[hawkesnest]

It's funny how the author in the same paragraph notes that solar power isn't common in the "Sunshine State" of Florida, and then also points out the problem of hurricanes. Turns out, insurance companies won't compensate you for replacement cost of the panels, only cash value (which is constantly dropping). That is, if they cover them at all.

Buying new panels every 7-10 years is not a worthwhile investment.

[nojvek]

Insurance and solar is a real issue.

If you put solar on roof, then insurance does not cover roof damage incase of hurricane.

Also with solar subsidies come the scams. Most people are skeptical of solar in Florida.

Florida is no longer a purple swing state. It is a solid red state with pockets of blue in major cities.

Florida has enough cheap land to power all of their day-time energy use from solar though.

I loved to see some small solar farms in Lakeland that locals built.

There is hope.

[hermitcrab]

>If you put solar on roof, then insurance does not cover roof damage incase of hurricane.

Do solar panels make a roof more suseptible to hurricane damage?

[defrost]

Yep.

Unless they're mounted absolutely flush to the existing roof with no way for the ind to get underneath then a solar panel is large flat sailcloth that gets hurricane force winds underneath it and then exerts an upward pulling | tearing force on the anchor points.

Depending on those, you can see some serious roof destroying damage (followed by a rain soaked interior).

Or, extra effort (money, time, resources) needs to be expended from the outset making the setup cyclone proof (err, sorry, hurricane .. it's cyclones for us her in tropical Australia).

[hermitcrab]

Interesting. Presumably this is less of an issue if the house is design with solar panels (and hurricanes/cyclones) in mind?

[defrost]

"Cyclone proof" standards in the Pilbara (Western Australia) would require solid frames on the panels solidly connected directly (through roofing material) to steel roof trusses with multiple strong connections to steel frame wall panels which themselves are deep bolted into a thick concrete slab.

Hospitals are built surrounded by ramped up packed earth bunkers that roof objects (evaporative coolers, venting stacks, solar panels) barely poke above .. that way the wind tends to lift over the entire (one or two stoey) hospital and flying objects (ripped off tin roofs, fencing wire, tree branches) don't directly hit the main building.

The building code there appears to magnitudes above the 'typical' ripped apart buildings seen in USofA Hurricane Alley damage shots (which typically seem to be tinfoil trailer type buildings and light construction) .. to be fair the US does have buildings that look to be built to withstand hurricanes, the difference seems to be that not all buildings are required to have that as a minimum code.

[303uru]

There are great, even preferable, options that aren't rooftop solar.