--- title: "Document Your Solar and Lithium Before Teardown Begins" description: "Aftermarket power systems disappear from claims because nobody photographed them. Here is exactly what to record before a shop opens a wall, and why it pays later." canonical: https://ocrv.xyz/library/blog/documenting-solar-and-lithium-before-rv-teardown/ business: "OCRV Center" phone: "(949) 799-3387" address: "23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887" market_served: "West Covina, California" --- # Document Your Solar and Lithium Before Teardown Begins Published 2026-06-08. Aftermarket solar, lithium and inverter systems are usually invisible to a valuation model and easy to overlook on a repair estimate. Photograph every component, record model and serial numbers, and save invoices before disassembly starts. Documentation created before teardown is the only version a carrier can verify afterward. ## Why aftermarket power systems fall out of claims Two mechanisms make an expensive power system disappear from a claim, and they operate independently. The first is valuation. A carrier's valuation model prices the unit as built, adjusted for factory options. A roof array, a lithium bank, a dedicated inverter charger, a DC to DC charger and a monitoring shunt are not factory options on most floorplans, so the model does not see them. On a total loss they contribute nothing to the settlement unless they were scheduled or the policy is agreed value. The second is scope. On a repair, the estimator writes what is documented. A roof array that was removed during teardown and set on a rack in the corner of the shop is not visible in any photograph of the damage. If nobody wrote a line for removal, reinstallation, remounting hardware, resealing the roof penetrations and testing the system, it does not get paid, and the labor still has to happen. Both problems have the same solution and it takes about forty minutes with a phone. ## What to photograph, specifically Work in three passes: overall, component, and label. The overall pass establishes context. Shoot the roof from a ladder or a drone showing the full array layout, panel positions and cable runs. Shoot the battery compartment open with everything in place. Shoot the electrical bay or wherever the inverter and charge controller live, with the panel doors off. Shoot the interior monitoring display. The component pass isolates each item. One clear photo per panel, per battery, per controller, per inverter, per shunt, per breaker or fuse block, per disconnect switch. Include the mounting method in frame, because the mounting hardware and the sealant around a roof penetration are legitimate repair lines. The label pass is the one people skip and the one that matters most. Every component has a data plate or a sticker with a manufacturer name, model number and serial number. Photograph each one close enough to read. That single set of images is what converts a claim conversation from your description into verifiable fact. - Roof array from above, showing panel count, layout and cable entry gland - Battery bank in place, then each battery data plate - Inverter charger, charge controller and DC to DC charger with model and serial visible - Shunt, bus bars, fuse blocks, disconnects and cable gauge markings - Roof penetration and mounting hardware at each panel foot - Monitoring display showing a normal operating state before the unit is torn down ## The paperwork half of the file Photos establish what exists. Invoices establish what it is worth and when it was installed. Collect the purchase invoice for every major component, the installation invoice if a shop did the work, and any receipts for wiring, mounting rails, cable and hardware if you built it yourself. If the system was installed as part of a conversion, the builder's itemized invoice covers most of it in one document. Add anything that establishes condition and age: the commissioning date, firmware versions if you have them, cycle count or state of health from the battery monitor, and any service records. On a lithium bank, a screenshot of the battery management system reporting cell balance and cycle count before the loss is unusually persuasive evidence of condition. Store all of it somewhere that is not inside the vehicle. A cloud folder, an email to yourself, anything that survives the event that damages the coach. ## The moment before teardown is the last chance Once a shop starts disassembly the evidence changes character. Components come off, get labeled and get set aside. Wiring gets cut at planned points. The roof gets stripped. A photograph taken after that shows a disassembled vehicle, and nobody can tell from it what was mounted where or what condition it was in. So the sequence matters. When the unit arrives at the shop, before teardown is authorized, walk it with the repair planner and shoot the documentation set. Ask that the shop take its own set as well, because a shop's teardown photo record is separate evidence and carriers treat it differently than owner photos. If damage has already destroyed part of the system, photograph the damage in place before anything is removed. A shattered panel still bolted to its feet with the sealant bead visible is a much better claim document than the same panel in a dumpster. ## Repair lines that get missed on power systems When you review an estimate on a unit with an aftermarket power system, look for these specific items. Their absence is the usual reason a supplement gets written later. Roof array removal and reinstallation as separate labor, with the panel count stated. Removal and resealing of each roof