Quotes, contracts and finance
Should I replace my roof before installing solar?
The short answer
If the roof is within roughly a decade of the end of its life, replace it first. Removing and reinstalling an array for a later roof replacement is a substantial separate job with its own warranty complications, and it is the most expensive avoidable mistake in residential solar.
What the later sequence actually involves
- A solar contractor removes the array and stores it, electrically isolating the system.
- The roofer strips and replaces the roof, ideally with the mount locations planned in.
- The solar contractor reinstalls and recommissions, with new flashings.
- Somebody has to own the responsibility for any leak at the new penetrations, and there are now two contractors involved.
How to decide
- Get a roofing assessment independent of the solar company, with photographs of what was found.
- Ask both contractors what removal and reinstallation would cost later, so the sequencing decision has a number attached.
- If the roof is being replaced, tell the roofer solar is coming: ventilation, underlayment and mount planning can all be improved while the roof is open.
This is also the moment to fix attic ventilation if it is inadequate, because a hot attic shortens the roof's life and the array makes the roof harder to work on afterwards.
Also asked
Can panels be removed and put back on the same mounts?
Sometimes the mounts are reused and often new flashings are required, because the roof covering around them is new. Ask specifically, because a quote assuming reuse and a quote assuming new flashings are different quotes.
General information about solar and about hiring, not advice about your roof or your tax affairs. Incentives, net metering and contractor licensing are set federally, by state, and by your utility, and all of them change. The authority that publishes the rule is the current answer.