If your roof meets engineering standards (meaning it was built to code and inspected and approved by the local building department), it should be strong enough to support a solar array. While a complete solar array is quite heavy, this weight is distributed evenly across a large area and the overall pressure it exerts is low-- about 2 pounds per square foot. This pressure is easily supported by a roof. Most of our solar installations in Florida are built to the strict Miami-Dade codes and have been designed to withstand hurricane-force winds of 175 mph. In addition, the racking used to secure the solar panels to the roof often effectively functions as cross-bracing to the roof and increases its structural integrity.

Understanding the maintenance that is needed with a major purchase of new equipment is crucial. We all know how much maintenance is involved with ownership of a vehicle, air conditioning, and other significant assets. Luckily, the maintenance of rooftop solar in Florida is virtually nonexistent. This is in large part due to the fact that the solar array is completely stationary. Nothing needs to be oiled and parts do not experience significant wear. The only maintenance typically required for a solar PV system is cleaning the panels. We recommend cleaning solar panels once a year to remove dust and pollen that has accumulated. This ensures that the maximum amount of light is able to make it to the solar cells. Cleaning solar panels can be done yourself or by hiring a professional company. 

The exact terms of the utility interconnection will vary from utility to utility. Florida Power & Light (FPL) governs their meters in three tiers based on the system size. Tier I is 0-10 kW (AC), Tier II is 10-100 kW (AC) and Tier 3 is 100-2,000 kW (AC). Most residential solar installations are Tier I systems. For Tier I, there is no fee for the net meter, and there is no insurance requirement. For customers with greater energy needs who connect a Tier II system, there is a one-time fee of $400 for the net meter connection and a requirement to maintain a $1,000,000 general liability insurance policy. The installation of the net meter will be done by the utility once they have accepted all requirements. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with your utility’s requirements for net metering prior to going forward with a solar project.

The short answer is yes, it is possible for solar to cause your roof to leak. However, the solar industry has evolved over many years to develop best practices concerning waterproofing and sealing roof penetrations. Your best protection against roof leaks when going solar is to choose a reputable contractor with a track record of happy customers going back years. Most solar contractors, including us at Goldin Solar, offer contractor’s warranties which will help ensure that we are liable for any leaks that occur due to poor workmanship. That means we will pay, not you, if your roof should start to leak due to poor workmanship. Learn more about Goldin Solar roof penetrations and how we prevent leaky roofs on the blog.

Typically, there are three factors that will determine the size of a solar system:

1. The amount of energy you currently use– It is not recommended to install a solar PV system that will produce more energy than you currently use annually. If you produce more energy than you use during a given month, you will receive reserve credit for the excess kilowatt-hours on your next month’s balance. If these credits are unspent at the end of the year, the utility will buy them from you. However utilities pay for excess kilowatt-hours at a lower rate (avoided cost) than they sell them to you for. Therefore, we recommend installing a solar system capable of producing as much energy as possible, not to exceed annual consumption.
2. The amount of available roof space– Our engineering is meticulous in determining the number of solar panels that your roof can safely and legally fit. During our free on-site consultation, we will determine how many panels can fit on your roof space. Eligible roof space is not northern facing and is clear of shading and obstructions such as vents or air conditioners.
3. Your budget for the project – We will work with you to teach you the solar cost structure and how the return on investment with solar works. We have teamed up with multiple financing programs and are proud to offer financing for solar projects which are likely to suit any budget. To customers interested in taking out a solar loan to finance their solar project, we recommend structuring the loan in such a way that the only amount due monthly for the solar loan is roughly equal to the amount of money saved on your monthly power bill after installing a solar PV system. Structuring the loan in this way will make the transition to solar seamless from a monthly budgeting standpoint. The difference is that the source of your energy is now clean and renewable. Additionally, monthly payments towards a solar loan are essentially building equity towards your eventual full ownership of your energy production. On the other hand, purchasing power from the utility in effect, has no return.

Learn more about how we determine the right size for your home solar array.

