Solar panels lead to insurance headaches for some Canadians

Adam Szabo was keen on the benefits of replacing his furnace with a heat pump and installing solar panels to help power his new electric heating and his electric car.

"It improves the value of the house, it's better for the environment and … there's a financial gain, as well," said Szabo, who lives in Burlington, Ont., semi-detached house with his wife and nine-year-old daughter.

So it came as a big surprise that his insurance company, CAA, didn't see things the same way — it nearly cancelled his home insurance over the heat pump installation, and then did cancel it, over the solar panels.

"I was confused, of course," he said. "I'm like, 'What do you mean?' It just doesn't make sense, right?"

Canadians are buying EVs and installing heat pumps and solar panels in their homes as part of the push to slow climate change and transition to cleaner forms of energy. But some are running into an unexpected hurdle: home insurance companies. 

Szabo was one of a few people from across Canada with different insurance companies who contacted CBC News to share issues they've experienced with their home insurance after installing solar panels.

None were aware or warned that this could be a problem, and some, including Szabo, had additional insurance problems related to other green technology.

Szabo worries it could discourage homeowners from adopting cleaner technologies. He has even contacted his local MP about it, given that it undermines the federal government's own climate goals and its target of net-zero emissions by 2050 along with related incentives to reach them.

Kevin Cowie of Aylesford, N.S., was shocked to experience a similar issue when he installed his solar panels four years ago.

"The federal government wants everyone to go greener, right?" he said. "Electric cars, solar panels, this and that — but the insurance companies aren't there."

Szabo and Cowie both bought their insurance through brokers, neither of whom responded to interview requests from CBC News.

Szabo said he was told it was a new technology, and his insurance company wasn't sure how much it would cost to insure — an explanation that surprised him, since solar panels have been around for decades, despite seeing a recent surge in popularity.

Rob de Pruis, a spokesperson for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said every insurance company makes independent business decisions on what and how much they want to cover.

Some cover solar panels in their base policies, he said, while others include them in an add-on option called an endorsement. But he said it's "not very common" for insurance companies not to insure homes with solar panels at all.