Solar Roof Installation Tips

[MXDogCrate]

Hi everyone…

Tear off started today on our SoCal solar roof installation. I almost have to pinch myself.

I haven’t seen many updates on Tips for solar roof installations (lots of solar panel posts though).

If anyone has new tips to share on solar installation not already posted here, please let me know.

How do people clean the ash and dirt off their roofs to improve efficiency? I’ve done a form search with little success. I did read that JBoy1 had installers slipping on the roof in the morning dew!

TIA

 

[holeydonut]

I don't have panels to clean (yet), but my go-to for cleaning second story skylights is to get one of those fiberglass extender poles. I duct-taped a leader hose to the telescoping end of it. This lets you attach a regular hose to one end and and a spray nozzle to the other so you can easily arc water up to a second story vaulted ceiling.

You can even put one of those car-wash foamy spray things if you're trying to clean a grimy window. It's not as good as physically getting up there, but then you can't fall and injure yourself so it seems to be a good tradeoff.

 

[wjgjr]

I think a lot of the same tips for a panel install also apply - the nice exception being that there shouldn't be discussions about layout.

For me, the biggest thing (and again, not really different from panels) is to make sure everybody agrees where the conduit will be run, and where the equipment - including inverters, new panels, rapid shutdown devices, and Powerwalls/gateway - applicable to your install is located. For us, it was mostly as expected, though the conduit run down the outside of the house was not where we hoped, but at least it was discussed early and determined there was not another option.

The issue with slipping is real, and we had that happen one day (heard the thud - fortunately the workers were all secured in and no injuries.) It does mean that if the roof is wet, they may stop the install until it dries.

 

[jboy210]

Hi everyone…

Tear off started today on our SoCal solar roof installation. I almost have to pinch myself.

I haven’t seen many updates on Tips for solar roof installations (lots of solar panel posts though).

If anyone has new tips to share on solar installation not already posted here, please let me know.

How do people clean the ash and dirt off their roofs to improve efficiency? I’ve done a form search with little success. I did read that JBoy1 had installers slipping on the roof in the morning dew!

TIA

I had the same feeling when they started the install. Congrats! Please take and share pictures.

I created this document on our install on my thoughts during the install. And feel free to PM me any questions.

I don't know where you are, but hopefully, the morning dew or frost will not be too much of an issue for the next few weeks. We installed in March and it was a real pain.

 

[MXDogCrate]

Thanks. Will use your template.

Tear off crew showed up Tuesday (was supposed to be Thursday) by accident. Then came back later in the afternoon to ask if they could start Wednesday. Stayed for 1/2 day and said they would come back and finish Friday. Doorbell rings 7:45am Thursday! They’re back!

Not a huge deal, but I did schedule a bunch of calls to avoid the noise and distraction.

Hopefully gets better when Tesla is on site.

 

[MXDogCrate]

And this is happening on the front lawn. Awesome.

It’s like they just took a propane grill, but started a charcoal fire in it for lunch!

Sort of puts the taco lunch we provided yesterday to shame . We’ve got the fire extinguisher on stand-by.

 

[jboy210]

And this is happening on the front lawn. Awesome.

It’s like they just took a propane grill, but started a charcoal fire in it for lunch!

Sort of puts the taco lunch we provided yesterday to shame . We’ve got the fire extinguisher on stand-by.

Very creative!!!

 

[MXDogCrate]

Couldn’t get this load down our skinny driveway. Sub says they delivered twice the amount of Firestone Membrane needed. Maybe that’s why they came back and asked for more $?

 

[wjgjr]

Couldn’t get this load down our skinny driveway. Sub says they delivered twice the amount of Firestone Membrane needed. Maybe that’s why they came back and asked for more $?

Yeah, it does sound like something got screwed up. It makes sense to have a little extra on hand, but not double. That appears to be the same underlayment they used on our solar roof install.

