PV panel stanchion placement – low slope meets slope
Hi,
We are planning on having solar panels put on the very low slope roof of our back porch. The issue is, what is the minimum distance the solar panel stanchions should be placed from where the low slope torchdown roof meets the regular sloped tile roof of the house? The prelim plan shows one row of stanchions right where the two roofs meet. That doesn’t seem like a good idea.
The back porch is attached to the house on two sides. Both roofs will be redone in a few weeks, before the solar install. A lot of water barrels down that expanse of roof when it rains (only 15”/year). I’m not sure how big the stanchions are, but I don’t want them too close to the tile and have debris trapped, especially near the base of the valley at the torchdown low slope, and cause water to back up. I tried asking the roofer, but he deferred to the solar guy. And the plans don’t show much/any room to walk around up there at all, as they plan to install several rows of panels.
Do you think requiring the stanchions stay at least 18” from the house roof is enough? I’m not even sure what the correct verbiage is.
Thanks.
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Replies
Tess,
You have got it right. You don't want any work done at or near that intersection of roofs. In an ideal world you would keep the mounts off the low-slope area altogether, but in the absence of that option I'd locate them so they leave at least 12" clear from where the two meet.
Thank you, Malcolm. The solar company just wants to put things in wherever it fits, as long as their penetrations don't leak. But I can see a potential problem down the road with this.
Thanks for confirming.