What Do I Need to Know About Going Solar in Florida?
Florida is currently the fastest-growing solar market in the United States. Its about time the “Sunshine State” caught up with the other large solar markets in the western states. Overall Florida is an excellent market for solar due to the high UV index and favorable weather throughout the year. In addition, the utility providers in Florida offer great solar programs. To learn more about the solar programs offered with the more common utilities we work with in Florida, click the link to the page below.
Additional Homeowners Insurance Requirement
All Florida projects with a system size LARGER THAN 11.76 kW are considered tier 2 solar systems, and require a $1 million dollar “Personal Liability Policy” (PLP) or what’s known as an “Umbrella Policy”. This additional insurance is required by the utility companies in order to submit for Permission to Operate.
This is NOT an addition to the current homeowners insurance (HOI), as adding $1 million in personal liability coverage will increase current rates. A personal liability policy is separate from a Homeowners Insurance policy and will not affect the current Homeowner Insurance rates.
Better Earth works with trusted and vetted insurance agents, and your project manager will obtain the policy on the customers behalf if you do no have the necessary personal liability policy coverage.
Here are the requirements and the information we need to in order to obtain the necessary coverage:
The homeowner occupation
The utility account holder's date of birth
Declaration pages of their homeowners insurance
If they have any pets
If yes, then if they have any dog bite claims
The reason for this is that the cost of the policy depends on the homeowners overall insurance liability.
If you already have a $1 million dollar personal liability policy, then you won’t need to obtain any additional insurance. However, Better Earth may need proof of your liability policy in order to interconnect your solar system to the utility grid.
What System Size Requires the $1 million dollar requirement?
In most cases, a system size of 11.76 kW or larger will need to provide proof of additional insurance.
EX. 30 panels of 400w = 12 kW system size, which would require the $1 million dollar home insurance policy
The insurance requirements vary slightly with different utility providers. Feel free to contact us or your sales representative for more accurate information about your specific utility.