Solar and energy efficiency now carry a measurable resale premium. Batteries are catching up. Smart-home gadgets are a different story. Here is what each is worth to an investor.
Two questions decide whether a green upgrade is worth it for an investor. Does it lift what the property sells or rents for, and does it pay for itself in the meantime? The data now answers both, and the answer changes sharply depending on the upgrade.
What buyers are paying for efficiency
The clearest signal on resale comes from Domain's Sustainability in Property Report 2025, which found energy-efficient houses sold for about $118,000 more than comparable homes without those features, a premium of 14.5% nationally. For units the gap was about $75,000, or 12%. Homes with solar panels attracted about $140,000 in added value, according to the report, and those with double-glazed windows about $145,000. More than half of houses sold in 2025, 52.2%, included at least one energy-efficient feature.
Read those dollar figures as a direction, not a guarantee. They show what efficient homes sold for, not the return on a single retrofit, and premiums vary by city and buyer. But the pattern is consistent: buyers are now paying up for lower running costs.
Solar pays back, but the tenant banks the saving
Even setting resale aside, solar stacks up on running costs. A 6.6kW system costs roughly $5,000 to $6,000 after the federal rebate in most states and saves a typical household $1,200 to $1,900 a year, with a payback of about 3 to 6 years. System prices are from Solar Choice's October 2026 price index; savings and payback are indicative only, and vary with tariff, self-consumption and state. For an owner-occupier, holding year-one savings flat over 20 years adds up to roughly $24,000 to $38,000 in gross bill savings, before the system cost and any resale premium. Panel output slips a little each year and the inverter may need replacing along the way.
For a rental, though, the owner funds the system while the tenant pockets the lower bills, the "split incentive" that has long slowed landlord uptake. So for an investor the solar case leans more on resale and letting appeal than on savings you keep.
Batteries are closer, and the rebate is shrinking
A 10kWh battery costs about $7,800 to $10,200 installed after the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program rebate, depending on whether an inverter is needed, with payback typically 5 to 10 years. The rebate applies only to batteries installed with rooftop solar.
The federal rebate still lowers the upfront cost, but it is shrinking: the scheme changed on 1 May 2026 and the subsidy now falls every six months rather than annually, with each step worth roughly $200 to $400 on a 10kWh system and the next due on 1 January 2027. Check the current rate at cer.gov.au before you budget, and remember the maths still turns on your tariff and how much power you use after dark.
Smart tech adds little to the sale price
Then there is smart tech, and here the picture is different. There is little Australian sales evidence that smart-home devices (video doorbells, app-controlled lighting, voice assistants) command a resale premium the way solar or glazing do. They can help a property show well and appeal to renters, but they date fast, and a buyer rarely pays extra for last year's smart thermostat. Treat smart tech as a letting and marketing tool, not a capital improvement.
The depreciation question
One lever is investor-specific: assets such as solar systems and hot-water heat pumps may be depreciable, which changes the after-tax return compared with an owner-occupier doing the same upgrade. The rules are specific and they change, so confirm the current position with the ATO and a qualified accountant rather than assume it.
What it adds up to
Solar and energy-efficiency upgrades now have both a resale case and a running-cost case behind them. Batteries are improving but still depend on rebates and the right usage. Smart-home gadgets are the weakest link on value, good for tenant appeal, little for the sale price.
