Thinking Of Going Solar? Wait Until You Need A New Roof

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Not too long ago, Bryan and Summer Stubblefield wanted to outfit their California home with solar panels. They were considering an electric vehicle , and powering it with the sun seemed like the right choice for both their pocketbook and the planet.

Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

They contacted a few contractors, who provided quotes in the $28,000 range for the solar system. But each bid came with a caveat: Photovoltaic panels can last 25 years or more, but the roof on their 2,000-square-foot home had about 10 years left in it. This made for a difficult decision: Pay for a replacement now, which would nearly double the cost of the project, or install all that hardware knowing they'd need to remove and reinstall it when it came time to reroof — a job that can cost hundreds of dollars per panel.

"At that point we froze," said Bryan Stubblefield. "The fact that we had one more decision to make caused pause."

The Stubblefields are far from alone in this dilemma, said Amy Atchley, one of the contractors the couple contacted. Among the first questions her company, Amy's Roofing and Solar, asks a customer is the age and condition of their roof. About half need work done to accommodate solar and, she says, the path forward can be particularly vexing for those who still have five, 10, or even 15 years to go before needing a reroof.

Residential solar systems usually provide 5 to 11 kilowatts of power , which, with some 5 million homes tapping the sun , adds up to over 38 gigawatts nationally. That's the equivalent of more than 11,000 wind turbines . Aside from helping mitigate climate change, photovoltaic panels can also help provide resiliency against outages. But when homeowners have to align their desire to go green with the age of their roof, those benefits can be delayed — or frightfully expensive.

One reason the question can be so vexing is because unlike solar panels, tax incentives don't help offset underlying roof issues — even when addressing them is done while going solar. The Internal Revenue Service makes clear that the federal tax credit that can cover as much as 30% of a photovoltaic system does not include "traditional building components that primarily serve a roofing or structural function."