The work
Before a panel is touched the system has to be off, and off properly. A solar array is live whenever there is light on it, so an array that has been unbolted but not isolated is still carrying DC voltage in the conductors a roofer is working around. We shut the system down in the right order, isolate and lock out at the disconnect, verify the circuits are dead rather than assuming it, and cap and protect the conductors that stay on the roof while the work goes on. When the roof is closed up we reverse it: conductors inspected, terminations remade, the system brought back up in order and the output confirmed. This is the piece roofers most often ask us to handle on its own, because it is the part of a solar job that a roofing crew should not be doing and the part that gets somebody hurt when it is rushed.
What is included
- Shutdown in the correct order, then isolation and lockout at the disconnect
- Circuits verified dead rather than assumed dead
- Conductors capped and protected while the roof crew works
- Terminations inspected and remade on reconnection
- System brought back up in order with the output confirmed
How we run it
- 01
Isolate
Shutdown in sequence, lockout at the disconnect and a live test to prove the circuits are dead.
- 02
Protect
Conductors capped, secured and kept clear of the roof crew's working area.
- 03
Reconnect
Terminations inspected and remade, the system energised in order.
- 04
Confirm
Inverter online, monitoring reporting and output checked before we leave.
Asked about this
Can our roofing crew just flip the breaker?
A breaker stops the system exporting. It does not stop the panels making DC voltage in daylight. The array needs isolating at the right points and proving dead, which is the job we are doing here.
Can you do only the disconnect and reconnect?
Yes. Plenty of roofers handle the panel removal themselves and bring us in purely for the electrical side at each end.