Challenges of Unusual Roof Types

Overcoming the Challenges of Unusual Roof Types in Solar Panel Installation

Given the most common installation location for our customers over the years has been their equipment shed, the most common roofing material we’ve had to install on has been standard corrugated colourbond. But with the rise in popularity of off-grid living, we have seen some unique roofing material choices made on some beautifully designed architectural homes and businesses.

The choice of a unique roofing material is often a well considered one – with architects making the choice due to specific aesthetics, or a choice made on excellent sustainability credentials (for example, high insulation density, or very low embodied energy).

Each unique material presents individual challenges, but with the right approach, even the most unconventional roofs can support a solar system.

Here are a few solutions that we put in place to overcome the challenges of unusual roofing types:

Slate Roofs: Slate is a delicate and expensive material. Its brittleness makes it challenging to work with during solar installation. Solar installation on slate requires a delicate touch, often involving the removal and replacement of some tiles to create stable mounting points.

Clay or Concrete Tile Roofs: These roofs are prone to cracking under stress, making careful handling crucial during installation. Installers may need to temporarily remove tiles and use flashing or metal hooks for secure installation, taking care to avoid damaging the tiles.

Sandwich Panel Roofs: Sandwich panels consist of layers of material, typically with an insulating core. While they offer excellent thermal performance, their layered structure can make secure mounting difficult. The more common method would be to use hanger bolts and drill them through the sandwich panel into the purlin below.

Non-penetrating mounts or adhesive systems may also be an option to avoid drilling into the panels, but solar framing engineering certification, and wind regions, may prevent these options from being used.

Ground Mount Solutions 

For the projects where there may not be sufficient roof space or perhaps the roof orientations are not favourable we can always look to a ground mount system. Yes, this is typically more costly but what we have seen is that it’s actually not a significant amount more as opposed to roof top installations.