How a New Roof Is Included With Solar: The Roof + Solar Package

Why replace your roof before going solar?

Solar panels are built for the long haul. A Berkeley Lab survey of solar professionals, cited by the U.S. Department of Energy, puts the average working life of a panel at 25 to 35 years. Your existing roof has its own clock. InterNACHI estimates about 20 years for 3-tab asphalt shingles and about 30 years for architectural shingles, and snow, ice and freeze-thaw cycles can shorten both here in New England.

When the two clocks don’t line up, the roof wins. If shingles wear out ten years into the life of your panels, the panels have to come off, the roof gets replaced, and the panels go back on. That is a second project, with its own cost, its own scheduling, and weeks when your system isn’t making power. The Department of Energy’s guide to going solar tells homeowners to consider the age of their roof and how long until it will need replacement before they install.

Replacing the roof as part of the same project puts the roof ahead of the panels’ clock. Roofs installed through our solar + roof program come with a 50-year warranty, well beyond the life of the panels. Our guide on getting a new roof and solar at the same time walks through the timing in more detail.

There is a practical reason, too. Once panels cover most of a roof plane, the shingles underneath are hard to inspect or repair. Starting with a sound roof means the part of your home that protects everything else is covered for as long as the panels are.

How is a new roof included with your solar installation?

With Evergreen Solar’s solar + roof program, the roof replacement is included with your solar installation. We work with our roofing partner, Global Roofing, so one team plans both jobs, one schedule covers them, and you have one point of contact from the first visit to the day the system turns on.

You also pay less for the roof than you would on its own. The roof comes at a genuinely reduced price as part of the program, and that is on top of the savings on your electric bill once the panels are running. The Department of Energy has pointed out the same logic: doing the roof and the solar together lets crews coordinate the work, which can lower the combined cost compared with two separate projects.

The project follows a simple order. We look at the roof and your electric use during the site visit, design the solar system, and price the package. Once you sign, we handle the permits and the utility paperwork. The roof goes on first, then the panels are mounted on the new surface, and the system is inspected and turned on once the utility approves it.

How is the roof + solar package paid for?

The roof and the solar are priced as one package. For many homeowners, the monthly cost of the whole package still comes in below what they pay for electricity today, because the panels cut the bill while the payment covers both the roof and the system.

You can pay for the package the same ways you can pay for solar on its own. Our guide to how to pay for solar explains each option. In practice:

• Cash buys the whole project outright, and you keep all of the bill savings from day one.
• A loan covers the roof and the solar together, so you have one payment instead of a roof loan and a solar loan. Our article on comparing solar loan rates shows what to look for in the offer.
• Other options, including leases and power purchase agreements, are priced on the same design, so you can compare them side by side.

State incentives still apply to the solar system. In Massachusetts, owners collect SMART 3.0 payments and can claim the 15% state tax credit up to $1,000. See Massachusetts solar incentives for the details.

When does a roof + solar package make sense?

The package is usually the right fit when one or more of these is true:

• Your roof is 15 or more years old, or you don’t know its age.
• You see curling, cracked or missing shingles, bare spots where granules have worn off, or past leaks.
• The roof would need replacing within the 25-plus years the panels will be up.
• You plan to stay in the home long enough to enjoy both the new roof and the solar savings.

If your roof was replaced in the last several years and is in good shape, solar alone is usually the better call. Not sure where your roof stands? Our checklist on whether your roof is a good fit for solar covers the basics, and we look at the roof during the site visit for every solar design.

How does solar affect your roof warranty?

Solar is attached to the roof with mounts that go through the shingles into the structure below, and each mount is sealed. Who stands behind that work matters. When the roof and the solar are installed separately, the roofer and the solar company can each point to the other if a leak shows up around a mount.

A single project keeps that simple, because the roof and the panels are planned and installed together, and the new roof comes with a 50-year warranty. We cover the warranty question in more depth in do solar panels void your roof warranty.

What should you ask about a roof + solar quote?

Whoever you get quotes from, these questions keep the comparison honest:

1. What is the condition of my roof today, and how many years does it have left?
2. Who installs the roof, and who do I call if there is a problem with either part?
3. What warranties cover the roof, the panels and the workmanship, and who stands behind each one?
4. What is the monthly cost of the whole package under each way to pay, and how does it compare with my current electric bill?
5. What would solar alone cost, so I can see the difference the roof makes?

You can see the full program, with photos of finished projects, on our roof + solar bundle page. If you already have solar and only need roof work, see roof replacement with solar.

Frequently asked questions