Solar Panels

[sleek98]

Who has solar panels and what does your insurance company say about them?

We are looking at adding a rather large system 11.92 kw. I mentioned it to our insurance broker and progressive came back with they will not cover any damage (to the system or liability wise) from wind and hail.

If you have a system what insurance company do you use and did they say anything about the system?

 

[timnjadawn]

I have the same size system that you are looking at on my roof. My insurance is handled through the solar company warranty for damage during storms. I have mine through Sunrun solar. They installed for free and I pay a lease for 20 yrs. but the price break happens around 6 years so I can buy it outright. Have had it for 1 1/2 yrs and only paid my power company 3 times. Solar has paid for itself. Good luck.

Tim

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Great question. This has to be a common question for homeowner's insurers these days.

Do any of the normal Homeowner's insurance companies cover the home's attached solar array on the regular policy? If so, is this a large add on, or is the cost trivial?

Phil

 

[69385vette]

I also have an 11KW solar system (41 panels). I had the panels mounted on my workshop roof. The Workshop is a 30 x 54 Morgan building facing south. There wasn't much room for that many panels on my house. The cable was buried to my home panel ( about 45 ft). My homeowners (Allstate) covers the structures/roof and the solar panels are warrantied by the company (SunEdison 270w) and installer for 25 years. The installer said the panels were very resistant to hail damage. A real concern in Texas. Been through a couple of hail storms and no damage so far.

I've had the system for about 2.5 years. For my all electric 2200 sq ft house , last year I paid one electric bill for $42. I bought the solar system outright. I really like not having an electric bill!

 

[sleek98]

Spent the day talking with insurance companies.

So far Progressive is the only one that will not cover it.

Here are the quotes I am getting. If you already use one of the companies it does not add alot to the cost of the policy. 15-30 bucks a year for an additional 35k in coverage. Most agents did the house then added the solar on at the end by increasing the dwelling cost by 35k.

All these are per year
Progressive 1,204 (what I am paying currently)
American Family still waiting on this one
Allstate 1,102
Nationwide 2,136
Amica 2,767
Farmers 2,131
Geico 3,249
State Farm 2,007
Safeco 1,850
Liberty Mutual 2,112

The problem I think I am running into is that Progressive was so competitive when we signed up a few months ago.

We are likely going with Allstate.

 

[sleek98]

I also have an 11KW solar system (41 panels). I had the panels mounted on my workshop roof. The Workshop is a 30 x 54 Morgan building facing south. There wasn't much room for that many panels on my house. The cable was buried to my home panel ( about 45 ft). My homeowners (Allstate) covers the structures/roof and the solar panels are warrantied by the company (SunEdison 270w) and installer for 25 years. The installer said the panels were very resistant to hail damage. A real concern in Texas. Been through a couple of hail storms and no damage so far.

I've had the system for about 2.5 years. For my all electric 2200 sq ft house , last year I paid one electric bill for $42. I bought the solar system outright. I really like not having an electric bill!

That is our plan. Good news is Allstate covers the panels as well. Our local power company requires that we carry atleast 100k in liability insurance incase their worker gets hurt if the inverter fails..

I am more concerned if the panel happens to let loose in a wind storm and hits a car driving by since we are on a corner lot. Likely hood is very low but, then again its possible.

 

[Angelfire]

Spent the day talking with insurance companies.

So far Progressive is the only one that will not cover it.

Here are the quotes I am getting. If you already use one of the companies it does not add alot to the cost of the policy. 15-30 bucks a year for an additional 35k in coverage. Most agents did the house then added the solar on at the end by increasing the dwelling cost by 35k.

All these are per year
Progressive 1,204 (what I am paying currently)
American Family still waiting on this one
Allstate 1,346
Nationwide 2,136
Amica 2,767
Farmers 2,131
Geico 3,249
State Farm 2,007
Safeco 1,850

The problem I think I am running into is that Progressive was so competitive when we signed up a few months ago.

We are likely going with Allstate.

If you have access, you might give USAA a call. I've been thoroughly happy with them over the years and their prices are certainly competitive.

 

[sleek98]

If you have access, you might give USAA a call. I've been thoroughly happy with them over the years and their prices are certainly competitive.

No military service in our family, so we do not qualify. I hear they have outstanding rates though.

