More Canadians are installing solar panels on their homes, but some are facing challenges when it comes to getting home insurance after the panels are put in.
Albertan David Bond says he went to an insurance broker to inquire about coverage for his solar panels and was told it wasn鈥檛 going to be a problem.
鈥淭hey said it鈥檚 going to be an extra nominal fee on the year, like $50 extra for the year, because it increases the value of the home. No big deal,鈥 said Bond.
But Bond says that when it came to the insurance company, a representative started asking about the system size. Solar panel systems are sized in kW (kilowatts). kW sizing is how much energy the solar panels will optimally produce in an hour of direct sunlight with perfect conditions.
鈥淗e saw that we had the two figures, AC and DC kilowatts and said, 鈥榳ell, we don't know which one we're going with, so we're going to go with the higher number and the higher number is over our limit,鈥欌 said Bond.
Bond explained he was never told the system size was going to be an issue.
鈥淚t made financial sense to go solar. And then the insurance company turns around and says 鈥榓ctually, you know, we鈥檙e not going to do that. You got to find someone else.鈥欌
Bond isn鈥檛 the only person 麻豆传媒 spoke to who was denied home insurance coverage after installing solar panels. Gary Morris, from Edmonton, says his former insurance company had an issue with him 鈥渟elling power back to the power company.鈥
In Alberta, solar panel owners can sell the electricity they aren鈥檛 using back into the grid through a billing process called net billing.
鈥淲e sold extra power in the summer, got a credit, and then we used that credit in the winter when solar isn鈥檛 that good,鈥 said Morris.
鈥淭heir view was that any sale is considered a business, and they don鈥檛 do businesses.鈥
Michael Thomas, with SolarNinjas Energy solutions, who advises many clients on insurance problems, says regarding the 鈥渟elling power鈥 issue, insurance companies are misinterpreting the Alberta regulation.
鈥淚t is not only disingenuous and misleading, but I would say that it鈥檚 right on the line of professional misconduct to say that this is selling or income or whatever because it鈥檚 been certified not to be. It is a bill reimbursement and it鈥檚 all part of the legislation,鈥 said Thomas.
Mathieu C么t茅, with the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, says more Canadians are putting in solar panels. Between 2021 to 2023, there鈥檚 been a 650 per cent increase. And last year, Alberta saw the highest number of installations in the country.
鈥淥n top of any environmental benefits it increases your energy independence and saves you money on your utility bills. And if you throw in some batteries, some storage, then you're better prepared for things like power outages and natural disasters,鈥 said C么t茅.
This means more people will need their homes insured with the added panels. Rob de Pruis, a spokesperson with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says he believes home insurance denial due to solar panel installation does happen but that it is a rare occurrence.
鈥淲e want to make sure that people don鈥檛 assume that if they install solar panels that their insurance policy will automatically provide coverage. That may not be the case,鈥 said de Pruis.
He says that the insurance industry is a 鈥渃ompetitive industry鈥 and there are dozens of companies that offer products for insuring a home, and because of this, 鈥渨e do see some differences.鈥
鈥淚f they don鈥檛 provide you with the coverage you鈥檙e looking for, there鈥檚 likely going to be other providers that will. So, shop around, ask questions and understand what options are available,鈥 said de Pruis.
Bond says he went to several other insurers for quotes after his home insurance was denied, but each one had different parameters to meet.
鈥淪ome will tell you, 鈥榊ou鈥檝e got to be under this many kilowatts.鈥 Some will tell you, 鈥榊ou can't have a system that's worth more than X dollars.鈥 Some say, 鈥榃ell, if you're feeding back into the grid, we won't cover you.鈥 And then others, they say, 鈥楴o, we don't care. You can have solar, but we're going to charge you three times the price of what your current premium is,鈥欌 he said.
鈥淚 just wish the insurance companies could actually make up their mind on what they were doing and make it clearer when people are applying for insurance.鈥
Thomas says the inconsistency across insurance companies is frustrating and can be costly for clients.
鈥淚f you have a legally inspected system that was permitted and installed by professionals, that should be the end of the conversation,鈥 said Thomas.
鈥淭he frustration is that like they will ask for some ridiculous information. They鈥檒l often have a checklist sheet of questions that provide absolutely no useful information for measuring risk or establishing legality or anything else. None of them at the insurance companies know what they're talking about. They have hundreds of years of experience in certain areas of this and then none on this. So, everybody is winging it.鈥
Bond says he is still working with his insurance company to try to see if his home can be insured. The thought of no insurance on his home stresses him out.
鈥淲e鈥檙e three days out of our insurance being cancelled. And then, yes, there are other companies that we can go with, but then they鈥檙e going to wipe out all the savings that we would have had from the solar panels in the first place,鈥 he said.
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