Solar Roof Penetrations - Florida / Tropical Climate

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Npstewart

Senior Member
I had Solar panels installed on my existing tile roof. After about a year I had to go on my roof to vacuum out and service my dryer vent, at which time I noticed what appears to be multiple grossly negligent roof penetrations by my solar installer.

Can anyone tell me if this is a typical way to penetrate a concrete roof in a extremely rainy, hurricane prone region like South Florida? We get about 50+ inches of rain per year, and usually 1-4 hurricanes.


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Absolutely terrible. What am I even looking at exactly?

Got any normal plumbing vents on your roof? That's how a penetration should be flashed.
With a tile roof it's more important to flash and seal at the felt below the tiles than at the tiles, and it looks like they *did* do that, but messily. But there should also be a flashing at the tile level, to protect from the sun and shed most of the water.

Also a reason that professionals use EMT at the pentration, not liquidtight.

Sorry that happened to your roof.
 
See the plumbing vent in your second photo has a lead flashing, probably goes all the way down to the felt and should have the top edge under the top layer of felt underneath the tiles, or something like that. That's not the only way but it's certainly better.
 
Npstewart said:
I had Solar panels installed on my existing tile roof. After about a year I had to go on my roof to vacuum out and service my dryer vent, at which time I noticed what appears to be multiple grossly negligent roof penetrations by my solar installer.

Can anyone tell me if this is a typical way to penetrate a concrete roof in a extremely rainy, hurricane prone region like South Florida? We get about 50+ inches of rain per year, and usually 1-4 hurricanes.


View attachment 2576221
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That is truly a mess. What should have been used is something like this:
www.greentechrenewables.com

Pegasus Solar Flat Tile Flashing w/ Post & EPDM Boot, GA Black, PSTR-FFB0

Greentech Renewables supplies Pegasus Solar Flat Tile Flashing w/ Post & EPDM Boot, GA Black, PSTR-FFB0 and other pre-qualified solar equipment from Pegasus Solar through our extensive network of over 100 locations nationwide.
www.greentechrenewables.com www.greentechrenewables.com
 
ggunn said:
That is truly a mess. What should have been used is something like this:
www.greentechrenewables.com

Pegasus Solar Flat Tile Flashing w/ Post & EPDM Boot, GA Black, PSTR-FFB0

Greentech Renewables supplies Pegasus Solar Flat Tile Flashing w/ Post & EPDM Boot, GA Black, PSTR-FFB0 and other pre-qualified solar equipment from Pegasus Solar through our extensive network of over 100 locations nationwide.
www.greentechrenewables.com www.greentechrenewables.com
Click to expand...
That's a post mounting solution but the tile replacement flashing could probably work for a conduit penetration too. Might need a different boot, and something additional to seal and flash at the felt level.
 
Yikes! That looks awful. There should be a flashed boot with the flashing shingled into the tile. That looks like a divot that will surely collect water and leak if it hasn't already.
 
I told them it’s not appropriate to penetrate a roof without flashing, and you definitely can’t use liquid tight.

The problem is the liquid tight will crack when exposed to UV. Once it cracks (and shrinks) it will fill with water…

The worst part is that they genuinely don’t think there’s anything wrong…

Also, I have a foam sealed attic and they hacked through the foamed knee wall to access the non-foamed area over my lanai.


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I actually don't understand why they even went into the attic. Around here we do that sometimes as an aesthetic favor, but if you're going to make the roof leak then it's not a favor.
 
jaggedben said:
I actually don't understand why they even went into the attic. Around here we do that sometimes as an aesthetic favor, but if you're going to make the roof leak then it's not a favor.
Click to expand...

No clue. The enphase panel is right near the roof panels.


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