Expert prognosis for the planet

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

There is an answer for that.

https://www.solarpowerworldonline.co...rilling-holes/

Seems like a great liability to me!

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Seems like a great liability to me!

I don't see how. Drilling into the roof seems unnecessary in most situations where a bracket system could extend over the top of the roof and extend to the edges of the house and drill into the siding instead.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

There is an answer for that.

https://www.solarpowerworldonline.co...rilling-holes/

That only addresses roof penetration. If you are replacing a roof you still have to pay to have the system disconnected and removed, then reinstalled.

You would also never drill into modern composite siding to mount something that needs much support. Modern siding like Cemplank/Hardyplank are not structural. You would need to cut it away and mount to the sheeting.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

There is an answer for that.

Seems that still has to be moved to reroof the house, and will add a ton of labor cost.

Frankly, if forced, I prefer the Tesla method where the shingles are the solar panels, even if they are less efficient.

[blsfrs]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Seems that still has to be moved to reroof the house, and will add a ton of labor cost.

Frankly, if forced, I prefer the Tesla method where the shingles are the solar panels, even if they are less efficient.

We had roof top solar panels installed about a year ago. One of the first questions the installer asked was how old was our roof. They were up front about the added cost when the time comes to replace the roof.

They would not put panels on a roof that was more than 12-15 years old. Ours is 6-8 years old.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

That only addresses roof penetration. If you are replacing a roof you still have to pay to have the system disconnected and removed, then reinstalled.

You would also never drill into modern composite siding to mount something that needs much support. Modern siding like Cemplank/Hardyplank are not structural. You would need to cut it away and mount to the sheeting.

I was referring to the side truss and fascia board. You could drill into these, or you can skip the drilling and just hook and grip the roof in a similar way to a table clamp--pinching the roof--depending on the setup.

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Seems that still has to be moved to reroof the house, and will add a ton of labor cost.

Frankly, if forced, I prefer the Tesla method where the shingles are the solar panels, even if they are less efficient.

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 more of a DIY type of person, so I would have no problem removing the solar system, and I would probably have installed it myself too. I get that most people would not feel able-bodied to be on a roof or comfortable removing panels, in which case, it would be more expensive to replace their roof every 15 years.

This is a more traditional install. Seems like everything would unbolt and unclip. The glued parts could be removed from the shingles without concern of damage if a new roof was going to be installed, but in the event of the boltless system, there is no concern for the bulk of the project--just unbolt and unplug the panels.

[Lantanafrs2]

Oh my God

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

I was referring to the side truss and fascia board. You could drill into these, or you can skip the drilling and just hook and grip the roof in a similar way to a table clamp--pinching the roof--depending on the setup.

Uh, if you are attaching to the fascia board what are you mounting your gutters too? You also are not using a table style pinch clamp, soffit is not structural. It just nails to the underside of the fascia board and the runner on the wall as pictured.

[NoHaveMSG]

This picture also damn near gave me an aneurysm. Why would you vent on the fascia and up under the sheeting instead of just running soffit vents? If you are not running enclosed soffit the back side of the fascia board is open anyway and it isn't doing anything

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Uh, if you are attaching to the fascia board what are you mounting your gutters too? You also are not using a table style pinch clamp, soffit is not structural. It just nails to the underside of the fascia board and the runner on the wall as pictured.

Most homes don't have gutters running along the full edge of the roofs, especially if the angle is great, so the gutters aren't an issue on the sides for many homes, but most homes have enough side height to the fascia board that someone could drill below the gutters, or they could drill up from the bottom into the truss or fascia board. The other possibility is to pinch the roof and fascia board or trusses without needing to drill. A U-clamp could straddle exposed trusses (examples below) against the bracket like a table clamp, or someone could just drill through the trusses or have a retention screw that pinches the trusses. Of course, feet could be drilled directly into the underside of the trusses or the fascia board through any trim/facing boards.

Again, this would prevent the need to drill into the roof, reduce the risk of leaks, reduce the labor to install and make removal by a DIYer fairly straight forward. The downside is look of extended brackets.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

Most homes don't have gutters running along the full edge of the roofs, especially if the angle is great, so the gutters aren't an issue on the sides for many homes, but most homes have enough side height to the fascia board that someone could drill below the gutters, or they could drill up from the bottom into the truss or fascia board. The other possibility is to pinch the roof and fascia board or trusses without needing to drill. A U-clamp could straddle exposed trusses (examples below) against the bracket like a table clamp, or someone could just drill through the trusses or have a retention screw that pinches the trusses. Of course, feet could be drilled directly into the underside of the trusses or the fascia board through any trim/facing boards.

Again, this would prevent the need to drill into the roof, reduce the risk of leaks, reduce the labor to install and make removal by a DIYer fairly straight forward. The downside is look of extended brackets.

So you are talking about mounting to the gable side then? Not the fascia. I'm confused here.



Not all homes, especially older ones have the same size facisa, mine are barely gutter height which causes issues trying to get the right slope for gutter drainage.

I think this idea will work with some homes, but just saying "this will work" is not feasible in a lot of situations. I've remodeled over a dozen homes, and I can see issues with this type of install on most of them. A lot of what you are saying sounds okay in practice, but from what I have seen in practical use would be a massive headache.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

So you are talking about mounting to the gable side then? Not the fascia. I'm confused here.



Not all homes, especially older ones have the same size facisa, mine are barely gutter height which causes issues trying to get the right slope for gutter drainage.

I think this idea will work with some homes, but just saying "this will work" is not feasible in a lot of situations. I've remodeled over a dozen homes, and I can see issues with this type of install on most of them. A lot of what you are saying sounds okay in practice, but from what I have seen in practical use would be a massive headache.

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.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

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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.

You are assuming everything to be in good condition. I don't think I have ever done a roof that didn't have some rotted rafter tails, rotted fascia, or sections of either failing. I wouldn't have much issue going to the gable end but I don't think I would want to mount anything to the fascia like that without going under and adding some runners to distribute the load better. I'd personally be better off putting them on my shop roof, though that has it's own issues as the pitch is pretty mild.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

You are assuming everything to be in good condition. I don't think I have ever done a roof that didn't have some rotted rafter tails, rotted fascia, or sections of either failing. I wouldn't have much issue going to the gable end but I don't think I would want to mount anything to the fascia like that without going under and adding some runners to distribute the load better. I'd personally be better off putting them on my shop roof, though that has it's own issues as the pitch is pretty mild.

Yeah I’m assuming people wouldn’t buy a solar system when they had rotten wood to replace on their roof, especially if it made it through the fascia facing to the fascia board beneath and involved rafter tails. Some people live in wetter areas, so this might be more common problem. I don’t know if installers will install solar on a roof in such conditions. Maybe. Regardless, this is probably the exception to the norm.