Because solar is a still maturing industry, one of the big fears its financial backers have is that the panels on which their investment depends will not perform according to manufacturer claims.

Solar can point to few large-scale installations that have performed to warranty provisions over the promised 25-year warranty period.

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ), a powerhouse in the insurance space for 120 years, and GCube Insurance Services, Inc., a three-decade veteran of the renewables space, have partnered to provide a new insurance product for commercial-scale solar projects between 100 kilowatts and three megawatts that addresses investors’ concerns.

“In addition to the standard property and liability insurance,” explained Assurant Operations and Industry Relations VP David A. Schroeder, “we also have a warranty component at a project-specific level. That is what is unique about our offering.”

Assurant had $8 billion in revenues in 2011, but, more importantly, $1.7 billion of that was in warranties.

via Commercial Solar’s Risk Targeted by Insurers’ Partnership : Greentech Media.