Colorado · Home · Solar
Owned panels are part of the rebuild only if the policy is told they are there
A solar array bolted to the roof is not a separate building, and it is not automatically a free extra inside the dwelling limit. If you own the panels, many homeowners forms treat them as part of the dwelling, which means Coverage A has to be high enough to rebuild the roof and the array. If you lease them, the leasing company usually owns the equipment. Your policy may still face a liability claim. It often does not owe the leasing company a new array.
Tell the carrier before or right after the install. The inspection and the application are how the limit gets raised. Waiting until a hailstorm, then arguing the panels were “part of the house,” is how people find a dwelling limit that still describes the old roof. Ordinance or law, if you bought it, can matter when the city requires an electrical upgrade the old house did not have. It is its own limit.
This page does not invent an installed-cost average. System size, a battery, the electrical panel, and whether the array is owned or leased change the bid. Tax credits and net metering are not insurance. Ask a tax preparer about the credit and the city about the permit.
The Colorado policy around the array: Colorado homeowners, dwelling coverage, and riders. Hail on the house and the cars: Colorado hail. The same coverage question in Texas: solar panels and Texas insurance. Other gaps people confuse with the roof: driveways and Colorado riders. A contractor’s proof of insurance is a different document: certificate of insurance. Price after a change, without a fake percent off: Colorado homeowners rates.
