Building a Good Metal Roof Foundation for Solar

MCS Influencer John Sheridan says that the type of metal roof panel system will make a difference for customer who want solar in the future.

Editor’s note: The following consists of a conversation between MCS’ Gina Cali and Sheridan Metal Resources LLC Owner John Sheridan. 

Gina Cali: Hi John. Thanks for joining us again on MetalCoffeeShop, for the metal influencers question of the month for September. And that question is, how can solar be integrated with metal sales? 

John Sheridan: Okay. Solar can be integrated with metal sales in a few ways. One is to find out upfront, if the homeowner is considering solar when you begin to talk to them about a metal roof. There are systems that lend themselves more to a solar panel installation than other systems. So, the type of panel system that you choose makes a big difference. When you're thinking about installing solar in the future, even if that installation is going to be 10 years from now, if you put down the right system now, then you'll be ready to go when you choose a solar system further down the road, or when solar credits become more readily available. There's more and more solar credits are becoming more popular as we move towards a greener environment. So it may not be viable right now, but maybe five or 10 years from now, you'll have enough of a solar credit to make it worthwhile, to put a solar system on your roof. 

So, first thing, find out if they want solar or considering solar. Second thing is to take a panel system that lends itself to a solar installation. The third thing is, I would recommend a standalone solar system as opposed to an integrated solar system. So for a solar system, for instance, there's a solar shingle system. Now that looks like a metal tile or looks like a terracotta tile, but it's actually a solar panel.  If anything happens to those systems, you’ve got to remove the entire roof. If you put down a metal roof and then you install a standalone solar system later on that metal roof, anything happens to that, you can switch out panels, you can change the system. You can upgrade the system. You have much more flexibility if you put down a base metal roof first, and then the solar panel system second. 

Another thing to consider is a solar assessment of the property, or just a solar assessment in general of the general area. But consider things like the surrounding environment. If you're in a forest, surrounded by trees, it may not make much sense. The orientation of the house. Again, whether solar credits are available or you anticipate them becoming available in the future, the roof design, whether it's a simple up and over roof or whether it has 20 dormers on it. If it's a super cut up roof, may not lend itself to a roof based solar installation. Okay. That's it for that, Gina. 

Gina Cali: Thank you so much for your expertise and insight, John, on that question of the month. And we're looking forward to talking with you again. 

John Sheridan is the owner of Sheridan Metal Resources LLC. See his full bio here.