Does home insurance cover solar panels in Perth? What you need to know

Most Perth home insurance policies do cover rooftop solar. Panels installed by a licensed electrician and permanently fixed to your roof are usually covered under the building section of your policy, the same part that covers your roof, gutters, and hot water system. That covers sudden, accidental damage: hail, storms, fire, lightning, and impact. It does not cover wear and tear, gradual degradation, or an inverter that simply dies of old age.

The catch is the detail. Your building sum insured has to actually include the cost of replacing the system, and your inverter might sit under contents rather than building if it is mounted inside. Get those two things right and a storm claim is straightforward. Get them wrong and you can be underinsured without knowing it. Here is what is covered, what is excluded, and the few checks worth doing before you ever need to claim.

Are solar panels covered by home insurance?

In most cases, yes. Solar panels installed by a licensed electrician and permanently fixed to your roof are covered under the building (or home structure) section of your home insurance policy.

Under building cover, panels are treated as a permanent fixture and fitting of the property, similar to a roof, gutters, or hot water system. That means they are typically covered for:

• Storm damage (hail, wind, falling trees or branches)
• Fire damage
• Lightning strike
• Vandalism
• Impact from aircraft, vehicles, or other objects

The key phrase is "permanently fixed". Rooftop solar is covered. Portable or ground-mounted systems that are not attached to the building structure may be treated differently, so check with your insurer.

What is typically not covered?

Several common causes of solar damage are excluded or handled differently:

Normal wear and tear and gradual deterioration. Insurance covers sudden, accidental damage. Progressive degradation, yellowing encapsulant, and slow frame corrosion are not insured events. They are part of the panel's normal lifespan, which runs 25 years or more for quality modules. For how that ageing actually plays out, see how solar panels degrade over time in Perth.

Mechanical or electrical breakdown. An inverter that stops working after years of operation is not covered under standard home insurance. That is a maintenance or warranty issue, not an insured event. Equipment breakdown insurance, a separate add-on available from some insurers, can cover electrical and mechanical failure if you want protection beyond the manufacturer's warranty.

Installation faults. If panels were installed incorrectly and that causes a failure, it is a workmanship issue. That sits with your installer's warranty and public liability insurance, not your home policy. This is why using an accredited installer with a workmanship warranty matters. Before you sign, it is worth checking your solar installer's credentials.

Damage during DIY work on the roof. If you break a panel while doing your own work up there and cannot show the damage was accidental and sudden, the claim may be disputed. Do not use panels as a handhold.

The inverter specifically. Some policies treat the inverter as contents (if it is installed inside, such as in a garage) rather than building, while the panels stay under building. If your inverter is inside, make sure it is listed under contents and the sum insured is adequate.

What sum insured should you use for solar?

Your building sum insured should reflect the replacement cost of your home including the solar system. When you last set that figure, your panels should have been part of it.

Check whether your current sum insured includes the replacement cost of:

• The panels, at today's installed price, not what you paid years ago
• The inverter
• Racking and mounting hardware
• Installation labour for the replacement

A 6.6kW solar system in Perth currently costs $4,500 to $8,000 installed after STCs. If your building sum insured was set before you installed solar and you never updated it, you may be underinsured by roughly that amount.

How does hail affect solar panels in Perth?

Perth gets hail periodically, usually in severe thunderstorm cells during spring and summer. Hail is one of the more common reasons people lodge solar panel claims, which is why it is worth understanding before a storm rolls through.

Modern panels are tested to survive hailstones up to 25mm across at impact speeds of around 23 m/s (about 80 km/h). That is the IEC 61215 standard test, the same standard a panel must pass to qualify for STCs. Most reputable panels clear it comfortably. Extreme hail events with larger stones can still exceed the test parameters, so passing the test is a floor, not a guarantee. The deeper detail on impact ratings sits in our guide to hail resistance for solar panels in Perth.

What to do after a hail event:

1. Inspect the panels from the ground first. Do not climb up immediately.
2. Check your inverter monitoring app for a generation drop on the next sunny day.
3. If you can see cracking, or the system underperforms, contact your insurer and your installer.
4. Photograph the damage before any work is done. Insurers require evidence.

How do you make a solar insurance claim?

If your panels are damaged, work through it in order:

1. Contact your insurer first. Lodge the claim before arranging any repairs. Most insurers want an assessor to inspect before authorising repair work, apart from emergency temporary measures.
2. Document everything. Photos of the damaged panels, the date and nature of the event, and your inverter records showing the performance drop.
3. Get a repair or replacement quote from an accredited installer. The insurer will compare it against their own assessment.
4. Expect your excess to apply. Your standard building excess applies to solar claims.

Panel replacement versus whole-system replacement. If only a few panels are damaged, insurers typically cover those replacements. If your panels are older and the damaged models are discontinued, you may need to replace more of them to keep the string matched. Talk that through with your assessor.

When is equipment breakdown insurance worth it?

Standard home insurance covers sudden accidental damage. It does not cover your inverter dying of natural causes years down the track.

Equipment breakdown cover, sometimes called "electrical and mechanical breakdown", is an add-on from some insurers. It covers failure of electrical and mechanical equipment due to a breakdown event, inverters and battery inverters included.

It can be worth considering if:

• Your inverter warranty has expired, or is about to
• You have an older system and would rather not self-insure the inverter replacement cost
• You have a battery inverter, which is more expensive to replace than a standard string inverter

Not every insurer offers it as an add-on, so ask specifically.

What should you check before installing solar?

A few minutes on the phone before installation saves a lot of grief at claim time.

1. Call your insurer before installation to confirm panels are covered under your existing policy, and whether you need to update your sum insured.
2. Update your sum insured to include the replacement cost of the solar system.
3. Keep your installation documentation. The Certificate of Electrical Compliance, warranty documents, and the installer's accreditation number. A claim may need them.
4. Ask your installer for the panel hail rating. Confirm the panels meet IEC 61215 (the 25mm hail test) or better.

What if you don't own the roof?

Renters. You generally cannot insure solar you do not own. If a landlord has installed solar, insuring it falls to them under their landlord building policy.

Strata and apartments. Body corporate insurance usually covers the common property roof and any solar on shared rooftops. Solar installed on a lot owner's portion of the roof (rare) would be the lot owner's responsibility. Check with your body corporate manager and strata insurer.

For the wider picture on protecting a system through Perth's storm season, see our guide to solar in Perth storms and extreme weather.

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This is general information about how home insurance typically treats solar panels, not advice about any specific policy. Always confirm coverage details directly with your insurer before and after solar installation. Policy terms vary significantly between providers.