We are pretty far from that point, and at the moment, visible solar panels add value.
For the moment, the minority of people for whom non-visible solar PV on a premium slate type roof is a priority are largely people who are wealthy enough to be insensitive to this price change, so it sort of makes sense to charge more.
Like, if you're buying a house, even if the solar panels are perfectly hidden, they'll still be prominently mentioned on the listing and by the agent. I'd imagine they'd even be more valuable than bulky and obvious panels, since those tend to look kinda ugly, especially on some more vintage house designs.
I.e. The social cachet from the older style panels being super visible outweighs the reduced asthetic, therefore people will not pay extra for nicer looking solar.
The point isn't bragging rights. It's that most people today don't consider solar panels to be an eyesore, and some people actually like the look.
It's just like how the existence of luxury cars doesn't make most people think a Toyota Camry is an eyesore.
Not exactly. I meant that most people don't think standard PV panels are so unsightly that they would pay a huge premium for solar roof tiles, and many actually like how standard PV panels look.
What looks ugly to some is being visibly green to others.
They don't. They probably raise it more in fact. But given that both raise the resale value, but the solar roof is phenomenally more expensive, most opt for standard PV, and think it looks plenty fine.
IIRC, several years ago purchase overtook leasing for new residential solar installations. It’s definitely not the case thst no one is getting owned instead of leased solar.