Roof Replacement with Solar Panels

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TrvlBug

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We have to replace our roof. Discovered a leak New Year's Day which is located in an area on the roof under the solar panel array. Area has been tarped to prevent further water intrusion. We have decided a new roof rather than a patch is the best decision. Now time for quick research as we are at the beginning of our rainy season and hoping to get on someone's schedule during the next break in the rain. We live on the SF Bay Peninsula.

Does anyone have experience with replacing a roof with the added complication of solar panels. Panels were installed 2 years ago and the solar company, SunPower, has gone bankrupt. They divested of all liabilities so we are SOL. We're thinking the best path forward is to engage a roofing company that has experience in this area...now finding one. Assume they would be the GC and sub the solar removal and re-install. I called a solar company that has a roofing division but they're not interested as they didn't do the original install.

We want to do this right as we made some huge mistakes with the install, mainly relying on the solar company to assess the condition of the roof for the panels.

Thanks for any advice.
 
You either need a roofer that has experience with remove and replace panels or find a solar company to do the remove and replace.
 
That’s a bummer! So Sorry.

We are also No. CA. Foothills east of Sacto. Getting hammered now with the heavy rain that came through the SF Bay Area a couple hours ago.

The creek that flows through my orchard is just about ready to go over the bank. That has never happened!
 
That's too bad. I would say to start with a roofer. I think if you are willing to pay more, you may find a roofer who can take it off and re-install it back. Similarly, if a roofer can't do that, pay a solar company to take it off and reinstall, but be prepared to pay more.

Roof problems is a main reason why we have decided against putting solar in our current home. When we were in California, we had solar installed on a 2-year old new house. It was a fancy large home built in 2007. When rain came that winter, our gutters were completely blocked and water was gushing down onto the side of our home. We got our general contractor guy to take a look. He went up and reported the horrendous mess that was left by the solar installers. He also reported that there were alot of broken tiles that were caused by the solar installers and that the gutters were filled with concrete that they had dumped the excess concrete into. He replaced the broken tiles with new tiles and cleaned out the gutters. We are not letting another solar company touch our roof again.
 
Our friends ran into the same issue. Solar panel company went out of business. They had to pay an additional $6500 for the roofing company to disassemble the panels and reassemble. For that reason alone I would never consider solar panels on our roof.

We live in the country where people have land. Some homeowners installed solar on the ground. Much easier to deal with but also an eye sore. No free lunch.
 
I will totally do Solar when we get a new roof, but that's because there are plenty of companies doing both now, as one transaction.

Look around for one of those, and explain your situation, you might find someone who can help. It's expensive though to lift and reinstall, which is why we haven't put them on our existing roof.
 
Not one in the market but can they do a better job of installing the panels with a new roof?

Or do the racks have to be on top of the existing roof?
 
Aerides said:
I will totally do Solar when we get a new roof, but that's because there are plenty of companies doing both now, as one transaction.

Look around for one of those, and explain your situation, you might find someone who can help. It's expensive though to lift and reinstall, which is why we haven't put them on our existing roof.
Click to expand...
Ideally, we'd like to find a company that, as you said, does both in one transaction. No finger-pointing. The builder/remodeler that we had out to tarp, looked at the roof and found 'sub-optimal' (I'm trying to be nice, why, I don't know why!) work with the solar install as well as issue with the roof...broken shingles, shingles that separated, etc.

As DH said last night, we'd hate to have to dump the current materials and start from scratch; big time $$$. This is one reason we're taking a bit of time to determine the best course forward so we don't have these issues 2 years down the road.

Unfortunately, the wall has started weeping from a new bubble so the tarping has not solved the immediate issue of rain intrusion. This tells us (we assume) that the issue is with the roof rather than the solar install. We assume if with the solar install, we would have had water intrusion during the past 2 rain years. The builder/remodeler is coming out tomorrow morning to reassess...open the wall as well as put on another tarp. We have to find out where the water is coming from and put on a temporary patch.
 
Sorcerer said:
Our friends ran into the same issue. Solar panel company went out of business. They had to pay an additional $6500 for the roofing company to disassemble the panels and reassemble. For that reason alone I would never consider solar panels on our roof.

We live in the country where people have land. Some homeowners installed solar on the ground. Much easier to deal with but also an eye sore. No free lunch.
Click to expand...
I'm expecting a $10K bill for the solar part so would be pleasantly surprised if it was less ;). Unfortunately, no land in this neck of the woods.
 
1242Vintage said:
That’s a bummer! So Sorry.

We are also No. CA. Foothills east of Sacto. Getting hammered now with the heavy rain that came through the SF Bay Area a couple hours ago.

The creek that flows through my orchard is just about ready to go over the bank. That has never happened!
Click to expand...
Oh no! Lots of flooding in our area too. Fortunately, our house gets very little, just a bit off the driveway. Another big storm coming through later tonight into tomorrow then dry for a week or so.
 
Texas Proud said:
Not one in the market but can they do a better job of installing the panels with a new roof?

