 reassessment, not with the ratio. Your own county’s result can differ.

What that does to your payback

Our Pennsylvania worth-it example saves about $2,144 a year and pays back in about 10.8 years, after the $500 PECO rebate. Here is how a tax increase changes that:

• $124 to $140 a year in extra tax: payback goes to about 11.5 to 11.6 years.
• The worst case, $295 to $332 a year: payback goes to about 12.5 to 12.8 years.

Some guides multiply the full system price by a statewide “average tax rate” and get $400 to $500 a year. That skips how assessment works in base-year counties. It also assumes the county adds the full price, which few assessors do.

Why the same solar system looks so different on paper

The ratio is why. In a low-ratio county, $10,000 of new market value becomes a small assessed number. Each mill is then charged on that small number, so tax rates in those counties look very high. Ratios for 2025, used from July 1, 2026 (STEB):

To estimate your own bill, take the assessed amount for your county and multiply it by your total millage. Then divide by 1,000. Your tax bill or your county’s website lists your millage. STEB says the ratio is for appeals “ONLY, not to create value,” so treat this as an estimate, not what your assessor will do.

Owned vs. leased solar and property taxes in Pennsylvania

With a lease or a PPA (power purchase agreement, where you buy the system’s power by the kWh), a solar company owns the panels on your roof. That changes how a home appraisal treats them. It does not settle what your county will do.

The appraisal rule is from Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide B2-3-04. Real estate tax is billed to the owner of the parcel, which is you, so read the tax clause in any lease before you sign. For how leases and PPAs work, see third-party owned solar. To end one, see getting out of a solar lease.

How to appeal a solar assessment in Pennsylvania

Already have solar and got a higher assessment? You don’t need a new quote. You need the appeal window.

• File on time. You have 40 days from the change notice, or the yearly deadline: September 1 or the county’s earlier date (§ 8844). In Philadelphia, use the city’s First Level Review and Board of Revision of Taxes dates. In Allegheny County, check the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review dates.
• Argue value, not cost. The board decides your property’s market value on the date you file. It then applies the county’s ratio, or the state ratio if the two differ by more than 15% (§ 8844(e)(2)). Bring sales of nearby similar homes, with and without solar, if you can find them. Also bring your invoice, photos and the system size.
• Check for errors. Make sure the notice values the right number of panels and the right roof. Leased panels should not be listed as yours.
• Know the risk. In Chester County’s words, a yearly appeal opens the property to revaluation: the assessment “may be lowered, raised or remain the same.”
• Next step. You can take the board’s decision to the county Court of Common Pleas within 30 days of the decision’s mailing date (§ 8844(e)(2.1)).

Questions about solar and property taxes in Pennsylvania