I have a home with a flat roof and when I posted some questions about the install a few months ago it seems like there was some doubt as to whether Tesla did panels on flat roofs. Tesla just finished my install today. Here are some pics of the brackets before the panels were mounted and the final product.
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Solar Panels on a Flat Roof
- Thread starter nickw252
- Start date
frankg3
Member
That's interesting. I started the purchase to have solar shingles installed in June. After inspection #3 they said the pitch of 1 portion of my rook was just below their minimum and they would have to re-draw the plans to add pitch. I was hoping the roof would be completed by September, now it's December and I still do not have a scheduled start date.
It's a 10.54 KW system. It takes up about 700 - 800 square foot of roof space. The cost was just a shade over $21,000
My recollection of the angle is 15 degrees combined between the roof and the panels.
Nice! This was the email I got from Tesla about installing on my flat roof in Texas (they won't), but it looks like you're in a state where they have more options. This is what (and where) they'll install on:
- Composite Shingle
- Concrete Tile
- Standing Seam Metal
- Rolled Asphalt (Only available in AZ, CA, HI, NV, NM)
- Foam (Only available in AZ and NM)
- Corrugated Metal (Only available in HI)
WVJohn
Member
Your flat installation "looks" good. And, because of lot size, neighborhood covenants or standards, and geographic region that's fine. My installation (not by Tesla) is in the mountains of West Virginia. We have plenty of land and opted for a ground mount which optimizes angle and direction for max sun. It also enables removing snow.
SonOfSimon
Member
This looks so nice. Congrats. You must live in the south. That sky is such an unusual colour. I think you call it blue? Ha! Up here in Canada eh, we have to mount our panels at a ridiculous angle. My neighbour has a flat roof, and the installer (no Tesla installs up here yet) mounted at 49 degrees (our latitude). Does that sound right?
That sounds great for a low-profile, yet low maintenance install. The install looks great and the price is great, too! I have an almost flat room myself (self-installed) as posted in the other thread with the panel mounted flat to the roof, which ends up being 3-4 degrees and it's not enough angle to fully self clean the panels. 15 degrees should be enough. But I need to add more solar and am trying to decide between doing it myself, getting a local contractor and using Tesla. It's also about time to reroof, too. How old is your roof, it looks basically new?
Yeah, a rough rule of thumb for optimal year round production is to mount the panels at the same angle as your latitude. It's especially important to mount them steeper if you want to maximize winter time production, though depending on typical cloud cover, you may get more annual production by using a flatter angle. Lots of tradeoffs involved.
I have rolled asphalt, which has been covered by elastomeric coating.
I'm at 33 degrees north (Mesa, AZ), but we have very little cloud cover most of the year.
The rolled on asphalt roof is original (1996). However, last year we had it recoated with elastomeric coating over top. Structurally the roof was fine so we didn't remove anything. Just added the elastomeric coating over top. It's a pretty nice setup - it's all white and super reflective. It reflects most of the sun and heat for HVAC efficiency.
Interesting. I tried to get Tesla to install on a 0.7/12 pitch standing seam metal roof in Florida and was turned down. After pushing back, calling Tesla solar directly, I they refused a second time. They told me that it was a 'company wide' policy to refuse any residential job less than 1/10 pitch. That they had had 'too many structural problems' with low-pitch roofs. I would up paying $0.75/ft2 more for a local installer. Added up to another $6K over Tesla's original quote. Grrr.
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