Cooling your home and lessening eco-anxiety: What are the hidden benefits of rooftop solar panels?

Solar has been described as a “shining star” of the EU’s energy transition, helping to shelter households from the crippling cost of fossil fuels.

According to Eurostat data, solar covered more than 17 per cent of the EU’s electricity mix in the first quarter of 2026. As sunny conditions are expected to continue throughout the summer period, solar capacity is only predicted to keep increasing.

But aside from lowering our energy bills and weaning Europe away from polluting oil and gas – adding rooftop solar panels to your home comes with a host of hidden benefits.

Can solar panels keep your home cool during extreme heat?

Solar panels create a barrier between your roof and the sun, absorbing UV radiation that would otherwise heat up your roof and enter the home.

The glass in solar panels also reflects sunlight away from the property, further reducing the amount of heat it absorbs.

A 2024 study by researchers at UCL and the University of Exeter, published in the science journal Nature Cities, analysed the cooling effect that rooftop solar panels would have had on London’s ambient temperature between June and August 2018 – which was the hottest year on record at the time.

During the summer months, the average temperature around London was 19.2C – an estimated 1.6C warmer than average for that time of year back then.

Researchers found that if rooftop solar panels had been widely installed, they would also have cooled the city by about 0.3C. This would have prevented the deaths of an estimated 96 people across the city, or 12 per cent of the heat-related deaths during that summer.

“Solar panels have great benefits as a source of renewable power, so it’s good to see they won’t make the city hotter,” said lead author Dr Charles Simpson.

An earlier study by the University of California - San Diego, published in 2011, found that during the day, a building’s ceiling was around 2.78C cooler under a roof with solar panels compared to a fully exposed roof.

At night, the panels helped keep hot air in, reducing heating costs in the winter. However, on tropical nights – where the temperature never falls below 20C during a 24-hour period – Europeans should be focusing on getting heat out of the home.

"There are more efficient ways to passively cool buildings, such as reflective roof membranes," said Jan Kleissl, a professor of environmental engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

"But, if you are considering installing solar photovoltaic, depending on your roof’s thermal properties, you can expect a large reduction in the amount of energy you use to cool your residence or business."

A recent analysis from energy think tank Ember described solar as a “complementary technology” to air conditioning and they both work with similar seasonal patterns.

The report found that during the last June heatwave, a typical UK home with rooftop solar generated enough electricity to power an AC unit for five hours per day.

Across the 1.9 million UK homes with rooftop solar, the equivalent to 10 million solar-powered AC hours were generated each heatwave day.

This demonstrates how solar can tackle the carbon emissions produced by air conditioning, which experts warn could exceed the current annual emissions of the US by 2050.

However, it doesn’t tackle air con’s greenhouse gas footprint, or its contribution to the urban island effect.

Less ‘eco distress’

Linda Aspey, a climate psychology specialist and board member of Climate Psychology Alliance, says taking any action can alleviate some of the “painful feelings” that arise with climate anxiety and eco distress – including powering your home on solar.

“Humans are very good at channelling or converting difficult feelings into action and so things like gaining energy independence can help,” she tells Euronews Earth.

“It can help us to realise we can have power (literally and metaphorically) and so feel less powerless [and] less controlled by external agents.”

She adds that many people working on energy independence tend to build communities, which help reduce loneliness and provide comfort

“It can also help us feel we are a part of the bigger solution and allows our caring capacities to come to the fore,” she says. “These factors and others can help to build individual and collective resilience and good mental health.”

Of course, adding solar panels to your home is not going to miraculously improve your mental health, but it may feel good to actively challenge Europe’s fossil fuel addiction.

Solar panels increase the value of your home

Solar panels are a big investment. It tends to take around a decade to recoup upfront costs through lower energy bills – even taking into consideration government grants.

Many homeowners therefore avoid installing solar panels on a house if they’re considering selling in the near future.

However, solar panels could actually increase the value of your property. A report by trade body Solar Energy UK looked at more than five million property transactions in 2021 and said a typical home with solar panels could increase in price by up to two per cent.

Other research, such as from the Eco Experts, say the return is much greater – arguing that solar panels could increase a property’s value by as much as 14 per cent on average.

However, other property experts and associations argue that solar panels won’t really have an impact on house prices due to all of the other variables that affect the market.