To replace or not replace shingles prior to install???

[jboy210]

Here was my situation. I have a 40 year tile roof in SF Bay Area. Tesla Inspector came out and said all was good. Waited three months for install. Day comes and they bring a team of 10 for solar and battery. They install the batteries, switching gear and some of the solar panels. Then they discover that the underlayment is rotten and needs to be replaced. They then proceed to remove everything they installed. I couldn’t get them to change that. I got a bid from tesla and they are working to get the underlayment replaced and then will proceed with reinstalling solar and battery!

Good news from this post is that charge clearly will apply to the tax credit. Bad news is who knows how long all this will take to get addressed and then installed. It’s no wonder install dates are so long out in terms of wait time when they do double work in my case (put on - take off).

40 years is amazing for a tile roof. We saw our tile roofs failing in areas after 10 years. No way I would every put solar on a roof older than 10 years, regardless of what some installed said.

 

[PDACPA]

I've heard that only the portion of the roof under the solar panels can be claimed.

One correction on the Powerwalls: as long as the powerwalls charge only from solar, they are eligible even if installed later. There is an IRS letter confirming this: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/201809003.pdf

That is a private letter ruling and only applies to the taxpayer that requested it (read the last paragraph). That being said, it does create some precedent for the treatment going forward.