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What does insurance pay for lost solar income in Germany?

In short

It replaces the lost solar yield while your system is down after an insured damage. Loss of income cover (Ertragsausfallversicherung) usually pays EUR 2 to 2.50 per kWp and day in summer and EUR 1 to 1.50 in winter, after a 1 to 2 day waiting period and up to the agreed cover period. Without damage, for example when the grid operator curtails your system or a summer is cloudy, it pays nothing.

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What does insurance pay for lost solar income in Germany?

What it costs

Guide figures from published tariff descriptions and official feed in rates, September 2026.

Example	Typical range
Daily rate in summer per kWp	about EUR 2 to 2.50
Daily rate in winter per kWp	about EUR 1 to 1.50
Extra premium, cover period up to 12 months	about EUR 20 to 40 a year
Extra premium, cover period up to 24 months	about EUR 35 to 60 a year
Feed in tariff, new system up to 10 kWp, partial feed in, from August 2026	7.70 cents per kilowatt hour
Feed in tariff, new system up to 10 kWp, full feed in, from August 2026	12.22 cents per kilowatt hour

Guide figures, September 2026, from published tariff descriptions and the feed in rates under the EEG. The yield of about 5 kilowatt hours per kWp on a summer day, the power price of about 35 cents, self consumption of one third and inverter delivery times are guide figures from quoting practice. Daily rate, waiting and cover period are in your policy; we obtain the exact quote for you.

Worked example

Detached house, 10 kWp, inverter destroyed by a surge in June

Replacement takes 35 days, the waiting period is 2 days, the summer rate EUR 2 per kWp. This is the difference between a flat payment and proven loss.

Downtime minus waiting period	33 days
Flat daily rate (10 kWp × EUR 2)	EUR 20 per day
Flat payout (33 × EUR 20)	EUR 660
Real loss at about EUR 0.80 per kWp and day	about EUR 260
New inverter and fitting	paid by the property cover, not by loss of income

Depending on the policy you receive about EUR 260 to 660 for the downtime. Without the add-on you bear the loss of about EUR 260 yourself.

What is replaced

Loss of income cover is an add-on to solar insurance (Photovoltaikversicherung). It pays when the system produces no power because of insured damage, for example hail breaking panels, lightning destroying the inverter or a marten biting through cables.

It pays for each day the system is down until it is repaired. Most policies use a fixed daily rate per kilowatt peak, kWp, the rated output of your system. Some pay this rate as a flat amount, others only the proven loss up to that limit. Your terms say which.

Whether the electricity you now have to buy from the grid is also covered varies. With high self consumption that is often the larger part of the loss.

Term	Meaning	Usual value
Daily rate	amount per kWp and day of downtime	summer EUR 2 to 2.50, winter EUR 1 to 1.50
Waiting period	first days without payment	1 to 2 days
Cover period	longest payment period	3 to 24 months
Trigger	insured physical damage	hail, storm, lightning, fire, theft, animal bites

When nothing is paid

The cover does not make up for a poor yield, only for downtime after damage. Without insured damage there is no money, and that applies to more situations than many expect.

Situation	Paid?	Why
Cloudy summer	no	no damage
Grid operator curtails the system	no	no damage to the system
No feed in payment during negative market prices	no	legal rule, not damage
Panels lose output over the years	no	wear is excluded
Snow on the panels for a week	no, as long as nothing is damaged	no physical damage
Inverter destroyed by a power surge	yes, after the waiting period	insured damage
Hail breaks panels, replacement takes weeks	yes, up to the cover period	insured damage

An honest sum: what a new system loses per day

The usual daily rates date from a time when solar power earned 30 to 40 cents per kilowatt hour. New systems up to 10 kWp with partial feed in have received only 7.70 cents under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) since August 2026.

A system in Germany produces about 5 kilowatt hours per kWp on a good summer day. If you use a third yourself and would have to buy it for about 35 cents, and feed in the rest at 7.70 cents, you lose about EUR 0.80 per kWp on such a day. Across the year it is much less.

If your policy pays only the proven loss, you get far less than the maximum rate. If it pays a flat rate, the payout can exceed your real loss. For older systems with a high feed in tariff, rate and loss are close.

When the add-on pays off and when not

It pays off for older systems with a high feed in tariff, for systems over 10 kWp, with high self consumption from a heat pump or electric car, and whenever a loan is repaid from the income. Six weeks of downtime in summer can cost several hundred euros there.

It hardly pays off for a small new system with a low tariff that you paid for without a loan. A month of downtime then often costs less than two years of premium for the add-on. Drop it in that case, but keep the cover for the system itself.

A waiting period of more than two days and a cover period of only three months make the add-on nearly worthless. After storms, inverters have had delivery times of several weeks.

Step by step

Check your policy to see whether loss of income is included at all.
Note daily rate, waiting period and cover period, and whether payment is flat or on proof.
Ask whether extra grid power bought during downtime is covered.
Estimate the real daily loss of your system and compare it with the extra premium.
After damage, report the downtime at once and save yield data from the inverter or app.
Order the repair quickly, because the cover period runs from the day of damage.

Checklist

Cover period at least 12 months
Waiting period no more than 2 days
Daily rate fits output and tariff of your system
Self consumption or extra grid power included
Yield data recorded continuously
kWp updated in the policy after extending the system

Common mistakes

Expecting the add-on to make up for a cloudy summer
Choosing a three month cover period although parts get scarce after storms
Noticing the downtime weeks later because nobody monitors the system
Paying for costly loss of income cover on a small new system while saving on property cover
Not reporting extra panels after an extension

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Is loss of income included in buildings insurance?

Usually not, or only with a tight limit. It is typically part of a separate solar policy and often optional there.

Does insurance pay if the grid operator switches my system off?

No. Curtailment, grid failure or no payment during negative prices are not physical damage to your system.

What if only some panels fail?

Then payment is usually proportional to the failed output in kWp. Inverter data helps prove it.

Does it pay for a defect without an outside cause?

Only if the policy counts such defects as damage, for example short circuits in all risks cover. Pure wear is always excluded.

Is the payout taxable?

If your system is treated as a business for tax purposes, the payment replaces income. Many small systems are now tax free; check your case with a tax adviser.

Sources

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