Things to watch out for during solar install?

[gvl]

I'm getting real close to pulling a trigger on a solar install. The panels will be installed on a composition shingle roof. Any advice on what I should be paying attention to during the process will be greatly appreciated!

[Mike90250]

What's the age of the roof ?
I re-did my 20 year shingle roof at 8 years when i installed solar (at my Los Angeles house) and had the roofer integrate the standoffs into the roof job, to make it nice and watertight.

What you don't want, is to have to re-roof in 15 years, and try to pull all the rusty fittings apart, take panels down, and then reinstall them.

[dusty144]

As a DIYer myself these are the things to check that occur to me.

- Electrical panel. Ton of items to check here.
- Roof. Age, ideally brand new roof. Your panels will sit up there 25 years+.
- Racking. Should be installed with flashing. No goop sealing.

There dozens of other items but these were the major ones I had to check and re-check.

[gvl]

What's the age of the roof ?
I re-did my 20 year shingle roof at 8 years when i installed solar (at my Los Angeles house) and had the roofer integrate the standoffs into the roof job, to make it nice and watertight.

What you don't want, is to have to re-roof in 15 years, and try to pull all the rusty fittings apart, take panels down, and then reinstall them.

According to the previous owner it is a 15 y/o 30-year roof, so it will need to be redone in 15 years. On the other hand that's when I think it will be the time to sell the home and move on, perhaps let the next owner deal with it?

As a DIYer myself these are the things to check that occur to me.
- Electrical panel. Ton of items to check here.
...
There dozens of other items but these were the major ones I had to check and re-check.

New 200A panel with solar input, had to be put in as a part of a related project (long story...).

[GaryS1964]

Just my opinion but a 30 year roof is probably not going to last 30 years. That is generally a maximum life number under perfect conditions. There are a lot of factors that go into the life of a roof. I had a 40 year roof installed on a previous home and it was starting to noticeably deteriorate after 15 years. When I sold I needed to do repairs and the guy that did some of them was up on the roof and said he didn't think it was going to last another 10 years let alone another 25. I don't live in an area that has harsh winters and snow so that was not a factor. I would pay a roofer or qualified home inspector to check it out. If you move in 12 to 15 years my bet would be that your roof will need replacing before you can sell.

[gvl]

I agree, I'm considering the replacement, just need to get a qualified unbiased opinion on the condition of the roof. There is some wear but overall it looks very healthy to my eye. The panels will protect it from the elements I think, so it may last a bit longer than normally.

[silversaver]

shingle roofing is cheaper comparing with tile roof. I'll re-roof just the solar area roof

[gvl]

shingle roofing is cheaper comparing with tile roof. I'll re-roof just the solar area roof

It is a significant expense still even after the tax credit, perhaps save this money and put into interest bearing account towards complete roof replacement in 15 years which I may or may not have to do?

[silversaver]

It is a significant expense still even after the tax credit, perhaps save this money and put into interest bearing account towards complete roof replacement in 15 years which I may or may not have to do?

The interest you gererate is lot less than the problem in the feature. Take you chance, your choice.

Keep things simple will make your life easier.

[gvl]

The interest you gererate is lot less than the problem in the feature. Take you chance, your choice.

Keep things simple will make your life easier.

Keeping the current roof is the simplest, but necessarily easier in the long run. What problem do you have in mind? Taking the panels off and putting them back on shouldn't be too difficult of a job I think, even with if some seized fittings will need to be replaced.

[silversaver]

Keeping the current roof is the simplest, but necessarily easier in the long run. What problem do you have in mind? Taking the panels off and putting them back on shouldn't be too difficult of a job I think, even with if some seized fittings will need to be replaced.

Just money, no big deal

[gvl]

Just money, no big deal

Don't get me wrong, I'm known for willing to pay extra just to get things done right or doing the work myself. It's just I can really find some other uses for the $4-5k I would have to drop on the roof work, especially after paying for the solar. If I can reasonably expect the roof to last 10-12 more years I'd rather postpone the expense. Yes it is a shortcut, but it's still better than a solar lease, right?

[silversaver]

Don't get me wrong, I'm known for willing to pay extra just to get things done right or doing the work myself. It's just I can really find some other uses for the $4-5k I would have to drop on the roof work, especially after paying for the solar. If I can reasonably expect the roof to last 10-12 more years I'd rather postpone the expense. Yes it is a shortcut, but it's still better than a solar lease, right?

Net metering is 20yrs. If you already known you need the roof job done in 10 to 12yrs, why not do it now? The interest you generate in next 10 to 12 yrs isn't enough to cover the labor remove/re-install those panels. Just ask your solar installer how much will they charge you to remove and re-install all your solar panels. If you hire a 3rd party to do the job within next 10 yrs, will your original installer honoring the warranty when someone else remove/re-install the panels? Keep it simple.

[foo1bar]

Keeping the current roof is the simplest, but necessarily easier in the long run. What problem do you have in mind? Taking the panels off and putting them back on shouldn't be too difficult of a job I think, even with if some seized fittings will need to be replaced.

IMO it'll be a PITA.

The removal and re-installation will be a significant amount of work.
And there will be items that have to be replaced (every mount point; probably all conduit flashing; maybe even some conduit)

For me that's 72 mount points at $13 each plus 4 conduit flashings at $15, which means $1k just in materials

Add in labor of at least 2 guys for 1 day to take them down + 2 guys for 2 days to put them up (have to re-do all the mount points)

[J.P.M.]

Don't get me wrong, I'm known for willing to pay extra just to get things done right or doing the work myself. It's just I can really find some other uses for the $4-5k I would have to drop on the roof work, especially after paying for the solar. If I can reasonably expect the roof to last 10-12 more years I'd rather postpone the expense. Yes it is a shortcut, but it's still better than a solar lease, right?

It's a gamble. A roof may never leak, or it may never leak as a result of the penetrations added by a solar array. However, if it does leak over, say, the next 10-15+ years, you may very well need to remove a good portion of that panels - maybe half or more, fix the leak and replace the panels. I don't think that would be cheap. While doing this, you'd be smart to at least replace the paper under the tile and reflash as necessary/prudent. All this will probably be done in a hurry by roofers who know little, if anything about PV - and you hope they get the reinstall right.

The way it looks now, solar panels will last a long time. probably as long or longer than the roof under them. A lot of people see the roof maint. at install as a cheap insurance policy.

On a slightly different issue, without documentation, there's no real way to tell if a roof was serviced before a solar install, that may be another reason, among several to avoid buying a house with an existing solar array - it may well need to be removed and reinstalled to find a leak caused by one of the penetrations that are probably about 2X as numerous as the # of panels. Perhaps such considerations will come to light as PV becomes more common in the future. Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell.

I too could find a lot of uses for the ~ $5K I spent on maint./repaper before install, but after the first go round of winter rainstorms after install with no leaks, the sleep I got and continue to get was, and is worth the price.