What Happens to Solar Panels During a Roof Replacement?

The Array Has to Come Off

You cannot tear off and replace a roof underneath a mounted array. Panels come off, racking comes off, the mounts and their flashings come out, and every one of those penetrations is reflashed as part of the new roof.

Removal and refitting is a real cost and it is not small. It is also entirely avoidable if the roof is done before the array goes on, which is the single strongest argument for sequencing them in that order.

Who Actually Does the Work

Three arrangements are common. The solar company removes and refits and the roofer works in between. The roofer handles the whole thing. Or an electrical contractor disconnects and reconnects while one of the other two does the mechanical work.

Each of those is workable. What causes trouble is nobody agreeing which it is until the crew is on site.

Where the Liability Gap Opens

A homeowner discovering damaged panels after a roof replacement is a genuinely common complaint, and the reason it goes badly is that two companies were involved. The roofer says the panels were fine when they left. The solar company says they were handed back damaged. There is often no photographic record either way.

The same gap opens later. If the roof leaks around a mount, the roofer points at the solar company’s attachment and the solar company points at the roofer’s flashing. Settling in advance who owns that junction is the entire point.

What to Agree Before Work Starts

Who physically removes and refits, in writing. Where the panels are stored and who is responsible while they are off. Who reflashes the mounts. Who is liable for a leak at a penetration afterwards. What the monitoring downtime is expected to be. And whether removal affects your panel or workmanship warranty, because some do.

Photograph the array before anyone touches it. Serial numbers if you can. It costs you ten minutes and it settles any later argument immediately.

Do the Roof First

If your roof is anywhere near the second half of its life and you are considering solar, do the roof first. An array is a twenty five year decision and a shingle is not. Mounting panels onto a roof with a few years left means paying for removal and refitting inside the array’s first decade.

On a Central Ohio roof already past twenty years, that sequencing question is not close.

What We Do

We handle roofing and solar with our own licensed crews, which removes the gap entirely. One company takes the panels off, replaces the roof, reflashes every mount and puts the array back. If something is damaged, there is one number to call and nobody to blame.

If you already have an array from someone else, we will still do the roof and coordinate directly with them, and we will document the panels before and after so nobody has to rely on memory.