Our workmanship warranty will cover the labor for servicing panel or inverter warranties. The length and terms of your warranty will depend on the details of your contract. During your warranty period, if there is an issue with any of your products or with your installation in general, you call us and we’ll fix it. The workmanship warranty has three different areas: roof penetrations, electrical/structural, and faulty equipment. Learn more about these warranties in our Guide to Goldin Solar Warranties.   After the workmanship warranty has expired, parts and partial labor may be covered under a manufacturer warranty but not by us. Manufacturer (also called product) warranties are specific to the products used in your installation. Your contract will contain details of the specific warranties for each component. Our panels generally come with a 25-year warranty and our inverters with a 12-year warranty. After the workmanship warranty, we will still work with the manufacturer to complete the RMA process of warrantied equipment. But you may be responsible for labor costs. Additionally, we offer a variety of annual service plans, detailed below.

Solar projects involve structural, roofing and electrical work that must interconnect with a utility. Thus there is a large amount of documentation that needs to be prepared to complete a solar project. Here is a list of documentation you can expect to receive from us:

1. Formal proposal - this outlines the proposed system, system price, and lifecycle cost return calculations.
2. Product specifications – these show information about the proposed solar panels and other equipment we intend to use. These are available upon request.
3. Conceptual design – this is a conceptual layout that shows locations of panels on your building and includes a report with estimated energy production. This is typically submitted with the proposal.
4. Installation agreement – this agreement spells out the terms of the project.
5. Finance agreement – if you finance your solar system, this is the agreement between the customer and finance company that must be completed and approved by the finance company before the project begins.
6. Building permit application and Notice of Commencement – your project coordinator will ensure that you have the right documentation to sign for the building permit. These are both needed for the plans to be submitted into permitting.
7. Detailed engineering – this is the set of plans prepared by our electrical and structural Professional Engineers (PEs). They show the location of the panels and other electrical equipment, the type of electrical connections, and structural connections. The detailed engineering will be submitted into permitting to the local building department along with a permit application.
8. Building permit – this is issued by the local building department after they have reviewed and approved the detailed engineering. Once a building permit has been issued construction can commence.
9. Signed-off building permit – this is the signed building permit from an inspector indicating that the work is complete as originally approved by the local building department.
10. Financing close-out statement – if required by your financing company, this is the document that you sign to verify the work has been completed.
11. Utility interconnection documentation – this is the paperwork that is completed for the local utility to come out to the property and replace the power meter with a bi-directional net meter. It will also serve as an agreement between the utility and the owner that governs the terms of the interconnection arrangement.
12. Product warranties – these are details of the product warranties for the equipment installed.

We perform all installation of solar components with our own full-time W-2 employees. All our employees are covered by our workman’s compensation insurance policy, such that there is no risk to the owner in having workers on their property. This is something we feel very strongly about. The reason is that it is our way to maintain quality to make sure that all workers will perform to our workmanship quality and safety standards. It is also how we ensure we can offer our value-driven turn-key installations to you at the most competitive prices. While other companies hire subcontractors to perform various components of the project (or all of the installation), we are the one-stop shop. This is how you know that by going with Goldin Solar, you are getting top notch quality and safety at leanest possible prices. We make exceptions to this policy only if the work is highly specialized or customized, not in a standard rooftop installation. For example, this would include instances when we subcontract concrete or tile work to experts to ensure that the installation meets the highest quality standards.

The system size (kW) quoted both in the original proposal presented to you and in the contract, is subject to change slightly if one of two things happens:

• The amount of area on your roof is less than anticipated and fewer panels can fit. We use software with satellite images to determine how many panels we can fit on you roof during the proposal process. After a contract is issued, we conduct a more detailed site survey to get exact roof measurements and to locate any roof obstructions such as vents. There is a possibility that a few panels will need to be eliminated from the original design after the site survey or in the permitting process.
• The originally specified panel model has become unavailable. The solar industry is highly dynamic and fast changing. There is a possibility that a panel model will be contracted and then become unavailable. In this case, we will propose an alternative, which will typically be the same manufacturer, just a slightly higher wattage panel.

In either of the above two cases, you don’t need to worry if they are getting the same value they contracted. The reason is that the contract is based on a dollar per watt amount ($/W). If the total wattage changes, the contract price will be adjusted accordingly. Thus, we may not be able to guarantee an exact wattage, but we will guarantee the price per watt.