Key Takeaways
How many layers of protection should a solar system have? Ideally, homeowners should have four layers of protection: manufacturer warranties, installer workmanship warranties, homeowner’s insurance, and independent warranty coverage. In reality, most solar systems only have two or three layers, leaving potential gaps around labor costs, long-term equipment failures, weather damage, and protection if an installer or manufacturer goes out of business. Understanding where those gaps exist can help homeowners better protect their investment and avoid unexpected costs over the life of their solar system.
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Most people have a general sense of what a warranty is. You buy an appliance, something goes wrong, and the manufacturer fixes or replaces it. Simple enough.
Solar is more complicated than that.
When you go solar, you are not just buying a product. You are buying a system made up of multiple components, installed by a separate company, on a structure you already own. Each of those layers comes with its own protection, its own exclusions, and its own gaps in coverage. Understanding how they fit together before you sign anything is one of the most practical things you can do as a homeowner.
Here is how it all breaks down.
Table of Contents
Layer One: Manufacturer Warranties
Every major component of a solar system comes with a warranty directly from the company that made it. Panels, inverters, batteries, and racking hardware each carry their own manufacturer’s warranty covering defects in the product under normal operating conditions.
Our data shows inverters have the highest failure rate among the major system components. From our study, the average labor cost to replace an inverter is ~$480. So if an inverter fails under normal use during the warranty period, the manufacturer replaces it. That is the warranty doing exactly what it is supposed to do.
| Component | Avg Time to First Failure | Avg Labor Replacement Cost |
| Inverters (string & micro) | ~1.5 years | $483 |
| Panels | ~1.5 years | $650 |
What manufacturer warranties typically cover:
- Defects in the product during normal operation
- Equipment replacement when a product fails within the warranty term
What they do not cover is just as important to understand:
- Labor costs to swap out the failed equipment
- Weather-related damage, including hail, lightning, and hurricanes
- Theft or vandalism
- Animal or tree damage
- Damage to the home itself
- Any issues arising from DIY work done on the equipment
That labor exclusion deserves special attention. If your inverter fails and the manufacturer sends you a new one, you still need someone to come out and install it. That cost is on you unless another layer of your protection covers it.
Manufacturer warranty terms vary by product and brand, but typically run between 10 and 25 years, depending on the component. Panels are pretty standard at 25 years, inverters are generally between 10-25, depending on brand, and batteries range from 10-15 years, depending on brand.
Layer Two: Installer Workmanship Warranties
On top of manufacturer coverage, your solar installer provides their own warranty, usually called a workmanship warranty. This one is easy to misunderstand, so it is worth being precise about what it actually does.
Workmanship warranties cover the quality and integrity of the original installation. That word original matters. They are designed to address problems that stem from how the system was installed, not problems that develop later during normal system operation.
Two common examples of what workmanship warranties cover:
- After installation, the roof starts leaking where the mounting hardware attaches. That is an installation defect, and it falls under workmanship.
- Your system monitoring is not reading production and consumption correctly because the current transformers were improperly installed during setup. That is also a workmanship issue.
What workmanship warranties do not cover follows a similar pattern to manufacturer warranties:
- Labor costs for future maintenance or equipment swapouts
- Component failures unrelated to the original installation
- Weather damage, vandalism, or theft
- Power surge damage
- DIY modifications to the system
The piece that trips homeowners up most often is the labor question. If a component fails three years into ownership and the manufacturer replaces the part under their warranty, your installer’s workmanship warranty does not typically obligate them to come out and do the swap at no charge. That is future service work, not original installation quality, and the two are treated separately.
This has long been a pain point between installers and customers, and in recent years, many installers have taken to including a page listing service rates in their contracts so there’s no confusion.
Layer Three: Homeowner’s Insurance
This is the layer most solar homeowners overlook, and it is worth bringing up because it fills a gap the other two warranties largely leave open.
Manufacturer warranties and workmanship warranties both exclude weather-related damage, falling trees, vandalism, and theft. Homeowner’s insurance can step in exactly where those warranties stop. If a storm damages your panels or a tree comes down on the system, your homeowner’s policy can help cover replacement costs for the equipment.
Adding solar to your homeowners’ insurance policy is a straightforward step that rounds out your overall protection, particularly for unpredictable events that no warranty is designed to handle.
Most major insurance carriers will cover solar panels permanently attached to your home. Progressive notes that premiums are likely to increase because of the additional coverage. They also note that leased solar may not require homeowners’ insurance because they are insured by the third-party company.
If you are leasing your solar panels, make sure to ask your installer and read the contract to ensure you’re properly covered.
Layer Four: Independent Warranties
This is where the gaps in the first two layers get addressed most directly.
Independent warranties, such as Solar Insure SI-30, operate independently of both the manufacturer and the installer. Here is what that independence makes possible.
- Solar Insure warranties cover products for 30 years. Most manufacturer warranties on inverters run 10 to 25 years. If a component fails in normal operating conditions after the manufacturer’s warranty has expired, a Solar Insure warranty can still cover the replacement.
- Labor costs are also included. That is the gap that manufacturer warranties leave open. When a part needs to be swapped out, homeowners with Solar Insure coverage do not pay out of pocket for someone to do the work.
- And because the warranty is independent, it does not depend on either the manufacturer or the installer staying in business. Over the last several years, the solar industry has seen a significant number of companies close, including some of the largest installers in the country.
When an installer closes, their workmanship obligations typically go with them. When a manufacturer closes, their product warranty goes too. An independent warranty stays in place regardless. Solar Insure maintains a network of certified providers to handle service when the original installer is no longer available.
How the Four Layers Compare
| Manufacturer Warranty | Workmanship Warranty | Homeowner’s Insurance | Solar Insure SI-30 | |
| Covers equipment defects | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Covers labor costs | No | No | No under standard policies; only if equipment breakdown coverage is added | Yes |
| Covers weather damage | No | No | Yes, though wind and hail coverage is being limited or excluded by some insurers in high-risk regions | No |
| Covers theft or vandalism | No | No | Yes | No |
| Covers installation defects | No | Yes | No | No |
| Survives installer closure | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Survives manufacturer closure | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Typical term length | 10 to 25 years | Varies by installer | Annual renewal | 30 years |
| Independent of installer | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Learn more on our Understanding Solar Warranties Hub
Putting It All Together
Going solar comes with more protection than most homeowners realize, but that protection has gaps that are just as real. Manufacturer warranties cover parts, not labor. Workmanship warranties cover original installation quality, not future service. Homeowner’s insurance covers the disaster scenarios that neither warranty touches. An independent warranty covers the scenarios where the other layers run out or fall through.
Knowing how each layer works and where it stops puts you in a much better position to evaluate what you are actually getting when you go solar.
To learn more about Solar Insure warranties and find a certified provider near you, visit https://www.solarinsure.com/warranty-comparison
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