Thread: The evolution of a (semi) flat roof solar install....An EPIC mini series!

Ok, something different from all the JJ madness. Some know that I work for SolarCity and today we started a rather challenging install in Los Angeles (near Silver Lake) and I started taking pics for my own records. Each day I'll post new pics of where we're at in this job. There are three guys in all our crews. I'm the Senior Installer on the crew. I have a Lead Installer above me and a Junior Installer who is two steps below me. It becomes my responsibility to train the Junior on a lot of the processes.

B/c this is a relatively flat roof and not a comp shingle roof, the whole process is a lot more detailed. We make A LOT of penetrations into the roof and all of those need to be weather tight by the end of the job.


The bigger boxes on the left are the two part circles that enclose the posts that we lag into the roof. The smaller white boxes have the sealant that we pour into the circles. On the right is all the hardware and our tools and such.


This pic is looking south. The home owner was the architect of the house. The part of the roof that I'm taking the pic from has about a 5 degree pitch towards the south. The far part of the roof is about a 4 degree pitch towards the north.


Not a bad view!


This standoffs are lagged into the rafters of the roof. They are not straight onto the snapped line b/c the rafters don't run that direction and there are several structure changes.


Here, the circular base is sealed w/ M-1 Sealant. Its on the bottom and the joint and a bead around the outside.


To fill in the base we have small bladders of this sealant that is squeezed into it. It hardens after a few hours and now all the penetrations are sealed water tight.


This array is now completely done and sealed and ready for the rails that we do our wiring on and ultimately where the modules will lay.

The other side of the roof is a totally different process b/c of its tilt. It's tilted the wrong way. B/c of the sun's path in the sky we need to create a pipe rack structure to get the desired pitch.

I'll update more pics as the job goes on. Some of you probably don't about all this. But I hope a few of you enjoy it. I truly enjoy the hell out of my job and enjoy talking about it.

***SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT***

If any of you are interested in getting solar on your house or have questions, please don't hesitate to PM. I love talking about this stuff.

Enjoy!

nice job.

what was the architect smoking when designing his house? in the second pic, it looks like the house is built into the hillside with the lowest part of the roof licking the ground.

Originally Posted by BeerMan:2372178

nice job.

what was the architect smoking when designing his house? in the second pic, it looks like the house is built into the hillside with the lowest part of the roof licking the ground.

Its actually about a story and a half drop to the street. But yes, its built into the sides of the hill. And its technically Los Feliz not Silver Lake. More pics later tonight.

Its a very "modern" home to say the least. He has a separate small almost house that is his office. Silly amounts of money. Must be nice.

Thanks! Glad someone other than me finds it interesting.

This is the south array. As I said its a totally different process b/c these modules are going to be facing roughly west. I'll put more up of this array on Monday.



This is the north array. The rails that the modules will be locked down to are in and leveled. I'll go over some of the wiring and such next week as well.

Stay tuned....for those of you that give a ****.

interested
how much is the guy spending to get solarized? How much electricity will it produce?

my guess would be the cost is too much for most.

Originally Posted by aaron

interested
how much is the guy spending to get solarized? How much electricity will it produce?

The better question is how many of the panels will still be working at the same efficiency after they get dirty. Or, perhaps, how much will it cost you to have them professionally cleaned?

Not trying to **** on OP' thread, but almost every single person I know with solar panels would not do it again.

Originally Posted by Jeffrock:2374774

Originally Posted by aaron

interested
how much is the guy spending to get solarized? How much electricity will it produce?

The better question is how many of the panels will still be working at the same efficiency after they get dirty. Or, perhaps, how much will it cost you to have them professionally cleaned?

Not trying to **** on OP' thread, but almost every single person I know with solar panels would not do it again.

Well who knows what company they used. Maybe they weren't a reputable company. SolarCity leases the systems so its minimal down and your payment is less than your electricity bill.

There is a 5% degradation factored into the design for soiling. You can simply hose them off twice a year and you're fine.

This system is about 7kw. And its not zeroing out his bill b/c of his amount of roof space.

I don't know all the finances of the job.

Originally Posted by x-wingcamewest:2374680

my guess would be the cost is too much for most.

Quite far from the truth.