 

[tthornto]

I have a 17 panel system on my house that I own outright (purchased with the house.) Hail would only damage the panels themselves and Individual panels are less than $500 to replace if you do the work yourself. So I would not be in any hurry to pay $150 more on insurance every month just to cover my solar system. Invest that extra $150 a month instead and you will be able to cover any potential loss yourself.

Keep in mind that the total cost for most solar systems includes permits and labor to install the wiring and racking. The panels themselves install fairly quickly and if your repairing/replacing a damaged system you shouldn't have to worry about permits.

The only situations that could result in the entire system needing replaced would also completely destroy your house. So having an additional $20,000 or so worth of coverage and making sure that solar systems are not specifically exempted in your policy should be all you need.

 

[tthornto]

No military service in our family, so we do not qualify. I hear they have outstanding rates though.

Don't be so sure, The whole Military service required thing is almost more of a marketing ploy than anything else. I have USAA though my wifes grandfathers service... I don't know the exact requrements, but they are no where near as exclusive as their marketing makes them seem.

 

[sleek98]

I have a 17 panel system on my house that I own outright (purchased with the house.) Hail would only damage the panels themselves and Individual panels are less than $500 to replace if you do the work yourself. So I would not be in any hurry to pay $150 more on insurance every month just to cover my solar system. Invest that extra $150 a month instead and you will be able to cover any potential loss yourself.

Keep in mind that the total cost for most solar systems includes permits and labor to install the wiring and racking. The panels themselves install fairly quickly and if your repairing/replacing a damaged system you shouldn't have to worry about permits.

The only situations that could result in the entire system needing replaced would also completely destroy your house. So having an additional $20,000 or so worth of coverage and making sure that solar systems are not specifically exempted in your policy should be all you need.

The 150 extra is a year, and not a month. The cars appear to be about 95 a year cheaper. So its really 55 a year more. Waiting on the final quote on the cars.

You are correct as I am not as worried about paying for a panel here or there, as they wouldn't be enough to go over the deductible and would be paying for it either way.

I am worried about the liability side of them, since progressive excludes all LIABILITY from the system, shock, damage, death caused by say a flying panel, faulty wiring, failed inverter. KCPL wont hook up the system without proof that our insurance covers 100k in liability.

Well something got messed up with jewerly coverage and after talking with the allstate agent their total ended up coming in at 1,102. So it ends up being a little cheaper than progressive. The cars ended up being 217 a year cheaper as well. So overall I am saving 319 a year. I am kinda glad I ran into this issue now.

 

[njhoudini]

I have the same size system that you are looking at on my roof. My insurance is handled through the solar company warranty for damage during storms. I have mine through Sunrun solar. They installed for free and I pay a lease for 20 yrs. but the price break happens around 6 years so I can buy it outright. Have had it for 1 1/2 yrs and only paid my power company 3 times. Solar has paid for itself. Good luck.

Tim

Hey Tim,

If you lease the system, does that mean SunRun got the tax credit? Would you mind if I PM you for some details?

Eugene

 

[sleek98]

Hey Tim,

If you lease the system, does that mean SunRun got the tax credit? Would you mind if I PM you for some details?

Eugene

Correct. If you leave you do not get the tax credit as you are not the owner of the system.

 

[mkbug]

That is our plan. Good news is Allstate covers the panels as well. Our local power company requires that we carry atleast 100k in liability insurance incase their worker gets hurt if the inverter fails..

I am more concerned if the panel happens to let loose in a wind storm and hits a car driving by since we are on a corner lot. Likely hood is very low but, then again its possible.

If you are a member of Costco, check out their insurance partner Ameriprise.
Good rates in our area but I havent had to contact them with a claim so I'm not sure of service.

 

[BillK]

I bought the solar system outright.

What was that cost and is it really worthwhile long term ?

 

[Richard Cranium]

knowing some of the costs would be nice.
And what was your average electric bill before.

