Welcome to our mini-training on how to inspect your roof for solar. By following this quick and fairly simple procedure you can check a few structural things about your roof that could affect installing solar panels. There are a couple of areas we will touch upon here.
1. At some point in the process there needs to be an inspection of your roof rafters. These are the main beams that provide the framework for your roof. Depending on who your working with to get permits for installing a PV (photovoltaic) panel solar system on your roof, someone will need to inspect the structural support for the new weight increase. If you are doing a remote consultation with Minnis Solar Consultants, LLC, we will help you to take some photos in your attic or other access area up into the rafters of your roof from the inside of your home.
2. We/or you will need to check the direction of your roof lines and the space available in each direction. Obviously, if your going to design a panel system for your roof, there needs to be enough room for all of the panels. At times, we find there is not enough room on the roof and other solutions are needed. You do not need to assess this completely on your own, as we provide this with our FREE consultation services. sometimes we can use online global satellite programs to check space availability on your roof. If your home is new, and does not have current photographs on Google Maps or other sources, we sometimes use drones to fly over and measure space. But, in more simple cases, we can use existing google mapping to collect our information. There are some cases where we may need to come to your home to assess something(s). But, we can remotely assess things by asking some questions. A. What is the positioning of your home? Is your home faced North-South or East-West? Often times, a home is not directly North-South or East-West. One thing to check on your own is whether there is enough space without using any North facing roof line. Professional solar modeling software looks at the direction the panels would need to be placed in order to determine how many panels you would need and what system size you would need.
When a solar panel system is designed, the professionals use industry specific software modeling programs to determine exactly how many panels are needed. This software takes into consideration geographic weather modeling depending on where you live in the USA or world-wide. For example, the efficiency of a solar panel system may be decreased in areas where there is a lot of dust. Places where there is constant snow would be a significant barrier to solar power production. Or, there may be shortened daylight hours in some geographic locations as opposed to others. Sometimes, people like the idea of a ground array, so they can more easily clean and clear the panels on a regular basis without climbing up on the roof. These factors can make a difference of $2,000-$4,000 in the cost of a system simply based on weather conditions. If your system is not of optimal efficiency due to weather factors, more panels will be needed. If the number of panels would take up too much space than what is available on your roof, there would need to be another solution, such as putting the panels on the ground.
3. The age and longevity of your roof is a major consideration. Often times, our clients have said they have been planning to put a new roof on their home within a couple years time. They astutely mention that installing panels before installing a new roof would not be a good idea. It would not make too much sense to install solar and then have to remove the panels to put a new roof on. The good news, is that we can assist you with applying tax credits to the cost of the new roof. Our website has a page dedicated to this topic.
If your roof is in need of urgent repair, it would probably not pass the inspection stage (site survey) needed prior to installing a solar system. You most likely are aware of the status of your roof, and we would just need to ask you how many years you feel is left in the life of your roof.
4. The pitch of your roof is a factor. Some roofs are what is called “Torched-down”. These are flat roofs. Luckily, not too many modern homes construct homes with flat roofs anymore. Older homes do have this style of roof, however. Panels are never placed flat or parallel to the ground. They need to be placed at an angle and facing the South if at all possible. East and West directions are of equal value for energy production. However, South is the optimal direction for panels. Solar modeling software takes the pitch of your roof into consideration.
As you can see there are number of factors when looking at your roof. Having some knowledge of these four factors will assist us in consulting with you about your home or business. If you have any further questions about your roof, feel free to joining our free chat sessions and ask questions. or, you may want to schedule a private consultation session online or at your home.