I called my insurance agent the week after my solar installation was complete. Not because I was required to — nobody told me to — but because a $28,000 addition to my home felt like something my insurer should know about.
The call took eight minutes. My premium went up $14 per month. My dwelling coverage increased by $25,000 to reflect the added value, and my agent confirmed the panels were covered under my existing policy as a permanent fixture of the home. Done.
Most solar owners I talk to never make that call. Some assume insurance automatically updates when the home value changes. Others don’t think about it at all. Here’s why the call matters and what to actually say when you make it.
Are Solar Panels Covered Under Standard Homeowner’s Insurance?
For rooftop-mounted panels, the answer is generally yes — panels permanently attached to your home’s structure are considered part of the dwelling and covered under your dwelling coverage (Coverage A) in a standard HO-3 policy. This includes coverage for hail, fire, wind, falling objects, and other standard perils.
The keyword is “permanently attached.” Portable solar equipment or ground-mounted arrays sometimes fall into a gray zone — your insurer may treat a ground mount as a “structure” under Coverage B (other structures) rather than Coverage A (dwelling), which typically carries a lower coverage limit. Ask specifically how your insurer classifies your installation type.
Why You Need to Actually Notify Your Insurer
Dwelling coverage limits. Your policy’s Coverage A limit is the amount your insurer will pay to rebuild your home. If that limit was set before you added $25,000 in solar equipment, you may be underinsured in a total loss. A total loss payout based on pre-solar coverage means you can rebuild the house but not replace the panels. Notify your insurer so they can adjust the limit.
Documentation for claims. If panels are damaged in a hailstorm or a branch fall, your claim goes smoother when your insurer already has documentation of the equipment — model numbers, installation date, installer information, system cost. Don’t create that documentation trail during a claim. Create it before.
Some policies have exclusions you don’t know about. A minority of policies have specific exclusions or sub-limits for solar equipment — particularly older policies written before residential solar became common. You won’t know whether your policy has one until you ask.
What to Tell Your Agent
Call or email with:
- Installation date
- System size (kW)
- Installed cost (from your contract)
- Installer name and contact
- Panel and inverter make/model (from your monitoring app or installation documents)
- Whether it’s rooftop-mounted or ground-mounted
Ask specifically:
- “Is the solar installation covered under my existing dwelling coverage?”
- “Does my current Coverage A limit need to increase to reflect the added value?”
- “Is there any exclusion or sub-limit for solar equipment in my policy?”
- “How do I file a claim if panels are damaged?”
The Florida Insurance Complication
Florida’s homeowner’s insurance market is the notable exception to the “simple notification” pattern. Florida insurers have been increasingly restrictive about solar coverage — some require riders, some charge significant premium increases, and some have declined to renew policies after solar installation. If you’re in Florida, the insurance conversation happens before you sign a solar contract, not after.
In most other states, the notification is straightforward and the premium impact is modest — typically $10–$25/month for a standard residential system. That’s real cost but not a reason to avoid solar; it’s just part of the total cost of ownership to factor into your payback calculation.
Ground-Mounted Systems: A Different Conversation
Ground-mounted solar is typically covered under Coverage B (other structures) in an HO-3 policy — the same category as a detached garage or fence. Coverage B is usually set at 10% of Coverage A. If your Coverage A is $350,000, Coverage B defaults to $35,000 — which may or may not be enough to cover a large ground-mounted array.
Ask your insurer specifically whether your ground mount falls under Coverage A or B and whether the default Coverage B limit adequately covers the system cost. Increasing Coverage B is usually inexpensive.
The eight-minute phone call I made the week of installation cost me $14/month and gave me complete confidence that a $28,000 system was properly covered. That confidence is worth $14/month.
— Allen
