@virge, you pretty much have experienced what I though would be the case with lightning.

What is disconcerting though is the big name company that are dragging their heels.

Please do keep us up to date as it evolves, as we can learn from this ito insurance. Solar systems and insurance policies are pretty new bed fellows.

Ps. There are only a few big names in insurance. Care to share the colour you see on their policy documents? 

I had to get quotations from 2 different installers, both came with +- R75.000,00. As I said I still have to hear from the mobile assessor. The insurance was upset with the high value claim. My point was that this is the reason we get insurance. We can pay for a lifetime without claiming. The thing is that because millions of people keep paying only it is difficult for them to payback. They are used only to take money. I can not tell you the color but I can tell that the color is not the base color for color TV. Three days before this incident, I had to replace a geyser and the solar pump which was destroyed because the water was cut off for a day. I did not claim for that, the invoice was for R6500.00 and was dated 3 days before the lightning incident. I hate to claim.

The installers who quoted me had to give reports about the installation and the cause of damage. They gave good reports because the installation is excellent.

 

28 minutes ago, virge said:

... not the base color for color TV.

Noooo, not that. You have a yellow insurer, a green one, a blue one they are the top three ... then you have one that is Out, you have one that is a Dial ... and so I can go on.

Very standard lightning claim complicated by solar pushing up the costs. Probably has their re-insurers asking 10 mil questions.

Hope that you do not have a problem, if you do, claim is repudiated and you disagree, the Short Term Ombudsman is your next port of call.

My gut says that insurers in SA do not fully grasp the cost of solar systems yet, but it will come. My broker told me, no, it is covered under the building.

If a claim does get lodged, adding in some cases a R50-R250k price tag on top of a standard building claim, that can be quite a shock for the insurer. They SHOULD specify solar system separately, as it increases the costs of claims.

You might be right but first thing when I finished the installation I called the insurance to get extra cover but they told me it was not necessary because it was part of the house.. I do have unlimited lightning damage cover also. I never experienced before this kind of indifference from an insurer. It is very sad. To send someone to assess the damage after a month is very bad. I had to fix the gate operator in the meantime. 

45 minutes ago, virge said:

... they told me it was not necessary because it was part of the house

Same story with me ... they are not aware of the solar costs, it should increase our premiums as you would if you built on a room for the same price, the value increases to replace.

With solar same applies in my opinion. They are not taking it into account - yet. So they must pay you out.

6 hours ago, virge said:

The combiner box is almost the same with the one Chris has only better............

...... I beg to differ. On a more serious note on this forum lightning has been discussed in the past and a direct strike is always going to be messy. Lightning surge arrestors at best can help with a close strike where there is an inductive surge.

Hi Chris,

It was a hell of a strike, the roof was like an Edison bulb because of the sparks. Now it makes me laugh when I think of it, my wife wanted me to go out and check if the house was on fire. Wives tend to be naughty sometimes. Finally the mobile assessor contacted me today, two weeks and one day after the incident, he will inspect the site tomorrow.

It is difficult to repair the system if the insurance does not pay. All I can say is that I was so happy watching how mostly no power was drawn from ESKOM. Since January when I had the PVs installed I had 2 visits from the municipality, they sent someone to check if I do not steal electricity as I bought very little from them. In summer with only 2KW available from the battery bank, the system was switching to ESKOM only at 5 in the morning because the energy draw is very low (replaced all appliances to energy efficient ones, the fridge draws only 90W and I replaced all the lights to LED)

 

4 hours ago, virge said:

 

It was a hell of a strike, the roof was like an Edison bulb because of the sparks.

Lightning is frightening stuff. I am glad that no one was injured. Lightning killed a man on a horseback (and the horse) here about 10 years ago. On one occasion my wife an I took shelter in a corrugated iron goat shed. For a few second prior to a lightning strike very close to the shed, there was St Elmo's fire dancing on the wire straps that fastened the roof purlins to the uprights. 

Morning All - this is my first post although I have been lurking anonymously for a while.

I was wondering if anyone had considered the use of something more industrially suited like the Raycap Strikesorb range of arrestors.  I have seen them used internationally on PV and we use them on a number of local industrial/commercial sites.

46 minutes ago, Neo said:

Raycap Strikesorb

Do you have an idea of what they can costs Neo?

Whooaa, it's a MOV in a metal can! That's kinda awesome :-)

I'd think there should be ample research material on using MOVs for lightening. Quick google says it's the best all-round suppressor.

1 hour ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

Do you have an idea of what they can costs Neo?

Locally supply on the range is +-R2k to R8k depending on model and then one can array them too for larger installs.  I see you can also get used options on ebay.

Not being an expert at all, just two things concern me. One is that it has a lifetime, it has to be replaced or it stops providing protection. Life is probably in the order of years, but something to keep in mind. Second, a traditional spark gap is better for the kind of energy in lightning, will last longer, might even be cheaper. So I'm not qualified to make that call, but that's what I'm curious about :-)

Well I have made my system now so that if there are problem, disconnect the Brad Harrison connectors.

Not a perfect solution. But better that not having them.

FWIW - Have 6 x 175amp connectors for sale. Bought too many. Good for up to 50mm2 cable.

