- The most common risk to solar panels is atmospheric damage, such as that caused by hail, rain, wind or snow.
- Material damage and theft guarantees are the most recommended to protect any self-consumption installation.
Self-consumption of electricity is in fashion. With electricity prices soaring, more and more households are being encouraged to generate their own renewable energy, both to save on their electricity bills and to reduce emissions. Installing solar panels on the roof of your house has many advantages, but it is a decision that you must take into consideration, since it involves a significant investment that you will not recover for several years.
In this decision, you must not only take into account the cost of the installation, but also its maintenance and protection. In this sense, a comprehensive home insurance policy should be sufficient to protect you against all kinds of unforeseen events.
However, as there are some doubts about the coverage of solar panels, at Rastreator we have compiled information from insurers so that you know how to choose the best home insurance if you produce your own energy with a self-consumption electrical installation.
In this article, we tell you:
- Are solar panels covered by home insurance?
- What damage to solar panels is covered by home insurance?
- What are the best covers to protect solar panels?
- How can solar panels be included in home insurance?
- Which insurers cover solar panels?
- Which home insurance policy with solar panel coverage should I choose?
- Are solar panels included in home insurance?
Home solar installations are one of the elements that raise the most doubts among people who have taken out home insurance. This is explained by the fact that solar panels and self-consumption were not widespread in homes until a few years ago. For this reason, insurers have had to adapt and specify in the conditions of their home insurance policies how this part of the dwelling is protected.
Most companies include solar panels, as well as batteries and the rest of the elements that make up self-consumption installations, in the home insurance policy, although not all do it in the same way. To find out how the insurance coverage affects your self-consumption installation, you need to look at the terms of the policy, where it will be included as a building or as part of the contents.
Normally, solar panels are considered a building, like any other supply facility. However, in some insurance companies, such as Allianz and Ocaso, they appear as content.
What damage to solar panels is covered by home insurance?
Solar panels are very resistant devices, but they are the most exposed elements of self-consumption installations and, therefore, those that can suffer the most damage. As they are outdoors, damage caused by atmospheric phenomena is the main problem that usually affects photovoltaic panels.
On this point, the majority of insurance companies cover damage that rain, wind, hail or snow have caused to your solar panels, as long as the requirements listed in the policy conditions are met.
What are the best covers to protect solar panels?
Atmospheric damage is not the only risk your solar panels are exposed to. On the one hand, being an installation with which you can produce your own energy, you must consider coverage against electrical damage. Also, they are very tempting devices for thieves, so it is worth considering theft coverage.
Therefore, if you want your home insurance to protect your solar panels in all circumstances, it is essential that it includes good property damage coverage that does not neglect atmospheric damage.
How can solar panels be included in home insurance?
Insurers generally have no problem if you want to include your solar panels in your home insurance policy. However, the panels and the rest of the devices necessary for the operation of a self-consumption installation must be permanently anchored to the house, since in the majority of companies they are part of the building.
If you want to take out new home insurance that covers the self-consumption installation, you just have to declare it in the policy to benefit from all the guarantees. On the other hand, to include solar panels in an insurance policy already taken out, it suffices to increase the value of the building by the amount of the installation.