penetration, including the cable entry gland. Battery bank disconnection, safe removal and reinstallation, which on a lithium system includes a documented shutdown sequence rather than pulling terminals. Inverter and controller removal if the wall or bay they are mounted in is being worked. Wiring section replacement where cable runs through a damaged wall cavity. System commissioning and testing after reassembly, including verifying charge controller output, inverter transfer and shunt calibration. Also watch for lithium specific handling. A damaged lithium battery is treated differently from a lead acid battery for storage and disposal, and the correct handling has a real cost that belongs on the estimate. ## Getting the coverage right before you need it Documentation solves the scope problem. It only partly solves the valuation problem, and the fix for that is coverage. Ask your agent two questions. Does this policy include a customized equipment or custom parts and equipment endorsement, and what is its limit. And would agreed value be available on this unit given the modifications. The customized equipment route schedules the modifications with their own limit and usually requires the same documentation set described above. The agreed value route rolls everything into a fixed figure. Either is far better than discovering during a total loss that a substantial investment in power hardware contributed nothing to the settlement. Do this at renewal, and revisit it any time you add a meaningful component. A limit set three years ago before you doubled the battery bank is not the limit you need. ## A practical checklist for West Covina owners If your unit is parked at home or in a storage yard around the San Gabriel Valley right now and nothing has happened yet, this is a good weekend project. Shoot the three photo passes. Pull the invoices into one folder. Screenshot the battery monitor. Email the folder to yourself. Ask your agent the two coverage questions. If something has already happened and the unit is headed to a shop, do the same thing before it leaves your property, or at the shop before teardown is authorized. Either works. What does not work is doing it after the wall is open. Solar, lithium and inverter work is performed in shop at the Yorba Linda facility, alongside the body and structural repair, so systems come out and go back in under the same roof rather than shuttling between vendors. We do not offer mobile service. The drive from West Covina is the 10 or the 60 west to the 57 south, then the 91 east to Imperial Highway. Call (949) 799-3387 if you want a system documented before teardown starts. ## Frequently asked questions ### Will insurance pay to reinstall my solar array after body work? Yes, when it is written as a scope line with a labor time and a reason. Removal and reinstallation of roof mounted equipment is a normal repair operation, the same as removing an air conditioner or a vent to replace a membrane. What gets missed is the detail: panel count, mounting hardware, resealing each penetration, the cable entry gland and post repair testing. Photograph the array before teardown and ask that each of those items appear as a line. ### Are aftermarket lithium batteries covered under a standard RV policy? Frequently not to their full value. Standard physical damage coverage addresses the vehicle as manufactured, and aftermarket components are commonly limited or excluded unless scheduled under a customized equipment endorsement. Some carriers include a small automatic allowance for custom parts, which is rarely enough for a meaningful lithium and inverter system. Ask your agent for the specific endorsement and limit in writing, and align the limit with what your system actually cost to install. ### What if I built the system myself and have no installation invoice? Component invoices carry most of the weight, and you likely have those in an email archive or an order history. Supplement them with your own build photos, a written parts list with model numbers, and photographs of every data plate on the installed hardware. A clear, itemized owner build record with matching component receipts is generally accepted. What fails is a verbal description of a system nobody can see and no receipt supports. ### Does a damaged lithium bank get replaced or tested? It depends on the nature of the damage and what the battery management system reports. A bank with physical case damage, crushed terminals or evidence of internal cell damage is replaced, because a compromised lithium cell is not something anyone should return to service. A bank that was simply disconnected during repair is tested, rebalanced and reinstalled. Either way, the shutdown, handling and any disposal of damaged cells are legitimate cost lines that belong on the estimate. ### Should the roof array come off for a membrane replacement? Yes, in nearly every case. A roof membrane has to be stripped to the substrate and the new membrane bonded to a clean surface, which is impossible with panels and their mounting feet in place. Working around them also leaves every original penetration undisturbed, which defeats the point of a new roof. The correct process is to remove the array, replace the membrane, then reinstall the panels on fresh mounting hardware with new sealant at every penetration. --- OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. Phone (949) 799-3387. All work is performed in shop at the Yorba Linda facility. We do not run mobile, roadside or fleet route service. Ranges are planning figures, not a quote. Final numbers come from a written estimate on your vehicle.