 

[jboy210]

Couldn’t get this load down our skinny driveway. Sub says they delivered twice the amount of Firestone Membrane needed. Maybe that’s why they came back and asked for more $?

Same underlayment we have. Pretty cool stuff

 

[CrazyRabbit]

they generally deliver more then they need and will pickup the rest for refund. it is worse to not have enough. but that underlayment is the bomb.
i replaced my roof before installing 56 panels, i did a 50 year hail and wind resistant roof (class 4) and WIP250 rubberized asphalt underlayment, http://aboutmetalroofs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WIP-250-Sell-Sheet.pdf. I wanted good underlayment since I was installing solar. insurance discount was 875 bucks for the class 4 roof. tesla's roof is just a class 3 if i remember correctly which only had a 10 insurance discount.

 

[jboy210]

Looking at that pallet I seem to remember them having more underlayment than they needed for our install also. They parked a box truck in front of the house for the entire install and used it for staging and storage. Inside the truck was a similar pallet and when they left there were still a number of rolls of the underlayment in the truck. They also had all racks of tools, fasteners, wiring, etc. inside the truck.

Here is what it looked like from my office window on a typical workday.

 

[MXDogCrate]

Question: did they have a porta potty on any of your sites?

 

[BrettS]

Question: did they have a porta potty on any of your sites?

They did not. In my case at the beginning of the day the lead asked if it was OK for them to use the bathroom in my house. He said the alternative was for them to go to a nearby store. I allowed them to use the bathroom and they were very respectful inside my house, knocking on the door and asking permission each time.

 

[wjgjr]

Question: did they have a porta potty on any of your sites?

Yes, they did for us, and it makes sense as it was a 2+ week job often with 5+ people, though I was mildly annoyed that they did not mention this before it showed up. (Also had issues getting them to remove it, but I think that was a unique circumstance in the early days of the pandemic lockdowns.)

 

[MXDogCrate]

Thanks. Pretty surprised they’ve not had a porta potty for tear off continuing to installation. They’ve been here for just short of a week.

Yes, that’s a smoke plume in the background. We passed out KN95’s but not very many takers.

 

[wjgjr]

Thanks. Pretty surprised they’ve not had a porta potty for tear off continuing to installation. They’ve been here for just short of a week.

That is a bit odd for a Solar Roof install, though I would note ours arrived after teardown (perhaps Tesla did not want to share with subcontractors.) Especially with coronavirus, I would think they would not be able to rely on either the homeowner or nearby businesses to have restrooms available.

 

[SMAlset]

They did not. In my case at the beginning of the day the lead asked if it was OK for them to use the bathroom in my house. He said the alternative was for them to go to a nearby store. I allowed them to use the bathroom and they were very respectful inside my house, knocking on the door and asking permission each time.

Our Solar and PW teams had extra cars with them and never asked. We have a lot of shopping/restaurants/gas stations (good for something still!) nearby so guess they knew where to go—think we have had a lot of TE installs in town. With covid not every business will have facilities available. Have to say I was more comfortable with that option, prior to March wouldn’t have thought much about it.

 

[bob_p]

No porta potty for our installation.

Only the crew installing the panels on the roof were here multiple days (longer installation due to concrete roof tiles) - and they would take a break mid-day and go somewhere to hit the restroom and eat lunch.

The only group that asked for access to a restroom was the electricians - who had a couple of long days to do the initial cabling/box installation - and then to get everything connected, configured and operating.

 

[jboy210]

No porta potty for our installation.

Only the crew installing the panels on the roof were here multiple days (longer installation due to concrete roof tiles) - and they would take a break mid-day and go somewhere to hit the restroom and eat lunch.

The only group that asked for access to a restroom was the electricians - who had a couple of long days to do the initial cabling/box installation - and then to get everything connected, configured and operating.

Our team brought a portable microwave to heat lunch. We let them take over one section of the garage for storage and staging. We brought doughnuts and coffee every Thursday