Expert prognosis for the planet

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

That is definitely an issue, but the labor cost of removing the system that isn't glued or bolted to the roof at all or nearly as much as a tradition system has to decrease labor cost.

I'm relatively handy myself and in my younger days helped roof somewhere around 1,000 homes of various shapes and sizes, and pitches. (My father owned a small roofing company).

My home is a 9/12 pitch and I'm way too old and out of practice for that! In fact nearly all the homes around me that are less than 30 years old have that pitch roof.

I think solar is great and am all for it, but I just don't see the ROI on a single house solar installation at this point. I think this is a much better idea and focus.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

I'm relatively handy myself and in my younger days helped roof somewhere around 1,000 homes of various shapes and sizes, and pitches. (My father owned a small roofing company).

My home is a 9/12 pitch and I'm way too old and out of practice for that! In fact nearly all the homes around me that are less than 30 years old have that pitch roof.

I think solar is great and am all for it, but I just don't see the ROI on a single house solar installation at this point. I think this is a much better idea and focus.

I agree that the cost for larger installations on the ground make more sense than on a roof. Even if solar keeps dropping in price, rooftop solar for residential is always going to be relatively expensive. For those that can do it, it is nice to live off grid and be self-reliant, especially in a state with rolling blackouts for windy/fire prone areas and for energy conservation.

[blsfrs]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

I agree that the cost for larger installations on the ground make more sense than on a roof. Even if solar keeps dropping in price, rooftop solar for residential is always going to be relatively expensive. For those that can do it, it is nice to live off grid and be self-reliant, especially in a state with rolling blackouts for windy/fire prone areas and for energy conservation.

For those of us living on a 1/3 acre lot, ground based solar panel is obviously impractical. My 2.5 car garage and accompanying driveway take up a chunk of our lot. Plus, the HOA would probably have a cow.

An overlooked advantage to rooftop is the amount of heat it "removes" from the attic and 2nd floor.

Our 2 story house was build with a single zone HVAC. We always had trouble keeping the kids' upstairs rooms cool. It's much cooler up there now that we have the panels on the roof.

But now that's almost a moot point since my guys are grown and moved out a couple of years ago and my wife and I are enjoying being emptynesters.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

lol. california questions.

the reality is that a major part of the country lives with this stuff called "FREEZING TEMPERATURES"

for that to work in the midwest, i'd really only get about 3-4 months max out of the system, and then i'd need to entirely drain, blow out, and winterize the system for the remainder of the year... every. single. year.

and then when a little bit of water pools up in the bottom from condensate and freezes, cracking parts of the pipe, i'll be patching and repairing the system every single year afterwards as well.

basically, this is a solution that only works in california or hawaii's temperate tropical climate regions.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

I'm talking four sided (or three sided, if one side has a more vertical slope), so fascia side and gable side. The aluminum/steel bracketry isn't really all that expensive compared to the general cost of the kit, so adding more to reach the sides and over the top of the roof isn't the end of the world, especially if it saves in installation time/costs. The weight of the kit probably doesn't require much anchoring, but for security and in high wind areas, gripping the roof will be ideal.

Outside of ornate/victorian homes or something with complex fascial faces or something, I can't think of a situation where this would be a problem. The brackets under the panels would have feet that will raise like under a table, so everything fits tight against the roof. There would be an extension over the top of the roof to the other side with two to three (depending on the length of the solar panels) anchoring point that C-bracket to the side of the fascia board and gable truss or G-bracket to the underside of the fascia board and gable truss. Bolts would probably be fine in either case, but a pinching mechanism would be fine too, either pinching the house or the gable truss.

If you install a horizontal/parallel rail system on the side of the roof into the truss on the gable side and into the facia board then you could have a clamping system to lock onto in a very similar way that a car roof wrack pulls the rack into the roof. Hook one end into the rail and then slide the bolt up through the solar panel bracket and bolt down. That should clamp it down to the roof. It wouldn't be too hard to make something that works with existing overhangs to drill into the wood or to grip onto trusses or to the underside of the fascia.