1 hour ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

Well I have made my system now so that if there are problem, disconnect the Brad Harrison connectors.

So exactly when are you going to unplug everything - the moment the lightning strikes?  

11 minutes ago, superdiy said:

So exactly when are you going to unplug everything - the moment the lightning strikes?  

 

1 hour ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

Not a perfect solution.

In the past when I saw some clouds coming with lightning, I disconnected the panels from the controllers.

If I am not here, family can do same.

If we then still get struck, then that is just tough. 

 

Point is, most of us cannot completely and quickly disconnect panels, for whatever reason, so I just thought I share the idea again. 

I have an astrophobe unit which automatically disconnect my ADSL line when a storm approaches.  Perhaps someone with more ability than I, could use the switching or sensing mechanism to create an automatic disconnect for PV systems?

 

Very interesting:  Thanks

Macro R1499.00

http://www.astraphobe.com/

 

I doubt anything can protect the system if you have a direct strike and in my case was a direct spark to he roof which lasted for more than 5 seconds. I had the assessor inspect the site and he wanted to know how much the house content was insured for. I told him that i have lightning protection and has nothing to do with the house content. He asked for a lot of documents which I just finished emailing him, he said he will send forms for a house content inventory which I think has nothing to do with my claim unless he plans to rob me.

Back in the day on the farm, pretty much when you hear the first far-off rumble... you go and unplug things.

We used to unplug the television every night after watching, both power and antenna. Same with the two-way radio. Even the PV panels could be unplugged (just like TTT's) and the inverter as well.

Despite all that, a late-night strike came in via the overhead phone lines and blew everything up once in 1989... :-)

58 minutes ago, virge said:

I doubt anything can protect the system if you have a direct strike and in my case was a direct spark to he roof which lasted for more than 5 seconds. I had the assessor inspect the site and he wanted to know how much the house content was insured for. I told him that i have lightning protection and has nothing to do with the house content. He asked for a lot of documents which I just finished emailing him, he said he will send forms for a house content inventory which I think has nothing to do with my claim unless he plans to rob me.

Maybe  .... speak to your broker.

It depends under what section they pay out the claim, if under Contents, then it has a LOT to do with your current Content Sum Insured.

Note, I am NOT a broker. This is not advice at all.

Fixtures and fittings falls under Building, sold with the building in other words, and a solar system is mounted to the buildings structure, even the inverters.

Contents on the other had has nothing to do Building and its fixtures and fittings.

So if they put the claim under Contents, then it has a LOT to do with the total Sum Insured value of your Contents. If it is too low, they will apply a formula to the claim amount.

Speak to your broker and make sure of the solar system was insured under Building or Contents, or part Building part Contents.

This is very interesting. Please keep me up to date?

When I phoned them in January to take extra cover for the solar power system they told me I should not bother because is part of the building. So at least they should pay for the solar power system. I do not think I have cover for the contents because they told me it is for theft and I live in a very secure neighborhood. I do have lightning cover I think unlimited.. 

Can someone with knowledge about the insurance industry advise us what cover should we get for our Solar power systems and which will be the best insurance company for this?

49 minutes ago, virge said:

Can someone with knowledge about the insurance industry advise us what cover should we get for our Solar power systems and which will be the best insurance company for this?

If the solar system is mounted to, onto, the building, then it is covered under Building, as it is a fixture.

My logic says, if the system is worth RX 000, it should be added onto the Building's Sum Insured and you pay a small increase in premium, noting clearly the solar installation.

 

11 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

If the solar system is mounted to, onto, the building, then it is covered under Building, as it is a fixture.

My logic says, if the system is worth RX 000, it should be added onto the Building's Sum Insured and you pay a small increase in premium, noting clearly the solar installation.

This is the most important part of ALL short term insurance , my rule of thumb is be transparent in your dealings with your Insurer , so have it on record that you installed a solar system (an email should suffice) , that it is a fixture on to your house and that you want to INCREASE your insured amount of your building. Recently the company that I work for made it compulsory to the supply the client with a " record of advice " where it should state why something was changed , increased or removed. This is quite important for you as client as you then have a MUCH better leg to stand on should you ever have to go to the Ombud with a case. So depending on your insurer/broker insist that you are provided with a record of advice of the transaction as stated above or at least the reference of the voice log if you called in the alteration. 

REMEMBER that should you increase the insured amount , it should be for the value of what a professional would have charged and not what it costed you.

NOW there will be a debate as to , for instance , if your , diy installation , panels got blown away and you now claim. At our side there is a clause that state "what a reasonable man would have done" so if you go and slap the panels on the roof with some bostic vs bolting them down ( I personally took some pictures of the installation for this purpose should it be necessary to use one day which I HOPE NEVER COMES) the rule would be " how would a reasonable man mount these panels " , common sense will prevail. 

The last thing is your Insurer's schedule is your contract and there it will also give you an indication as to how future claims will be handled.

FULL DISCLAIMER : 

I do work in the insurance industry but not in the short term sector so much of the above is from personal experience and from time in the industry and the above does not constitute as advice in any way but should rather be used as a guidance but please PM me should you need a bit more info on the matter.

Best regards

Paul