Not in your area but south in OC. I had the same dilemma - roof still good if dry underlayment in some areas. After reading the cost of removing the panels which run up to thousands of dollars In these threads, I decided to just replace the underlayment. The concrete tiles last longer than the underlayment so you should replace it. Most roofing companies refuse to warranty a partial roof replacement longer than a year so do ask about that. Ours did for 10 years since we reroofed 2 major sections.
It gets tricky on what Tesla will warranty...you will have an inspection by them on the condition of the roof so they might make it a condition of their install to reroof. They had me submit photos and the permit with inspections by the city. I just posted some info on my original thread asking about the underlayment. They’ll most likely warranty if they punctured something that caused a leak but they most likely wouldn’t warranty a problematic underlayment. I personally didn’t want to take the chance.
As for working with you on the placement of the panels and sizing, they were awesome. I had them consolidate 3 panels to the main two sections so I didn’t have to replace the entire roof. Yes, we’ll lose a little bit of energy production but it was low.
This process can take an extra few weeks so if want this year’s tax credit, you should start it ASAP.
I’m starting to get anxious that I don’t have an install date so will start calling my advisor daily until scheduling calls me back.
Yeah, I'm rolling the dice a bit. Tesla sent site surveyor who said my underlayment looks good. I think he said it'll be good for another 5-10 years. So I decided I'll take the chance that it'll last another 10 years. I didn't want to replace the underlayment yet if it still has that much life remaining, but I want to get the panels installed now, partly for the 26% credit, but more importantly so that I'll be in the NEM 2.0 rather than 3.0, had I waited until I needed to replace the underlayment. The Tesla local office is guessing that removing and reinstalling the panel will be $2000. By going with Tesla, I'm saving $5000-$6000 compared to the local installer, so I'll still coming out ahead even if I have to remove the panels later on.
The other thing was one roofer said that even if they reroofed the whole thing, if solar panels were installed after they reroof they don't warranty the roof against leaks. So I thought, why bother then. I'll put the panels on and then deal with it if there's a leak. I guess I could have asked for different bids and see if anyone would warranty the roof, even if the panels were installed after they reroof.
My install is tomorrow. Let's see what kind of horror show it'll be or if it'll go smoothly.