This isn't complicated engineering to figure out, and it wouldn't be expensive and would probably appeal to DIYers and would lower installation/removal time/costs for a minimal change in aesthetics. All bracketry can be paint matched to the siding and roof, so I don't really see this as an issue for me.

lol. the country is a larger place than your experience. california engineering doesn't work for most of the rest of the country.

all of the houses that i've built are design 1 or 2 in this picture. none are to your pictures.








i would absolutely be throwing ratchet straps over the house on those 'saddle-mounted' solar panels. seen way too many neighbors lose shingles to allow a 'floating' system like that to not be bolted down.

[Lantanafrs2]

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/-Mz6lgA...vfzaJfuVt6-zhF

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by soundman98

lol. california questions.

the reality is that a major part of the country lives with this stuff called "FREEZING TEMPERATURES"

Even in Atlanta, the tank would need to be in a more conditioned space, definitely could not be outside. Pretty much anywhere you need a "garage rated" freezer in the Winter would have to have this protected I would think.

I'm sure that's accounted for in the installation design though.

[Lantanafrs2]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Even in Atlanta, the tank would need to be in a more conditioned space, definitely could not be outside. Pretty much anywhere you need a "garage rated" freezer in the Winter would have to have this protected I would think.

I'm sure that's accounted for in the installation design though.

If not, I'm sure someone here has a solution

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by blsfrs

For those of us living on a 1/3 acre lot, ground based solar panel is obviously impractical. My 2.5 car garage and accompanying driveway take up a chunk of our lot. Plus, the HOA would probably have a cow.

Looks like you are in Virginia. The Solar access law there states:

"Virginia Law § 55.1-1820.1 states that “no association shall prohibit an owner from installing a solar energy collection device on that owner's property unless the recorded declaration for the association establishes such a prohibition."

Of course there are also the easement portion of it. In a situation where you are on a 1/3 acre lot you might have an issue if you neighbor's trees grow to the point where the panels are shaded.

[Lantanafrs2]

[Lantanafrs2]

I think there's a world of shit on its way as far as safety and insurance are concerned regarding things like solar batteries and home charging stations

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

I think there's a world of shit on its way as far as safety and insurance are concerned...

don't even need to specify further than that!

[blsfrs]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Looks like you are in Virginia. The Solar access law there states:

"Virginia Law § 55.1-1820.1 states that “no association shall prohibit an owner from installing a solar energy collection device on that owner's property unless the recorded declaration for the association establishes such a prohibition."

Of course there are also the easement portion of it. In a situation where you are on a 1/3 acre lot you might have an issue if you neighbor's trees grow to the point where the panels are shaded.

I was 1/2 kidding about the HOA. Ours is pretty lenient unless you do something really obnoxious. But that law is something I didn't know about.

I'm in the foothills of the Blueridge. We have lot of trees. Some were native to our lot and some we planted 30+ years ago, they've grown. The roof of the house is the only open area available.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by soundman98

lol. the country is a larger place than your experience. california engineering doesn't work for most of the rest of the country.

all of the houses that i've built are design 1 or 2 in this picture. none are to your pictures.




i would absolutely be throwing ratchet straps over the house on those 'saddle-mounted' solar panels. seen way too many neighbors lose shingles to allow a 'floating' system like that to not be bolted down.

California has costal, mountain/snow, forest, desert, redwoods, woodlands, wet, dry, and it extends from Pennsylvania to Georgia in latitude. We have a lot of different types of homes here. We don't have as much brick as the east coast, but I've been all over to tell that there isn't much elsewhere that isn't here.

And I am a little confused because the pictures I showed are the same examples as the ones you have of the actual houses, and all those examples from you would work with the mount I suggested.

The weight of the system would keep it in place. The only people that would need more would be those that live in a more open area without mountains or tree cover that experiences tornadoes, hurricanes or high speed winds, in which case, the clamp system would be fine for surviving what other structures would survive in typical weather.