Or do the racks have to be on top of the existing roof?
Click to expand...
The racks must be mounted on the roof. The guy we had out found some issues with some of the flashing. The fact that the panels penetrate the shingles is the main reason we would like to find a company who does both...who will work with our only 2 year old panels. We will also look into metal roofing as another poster suggested. We have some hard decisions to make. We do want solar + battery. Getting a $10/mo vs. $300+/mo electric bill these past 2 years has been priceless!
 
Just realized, we can't start from scratch as we'll be under NEM3 rather than NEM2. We need to replace the roof and re-install the panels.
 
skyking1 said:
If it works for you, consider standing seam metal roofing. The panels attach without making any roof penetrations that can leak.
Click to expand...
Thank you, thank you. I was doing a little research and this may be a wonderful option for us. Expensive but would give us great peace of mind. This leak is the 4th one since we put on the roof and stangely, they always happen during the rainy season :).

Are these roofs noisier than shingle roofs?
 
Not particularly. The sound you do hear comes in from the windows. We will open the bedroom window a bit because we like that sound.
this is what a typical standing seam installation looks like.
The rails are bolted to the S5-N clips that grab the roof without penetrating it.

PXL_20250228_195958702-1.jpg

what the S5-N looks like.
PXL_20251207_003249235~2.jpg



S-5-N Clamps Roof Clamps | Standing Seam Metal Roof Clamps | S-5!

It will be quite a bit more money for the roof, but properly done it will last indefinitely. The 50 years that they talk about is the paint finish.
 
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That's good to hear. Other wonderful features are insurance discounts and attic is less hot that with a shingle roof. Nice. Wish I'd known about this roof type earlier.

This roof type is very high on DH and my list. Any other info you can provide would be extremely helpful.
 
I have participated in the installation of 6 of them.
Some observations:
As with any roof install, best practice is to strip the roof down to the sheeting.
When the metal goes on you can tell a physical difference in the strength. Unlike comp roofs, it adds a perceptible stiffness when you are working up there.
It is also much lighter. Comp roofs are 2.4 pounds per square foot.
Metal is about a pound.
It is impervious to small branch damage that might tear off shingles or even puncture the roof sheeting on a comp roof.
Depending on roof pitch, the gutters may need some tuning so the water does not overshoot the gutter.
Snow is not going to be too much of a problem for you at that location, but a heavy load of snow can come off a metal roof in big hurry.
I installed snow bars, using the same rails from the solar panel install. These keep the snow on the roof to safely melt.
 
Thank you. We'll also be replacing the gutters as they are showing their age with several compromised seams. Also adding gutter guards which is apparently recommended with these roofs. We've been researching guards as DH's ladder days are over (he's fallen off twice) and using that wonky thingamagigy that attaches to your leaf blower is a pain...we have to clean a certain section several times during the rainy season.
 
skyking1 said:
This is a very good BTD in my opinion. :)
Custom bilt metals provided the roof material for all my jobs, and they have an office in San Jose.
Custom Bilt Metals - San Jose, CA - Custom Bilt Metals
They do not provide installation services, but probably have a contractor list for you to do some research on.
Click to expand...
And I thought $50K was going to be a good number for a 3200 sq ft house + garage.

Strange, your reply only showed the first line. Glad am replying to your thread as it shows the info for Custom Build Metals. Strange.
 
Removing solar panels is incredibly easy to do. It's basically plug n play connectors for the electrical and the physical panel attachment easier yet. But I'm going on 70 and roof work of any kind starting to get risky. I would hire an electrician, about $1,000 a day here in the Sierra foothills of Northern California between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Sould not be much more than that in your bay area. Reinstall will take a bit longer because of the attachment hardware penetration in the roof needs to be done right.
If I ever have to do this task for my solar, I'll either relocate to a ground installation or a metal roof as previously described.
Solar is a no brainer here in CA with per kwh at or above 40 cents. My system offsets a bit over $9,500 a year in electric bills.
 
TrvlBug said:
Thank you. We'll also be replacing the gutters as they are showing their age with several compromised seams. Also adding gutter guards which is apparently recommended with these roofs. We've been researching guards as DH's ladder days are over (he's fallen off twice) and using that wonky thingamagigy that attaches to your leaf blower is a pain...we have to clean a certain section several times during the rainy season.
Click to expand...
I've heard nothing but terrible things with gutter guards. One of the bigger scams out there. They are terrible at doing what they are intended to do.
 
skipro33 said:
Removing solar panels is incredibly easy to do. It's basically plug n play connectors for the electrical and the physical panel attachment easier yet. But I'm going on 70 and roof work of any kind starting to get risky. I would hire an electrician, about $1,000 a day here in the Sierra foothills of Northern California between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Sould not be much more than that in your bay area. Reinstall will take a bit longer because of the attachment hardware penetration in the roof needs to be done right.
If I ever have to do this task for my solar, I'll either relocate to a ground installation or a metal roof as previously described.
Solar is a no brainer here in CA with per kwh at or above 40 cents. My system offsets a bit over $9,500 a year in electric bills.
Click to expand...
Wow, I thought electricity was high where I'm at. Our new rate is 12 cents. Less than 6 years ago, it was 6 cents. Solar is practically a must at that rate.
 
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