They say that the cost of solar panels is only one factor to consider when purchasing solar panels, are they right?
They sure are – what are the costs of solar panels, well I can’t answer that but I can assure you that the costs for the purchase of solar panels is not the only costs that may occur due to the installation of solar panels. As well as the extra ongoing costs for the periodic cleaning and maintenance of solar panels. There are other hidden costs for the maintenance of the host roof – as a roofer it is my experience that solar panel installers will install as many solar panels as they can, on every area of the roof (if they can) willy nilly without any regard for the consequences.
WHAT CONSEQUENCES COULD THERE BE FROM INSTALLING SOLAR PANELS ANYWHERE ACROSS THE ROOFS SURFACE
I could not calculate the amount of roofs I have seen where solar panels have been installed in precarious positions, for example – fixed over or against the ridgecapping. This will make maintenance to the ridgecapping almost impossible, could mean solar panels need to be removed for maintenance or incur much increased costs for the roofer if he tries to work around the panels without them being lifted (if that was at all possible.
Solar Panels on Roofs of Houses
Talk about going to extremes imagine the cost of repairs to the ridgecapping and the guttering or if the roof springs a leak somewhere in the field of the solar panels not to mention the fact that it is also 2 storey, I shudder to think.
INSTALLING SOLAR PANELS CLOSE TO OR ON/OR OVER THE RIDGECAPPING IS JUST ONE PROBLEM FOR FURTHER EXCESSIVE COSTS DOWN THE ROAD
Then there is the problem of installing solar panels close to the proximity or over the first course of tiles from the gutter (especially if the tiles are terracotta tiles). This makes replacing or realigning gutters extremely hard or impossible.
So if you are thinking of installing solar panels make sure the panels are 4 courses of tiles from the gutter, 4 courses from the ridgecapping whether it be hip ridgecapping or top ridgecapping and at least 4 courses from any gable end. So it would be safe to say only place solar panels in the middle of the field of a roof definitely nowhere close to the perimeters of any roof. Makes it hard you say, well normally the usual place solar panels are fitted makes it hard for any other trade to carry out any necessary work that is needed to maintain the host roof.
Just recently a lady was having the gutters to her home replaced and the bottom course of tiles had to be removed to carry out this work on this particular home. As there were solar panels hanging over the first course of tiles, this made it impossible to remove the first course of tiles intact, so remedial work had to carried-out in order to make it possible to replace the guttering. Although foliage in the same area came into play which further exacerbated the problem, the extra costs for remedial works in order to carry out the guttering work was $800 most of this cost was due to the burden of the placement of the solar panels.
So you see this is just one example for the extra hidden costs that solar panels when not placed strategically on the roof can burden you with down the road.
SO WHEN YOU DECIDE TO GET SOLAR PANELS FITTED TO YOUR ROOF MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE STRATEGICALLY PLACED ON THE ROOF SO AS NOT TO INCORPORATE EXTRA FUTURE EXPENSE DOWN THE ROAD
I have been directed to the fact that there are roof tiles both in terracotta and concrete form however actually fabricated from solar panel material – mostly made in Germany. This is an excellent innovation, I personally have yet to see them in Australia. On doing the research I found there is apparently one roof tile company making them in the form of a flat shingle tile in Australia, however knowing how ruthless this company can be I shudder to think of how much they would charge for them.
So I believe that the costs for the product from this company will be so inhibitive that you will be running to your closest standard solar panel company, probably best bet would be to put it off until they are knocking solar roof tiles out in China.
So do your homework and make sure you don’t incur extra costs down the road from installing solar panels just anywhere on the roof. Roofs are designed to shed the elements from your home not to have poorly designed products hanging all over them.
When you need roof ventilation have a look at our product, which becomes part of the roof covering and will not cause you hidden costs down the road.
Universal Tile Ventilators have the best systems for the ventilation of roofspaces in the world – Universal Tile Ventilators for tiled roofs and the Smoothline ventilation system for corrugated colorbond roofs.
This is an excess to the normal minded person although as you can see they have observed that works to the roof maybe necessary down the road and have left the perimeter clear for ongoing maintenance work to be performed in the future.