Does Solar & Battery Storage Affect Home Insurance?⚡2026

DO INSURANCE POLICIES GET MORE EXPENSIVE WITH SOLAR AND BATTERY STORAGE?

Home insurance policies typically do get more expensive after solar and battery storage installations, as the policy will need to accommodate the value of your system for full coverage.

The cost of home insurance will vary depending on the solar and battery system installed, the chosen policy, and its coverage & requirements. This usually isn't a dramatic increase and is worth it to ensure your systems are covered for storms etc.

ARE SOLAR AND BATTERY INCLUDED IN HOME INSURANCE POLICIES?

Not all home insurers automatically cover solar and battery systems, which are generally covered under home building insurance as they’re considered a permanent fixture to the home.

We asked Budget Direct what their solar and battery systems coverage was.

“Solar panels and its accessories are covered under home building insurance. All you need to do is make sure that the home build sum insured amount is enough to cover the solar panels. You can add the solar panels value to your building cover amount if you happen to install them after you have secured your policy.”

Based on our research, a lot of other insurer policy documents are relatively vague in how they refer to solar and additional solar components.

WHAT INSURERS COVER SOLAR AND BATTERY SYSTEMS?

Based on current product disclosure statements, here is a comparison table of some home insurers and their coverage of solar and battery storage.

*These insurers will have their own requirements and policies around solar and energy storage coverage; it is your responsibility to research and read relevant documentation before any purchases. This table indicates general coverage and not specifics.

**Note: Most insurers don’t cover light surface hail damage, only fractures through the entire thickness of the solar panel’ glass.

ARE SOLAR BATTERIES COVERED UNDER HOME CONTENTS OR HOME BUILDING INSURANCE?

Solar battery energy storage systems (BESS) are generally considered to be a fixed part of the home, meaning that they are typically covered under home building insurance policies.

For example, Budget Direct defines ‘energy storage systems’ to be:

‘Any permanent device or system, such as batteries, cabinets, control systems, and their parts, that is both:

• compliant with local laws and regulations
• installed in your home by a licensed electrician or authorised installer.

This does not include dams or other non-battery storage systems.’

ARE HOME SOLAR AND BATTERY SYSTEMS CONSIDERED A 'HIGH RISK' ADDITION?

Contrary to the Australian media, solar and battery systems are not considered ‘high-risk’ home additions. Whilst insurance costs could increase with solar and battery system installations, this doesn’t reflect the danger potential, but instead the value addition to your home so you can make a claim if required.

According to a well-known insurer in their product disclosure statement, they identify the risks of lithium battery fires in their policy document. However, no information is mentioned on home energy storage specifically which indicates that insurers don’t consider ESS a high-risk addition.

To ensure your energy storage system is safe and fully-covered under insurance, make sure the battery system is compliant with Australian standards and regulations, installed by SAA accredited battery installers, and that your policy definitely covers battery energy storage systems (BESS).

SHOULD YOU NOTIFY YOUR INSURER OF NEW SOLAR AND BATTERY SYSTEM INSTALLATIONS?

Yes, notifying your insurer of any new solar and/or battery systems is important to ensure your system is fully covered. If your existing policy does not mention of cover solar or ESSs, we really recommend finding an insurer who clearly covers your renewable energy systems.

According to a large insurer's PDS, they only mention coverage for solar panel breakage, where they cover replacement costs if the glass if fractured through the ‘entire thickness’. There is no mention of any other solar or energy storage coverage in this policy.

WILL INSURANCE PROVIDERS COVER NON-ACCREDITED SOLAR INSTALLATIONS?

Whilst most insurance providers don’t typically check whether your solar or battery system was installed by a Clean Energy Council (CEC) / SAA-accredited installer, proper installation is important, especially when you need to make an insurance claim.

If the system fails to meet Australian standards, as well as installation and safety requirements, your insurer may have the right to deny your claims for reasons like;

• Damaged systems and roofs due to faulty installations
• Non-compliant wiring related fire incidents
• An incident that may be related to a non-compliant installation

This really depends on what insurer and policy you choose as coverage varies company to company. However, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from this scenario:

HOW MUCH IS HOME INSURANCE WITH VS. WITHOUT SOLAR AND BATTERY?

We conducted a sample quote to see how insurers determine the solar and battery value thinking that they may ask a few questions on home addition values, but they only referred to the ‘home rebuild cost’ and ‘contents replacement cost’.

Depending on the insurer and policy, your solar panels, inverter, and other components like energy storage should be included in the total home value to ensure it covered in the total insured sum amount.

Using a few home insurance calculators, there are options to add a solar system to the total rebuild value. When answering with a yes to the question ‘does the property have any solar panels’ compared to the value without, the difference was about $10,000-$15,000 of a home value range of $394k - $518k. However, this doesn’t count the value of home battery storage.

DOES HOME INSURANCE COVER SOLAR SYSTEM FAILURES?

No, house insurers don’t typically cover solar and/or battery system failure. Instead, this should be covered under your installer’s workmanship warranty, or manufacturer's warranty to replace faulty components.

It is important you choose companies and brands that have years of recognition and that are financially stable to ensure they can honour warranties and claims.

HOW DO INSURANCE POLICIES DEAL WITH EV CHARGERS?

For homes that have installed a dedicated level 2 home electric vehicle charger, it is also recommended that you include it in your total house value to ensure the charger is fully covered under your policy. Level 1 electric vehicle chargers won’t be included under building insurance as they’re not permanent fixtures of the house.

Most home insurance policies don’t cover parked vehicles on the property. This includes electric vehicles.