Posted on 09/01/2022 8:13:36 AM PDT by Jacquerie
Homeowners adding solar panels study energy savings and break-even costs, but they should also call their insurer: Some increase premiums and some cancel policies.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – As electric bills surge and the federal government offers generous tax incentives for renewable energy investments, more and more Florida homeowners are seriously considering rooftop solar systems.
But in calculating system costs vs. electric bill savings, many would-be solar owners are neglecting to consider how a solar system will affect their home insurance bill – or how difficult it might be to find a company that will insure them at all.
And with insurance premiums skyrocketing for all Florida homeowners, solar customers who can obtain coverage might also find that the price increase will wipe out any energy-cost savings they expected from going solar.
“It’s a big deal and a lot of folks don’t realize that many carriers don’t accept solar panels,” says Dulce Suarez-Resnick, vice president at the Miami-based agency Acentria Insurance.
Oakland Park homeowner Holy Strawbridge learned this the hard way. She installed a modest 8,000 kilowatt system atop her home about two years ago and recently signed up for coverage with Edison Insurance Company. After the insurer sent an inspector to her home, she received a letter canceling her entire policy.
“I was shocked,” Strawbridge said. “I’ve never filed an insurance claim and I’ve lived in this house since 2001.”
The reasons cited in the cancellation letter sent by Edison: Her solar panels are ineligible for coverage due to the age of her roof (11 years) and because she has a tile roof.
Those aren’t the only reasons insurers won’t cover rooftop solar systems. Insurers who do business in Florida offer a wide variety of reasons for refusing to insure homes with them.
(Excerpt) Read more at floridarealtors.org ...
The second worst thing to put in your roof are skylights.
They will ALL eventually leak.
Plus, up north they cause ice damning in the winter.
It is just not a good idea to cut holes in your roof.
Limit the holes in your roof to ridge vent and plumbing stack vent pipes. Even bathroom fans should be vented through a side wall if at all possible.
what does it cost to replace a roof with solar panels?
that has got to be a bear
uninstalling and reinstalling the panels
During a monsoon storm a couple of summers ago one of our neighbor's panels flew off and landed within a foot of our pool.
Other than that, no issues. We have a tile roof covered with panels and no leaks, even with monsoons every summer.
Ceramics don’t become brittle with age. They are principally an aluminosilicate and are brittle to start with. They can break, but they don’t age.
That’s why archeologists find various ceramic artifacts from 2,000 or 3,000 years ago.
Deep State doesn't care.
Yep, insurers in general, and actuaries in particular, are the ultimate realists.
For what it’s worth, before we installed solar over a year ago on our Alabama home, we called our insurance about it. There are no solar riders or solar policies. The only way it increased our insurance was the same way any other home improvement does — it increases how much coverage in $’s we want in case we have to rebuild. While looking at that I realized that our coverage amount was out of date anyway because we hadn’t increased the coverage to keep up with the rising construction costs we’d have to pay to rebuild. It’s probably a good idea to review that every few years even without a home upgrade (solar or otherwise).
So I can see why some insurers don't want to insure it.
We inherited a sky-light when we bought our house—and for the reasons you noted I was unhappy about it—but it was the only issue so I was prepared for the worst.
So far twenty two years with no issues—the only thing I can think of was that we lucked out and a high quality job was done. Snow dams have not been an issue so far—it seems the snow above and around the skylight actually melts before the snow elsewhere on the roof—not sure why.
” She installed a modest 8,000 kilowatt system atop her home “
We need a fact check ....
“In many areas you will carry three policies: home, wind, flood”
We have one policy. Where are you referring to?
My old home still has it’s original shingle roof, It’s 80 years old. The probable in Florida isn’t so much with the tiles as it is with the quality underneath the tiles and sometimes the quality of the tiles. It’s like with bricks, a brick home from the 40’s is usually much better than a home made with modern bricks. The quality of the bricks, and the craftsmanship of the bricklayers and masons is so much superior to today’s work. And a forties roof truss is usually lumber that is true measurement, and a lot of times just rough sawed so that it thicker and usually better quality timber than today’s wood. A roof built in Florida during a building boom period is usually not as good because of materials and quality (gotta get 3 more roofs done today). So it isn’t just that it’s a tile roof, it’s the thickness of the tiles, quality of mounting, and underlying support, There are tile roofs in Tampa that have been there since the Spanish American War.
“In California solar panels are required on new construction”
Perhaps they are also designing the new construction with solar panels, and the requirements of insurance companies, in mind. While people retrofitting houses not designed for solar panels may not be.
How about just building a frame around the walls and above the roof to install the panels on? Though I suppose that would be much more expensive and make your home look very unattractive.
a modest 8,000 kilowatt system
8 Mega watts...impressive. Must be a big house.
If solar is so wonderful why doesn’t everyone have it? If it’s so free no one would be afraid of the up-front costs. Subsidies mean someone else pays for it. It’s generally bigger, government buildings that have it-plenty of money to start and waste. Will the panels last? The only guarantee is that the solar companies will get paid. Their customers are home owners-collateral.
My neighbor had an issue with pigeons getting under their panels. A LOT of pigeons with all the crap (see what I did there) that goes along with it. And it can be pretty corosive over time. I think they put up screens to block them.
I have no solar on my home—the last time I ran the numbers they just did not work.
I wonder if they'll require them to be installed on all electric cars - you know, to save a strain on the power grid...
My point is interfering with normal maintenance and/or replacement on a normal asphalt shingle roof even if you could ensure the attachments to the roof cause no problems.
No matter what you do, even in your case (if I read your response correctly), there is still the added cost and trouble to getting the panels out of the way to replace or maintain the roof. And then all of that has to replaced and connected.
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