Finally installing PV on my roof in LA: day 1

[DanKegel]

At long last, we're re-roofing, adding bracing under the area where the panels will be (the house is 100 years old, roof wasn't very strong), and the solar guy has put the fastjack attachment points down on the plywood. (I checked, he put the attachment points right over the rafters.)

New bracing in the attic: https://goo.gl/photos/kw9NjXFoLzjPTmzt9
Attachment points before flashing: https://goo.gl/photos/GxudPF7cjCWow9An8
Attachment points after flashing: https://goo.gl/photos/yY8wCLx1ZSyk951w5

Dunno when the actual panels are going on yet, scheduling on this project has been... unpredictable. But the LADWP subsidy evaporates in about a month, so it better be before then!

There were five layers of roofing, including two layers of old wood shakes. I'm going to save some of the shakes and glue them onto the underside of the roof so future owners can see what the old shakes looked like

[DanKegel]

Day 4: rest of roof decking and "tarpaper" is on, last few solar attachment points going on tomorrow, I hope. Storm coming, might delay panel installation a week or so. It's hard to wait.

We removed two mystery vents from the roof that just ... terminated with open hanging ducts in the attic and above the kitchen ceiling. Many mysteries in this house.

[SunEagle]

Sounds like things are moving forward for you. Please continue to post pictures of your install. Thanks

[DanKegel]

Here's the album where I'm collecting photos:

https://goo.gl/photos/s6s1n69k1EBuSejE8

The solar guys did the reverse-tilt mount attach points today. Shingles go on in about a week, and then the panels...

[SunEagle]

Here's the album where I'm collecting photos:

https://goo.gl/photos/s6s1n69k1EBuSejE8

The solar guys did the reverse-tilt mount attach points today. Shingles go on in about a week, and then the panels...

Is the reverse tilt mount for those double sided panels?

[DanKegel]

You betcha. Otherwise I wouldn't have put any panels on the north side. The bifacial panels are strictly for science

I'm also putting another two double-sided panels on the south-facing side as controls. I don't expect any back boost from them, as those two are plain old (nearly flush) mounts.

[solar pete]

Cool, thanks for keeping us updated on your project

[DanKegel]

Annoying bit: the roofers didn't replace all the rotten slats, so the new plywood looks somewhat unsupported in areas.
I hope that doesn't cause problems later.
Here's one example: https://goo.gl/photos/CmP8HeX95EvDPerN6

[Drastyn]

Nice report

[emartin00]

I wouldn't expect them to replace any slats. That's the whole point of the plywood, so you don't need the slats.
It looks like your rafters are 24" OC. At that distance, with no snow load, you won't have any problems.

[SunEagle]

Annoying bit: the roofers didn't replace all the rotten slats, so the new plywood looks somewhat unsupported in areas.
I hope that doesn't cause problems later.
Here's one example: https://goo.gl/photos/CmP8HeX95EvDPerN6

Just don't do any tap dancing up there.

[DanKegel]

It looks like your rafters are 24" OC. At that distance, with no snow load, you won't have any problems.

Nope, they're 32" to 33" apart... but they're dimensional 2"x4"s, that may be what fooled you. (The house was built in 1912, before quarts of liquor turned into fifths, and 2x4's turned into 1.75x3.5's. Heck, I bet even Almond Joys actually *had* an almond in every bite back then

No snow load in Los Angeles. Worst stress might be wind on the solar panels (or maybe earthquakes).

[J.P.M.]

Nope, they're 32" to 33" apart... but they're dimensional 2"x4"s, that may be what fooled you. (The house was built in 1912, before quarts of liquor turned into fifths, and 2x4's turned into 1.75x3.5's. Heck, I bet even Almond Joys actually *had* an almond in every bite back then

No snow load in Los Angeles. Worst stress might be wind on the solar panels (or maybe earthquakes).

And, FWIW, that wind loading may be uplift, and therefore probably not planned for in 1912. But back then, not much in the way of dynamic loading was considered. In any event, The positive (downward) load on the roof will be about the same.

[samotlietuvis]

But the LADWP subsidy evaporates in about a month, so it better be before then!

Nice progress. What LADWP subsidy are you referring to? I thought all subsidies are gone from 2014 September, only NEM 1.0 remains.

[DanKegel]

Correct, I signed the contract and put down my deposit back in June; I was probably very nearly the last house to get the last drips of the LADWP subsidy.

The roofers have put shingles down around most of the mounts... one mounting point lacks flashing, tsk. They'll probably fix that Monday.
Pictures at https://goo.gl/photos/s6s1n69k1EBuSejE8 scroll down for latest.