Solar panels and how they affect your insurance?
Solar panels are increasingly being installed as an environmentally friendly source of energy/power, and given the current energy crisis, as a potentially cost-effective alternative.
As a result, many companies are now supplying and installing photovoltaic (PV) solar panel systems. While the installations may benefit the environment, they can present hazards when installed on building rooftops.
How do they work?
PV solar panels vary in size and weight and come with various types of fittings, including connectors, junction boxes, isolation switches etc, and are often fixed onto or built into roofs of residential homes and roof-mounted on industrial and commercial buildings.
Solar panels contain large numbers of PV cells made of semiconductor materials that convert the energy into direct current (DC). This runs along electrical cables, connectors and junction boxes to a DC isolation switch and then to an inverter, which turns the DC into alternating current (AC) that runs to the main electrical supply switchgear.
Potential hazards
Fires involving PV solar panels have been reported, in Germany and North America, due to poor PV panel installation, panel faults, incorrectly specified or faulty equipment or electrical system failures.
As such, if you’re considering installing PV solar panels, it’s essential to understand the risks. Hazards can include installation on top of a combustible roof construction; increased building fire load and potential fire spread; gaps between PV panels becoming traps for snow and ice build-up, autumn debris or moss; damage to the existing roof during installation causing water ingress; risk of storm and high wind damage; restricted roof access for maintenance and fire-fighting; and damage to PV panel components increasing the fire risk.
Plus, additional roof weight loading increases the potential for collapse. Modern roof designs are often lightweight with little tolerances and older roof designs may have deteriorated with age or be in a poor state.
Safeguard your PV solar panel installation
In the UK, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is a nationally recognised quality assurance scheme that covers products and installation of microgeneration technologies, including PV. MCS guides the manufacture, design standards, installation, servicing and maintenance and has been developed in conjunction with the PV solar panel industry.
We recommend obtaining professional advice on the structural stability and condition of your roof to ensure it can support the additional weight, with a safety margin for snow loading. It’s also vital to check PV panels are certified to a recognised standard and have the correct safety devices fitted, and that installation is supervised, inspected and commissioned with a completion test and certification.
Talk to NLIG
It’s essential to inform your insurers and other authorities, such as the Fire Service before you place an order and installation work begins, and to get professional advice on the structural stability and condition of your roof and ascertain if it is suitable for PV solar panels. You can call our advisors at NLIG, who can offer you any help and assistance in informing your insurers of your planned installation and ensuring they are adequately insured.
Our business is your protection, which means we want to ensure you are not placing your property under unnecessary risk and that you have the correct level of cover in place should the worst happen and you need to make a claim. To discuss your potential PV solar panel installation, please call us on 01992 703 300 or email insurance@nlig.co.uk