 

[Git]

We are coming up on the end of our second year of having solar. System size is 12.48 kWh (39 panels) and our total out of pocket costs after the Federal Tax Credit was just over $29k. Our annual electric bill based on the previous 12 months of usage was $3,800 or an average of about $317 a month. The System is sized to produce 120% of our annual usage (the max our utility allows). So another 5 years or so, and we will break even on the costs - and who doesn't think the cost of electricity is not going to go up????? Depending on where you live AND the cost of electricity in your area, it is definitely worth it. Personally, I would not lease. If you don't have the money, I would look into one of the HERO loans
https://www.renovateamerica.com/financing/hero

We have a couple of weeks left to go on our '12 month relevant period' and at this point, we are showing about a $500 credit which will end up being a check for about $45 because they pay out at the wholesale rate of around $.03 per kWh while they charge a minimum of $.17 per kWh (oh well)

Home insurance is through USAA and although I did not specifically mention the system to them, I believe it will be covered under the total dwelling costs. Car insurance is through Costco/Ameriprise - USAA could not even come close

I should add that I would consider our installation to be on the higher end - plumbing stacks moved, roof vents moved, etc. All panels are contiguous, not the cookie cutter approach where they place panels all over the roof to avoid things. Also, the conduit is run through the attic and not across the roof, so we ended up spending a little more than just your basic install

 

[HOTFR8]

I have solar panels and they are covered by the insurance. I recently posted in my 'Sheddwellers' topic about a failure and them being struck by lightning and how that was also covered by insurance.

 

[DHCrocks]

I have 35 panels installed in 2012. When we purchased it, I checked with my insurance company GEICO and they said that it was covered under the existing policy and there would be no extra charge. we do have dual coverage, standard homeowners and also hurricane and it is covered under both.

 

[Firebrick43]

Might want to talk to your fire department. It's a growing concern about de electrifying a system and places to ventilate the roof. Some systems can produce serious voltages even when unhooked from the grid.

 

[6768rogues]

We have a small regional insurance company that no one ever heard of and they are cheaper than any of the big names that pay millions to advertise. Our local independent agent arranged it. Our cars are with one regional company and our home/umbrella is with another. The state regulates insurance companies tightly. We saved a boat load of money.

 

[sleek98]

If you are a member of Costco, check out their insurance partner Ameriprise.
Good rates in our area but I havent had to contact them with a claim so I'm not sure of service.

I am, I will have to check them out. Thanks

knowing some of the costs would be nice.
And what was your average electric bill before.

Average electric bill for the past 11 months is 163. We have a 8.15% rate increase starting in September as well. So that will jump us to 175 a month next year at a minimum. We have a 4 year old and a 1 year old, I can only imagine that our bill is going to go up 10-15% just from them getting older and leaving lights on, watching tv, leaving the door open etc. I have not installed ac/mini splits in our detached garage so that will bump the bill up a little more. Third thing is I currently have the heat pump/gas backup switch over set around 40*. With the solar panels I can lower that down to 30-32* and save a little on my gas bill while not paying any electric since we will have over production in the fall and spring.

If I dont do any of the things above and we leave the thermostat the same it will be 9-10 years payback based upon modeling, I expect it to pay back in 6-7 in reality due to rate hikes and the fact that we will use more electricity than expected.

I got 3 quotes, and have seen another 3 invoices from clients that installed them.

The three quotes I got were

Company A
Micro inverters, 36 LG 320w panels totaling 11.4KW system. They wanted 40k if financed (3.51/watt) or 34,500 if paying cash (3.03/watt)

Company B
2 String inverters (total of 4 strings), 42 280W Solarworld panels totaling 11.92kw. 34,680 if financed (2.91/watt) or 32,417 if paying cash (2.72/watt)

Company C
2 String inverters (total of 4 strings), 32 290W Silfab panels totaling 9.28kw. Their pitch was they would seal the house up and convert all the lights to led so it would use 20% less energy thus you need a smaller system. But they were the most expensive quote. 38,849 if financed (4.19/watt) or 32,049 if paying cash (3.45/watt)

Company A & B put the wiring in the attic, then came out the overhang and down to the can. Company C just ran conduit over the roof and around the over hang. Company A & B both used black rail less stands for mounting the panels, company C used the huge aluminum rails.

We ended up choosing company B since we dont have a shading issue and we dont really need the micro inverters. I dont believe the third company could save us 20% on the home. its sealed up pretty tight and we already use LED lights except for the can lights. Both of the other solar companies couldnt believe that we used as "little" electricity for our 3200 sq foot house.

I have seen others pay in the 3.30-4.25 a watt range.

 

[timnjadawn]

Hey Tim,

If you lease the system, does that mean SunRun got the tax credit? Would you mind if I PM you for some details?

Eugene

Eugene,

PM me anytime. I'll see if I can help.

Yes, they got the tax credit but I paid nothing for complete install. I pay a $105 lease per month but $0 for the power company.

Tim