How much does solar insurance cost?

A survey of PV operators by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2019 reported insurance costs of $0.90/kW/year (Wiser, Bolinger, and Seel 2020). The website Solar Insure reports that property insurance premiums range from 0.15%–0.30% of installed cost, or approximately $4/kW/year–$10/kW/year (Solar Insure 2020).

How much does a solar item claim cost?

Figure 3 illustrates that fire had the largest average solar item claim cost ($17,308 per claim); followed by lightning ($9,746); theft and vandalism ($5,770); freeze, including ice and snow ($5,288); and all other weather ($3,702), all with larger average solar item values per claim than either hail or wind, which caused the most frequent losses.

How much is a solar insurance claim worth?

The total value for the solar items included in these claims was $60.8 million. This compares to the total payment for these claims, including nonsolar items, of more than $1.2 billion. These data on claim values included only amounts exceeding policy deductibles.

How much is solar equipment included in a property-casualty insurance claim?

Verisk data included two values: (1) the value of solar equipment included in each claim and (2) the total payment for the entire claim. As of May 2020, Verisk identified 15,128 property-casualty insurance claims from 2014–2019 that included PV equipment. The total value for the solar items included in these claims was $60.8 million.

How much does a solar system cost?

At that time, the average cost of a PV system ranged from $4,000/kw–$6,000/kW, converting to approximately $10–$30/kW/year, making insurance one of the major expenses in operating a solar plant.

What is solar insurance & how does it work?

Casualty insurance protects against liability for bodily injury or property damage to others, for example, caused by the PV system, such as by wind-liberated solar panels or fire caused by a problem with the PV system.