The work
Every mount holding an array to a roof is a hole through the roof covering. Done properly that hole is flashed, which means a metal plate is worked up under the course of shingles above it so water running down the roof passes over the top of the penetration and never reaches it. Done badly it is a bead of sealant smeared over the hole, which looks fine on the day and fails in a few seasons when the sealant hardens and cracks. By then the leak shows up in a ceiling several feet away from the panel it came from, which is why solar leaks get blamed on roofs and roofs get blamed on solar. We flash penetrations properly on our own work, and we are regularly called out to find and put right the ones that were not. That includes sealing the holes left behind when an old array is removed and not replaced.
What is included
- Penetrations flashed under the shingle course above, not just sealed over the top
- Existing penetrations opened up and inspected where a leak is suspected
- Old mount holes from a removed array sealed and made watertight
- Sealant used as a secondary defence, never as the only one
- Photographs of what was found and what was done
How we run it
- 01
Find where the water is getting in
A leak shows up away from its source, so the penetrations above it get traced rather than the stain.
- 02
Open it up
The suspect penetration is exposed so what is actually under the mount can be seen.
- 03
Flash it properly
Flashing worked in under the course above so water passes over the penetration.
- 04
Record it
Photographs of the failure and the repair, so there is a record for the homeowner or the roofer.
Asked about this
My ceiling is stained under my solar array. Is the array the cause?
Often it is a penetration that was sealed rather than flashed, but not always. We trace it rather than assume it, because a stain shows up well away from where the water actually got in.
Can you seal the holes from an array that has been taken off for good?
Yes. Old mount holes left open are a slow leak waiting to happen, and closing them properly is a short job.