Replacing a roof under an existing solar array means taking every panel off and putting it back. Here is what that costs in Calgary, and what you can do now instead.
Solar panels are built for about 25 years, and the warranties are written to match. An asphalt shingle roof in Calgary has a functional life somewhere in the 20 to 25 year range, and a good number of them are already halfway through it on the day the panels go up.
Nobody does anything wrong here. The panels are installed correctly on a roof that looks perfectly sound. The two clocks simply run at different speeds, and one of them was already partway through when it started.
Which means the question is not whether the roof under your array will need attention before the panels do. For most Calgary homes with solar, it is when, and whether you deal with it on your schedule or on the roof's.
Dealing with it early is a one day job. Dealing with it late is a project.
A roof replacement on a house without solar is one job. On a house with solar it is three: strip the array, replace the roof, reinstall the array. Plus the power you do not generate in between.
Call it $21,000 to $38,000, and almost none of it was in anyone's plan. The panel removal line is the part that surprises people, because it buys you nothing. You are paying to lift equipment off and put the same equipment back.
Figures are Nano Shield Calgary's own estimates for the Calgary market. Your solar installer will quote the removal and reinstall for your specific array.
That sits on top of the $20,000 to $40,000 you already put into the solar system. It is the single most avoidable expense in residential solar, and the window to avoid it is while the roof is still treatable.
Granule loss is the early signal, and it shows up in the gutters first.
This is the question we get first, and the answer is no. The treatment is applied to the exposed shingle around your array. Nothing is unbolted, nothing is disconnected, and your system keeps generating while we work.
Worth being precise about what that means. We treat the shingle we can reach, which is the shingle doing the work. The area directly beneath the panels is shaded and sheltered, so it is not taking the UV and hail that drives shingle failure everywhere else on the roof. The exposed field around the array is where the ageing happens, and that is what gets treated.
The treatment penetrates into the shingle and restores flexibility rather than sitting on top as a film. It adds 10 to 15 years, comes with a written warranty, and goes on in a day.
A coarse black sand at the bottom of the runs is shingle granule. A handful is normal. A layer in every run means the shingles are shedding.
Colour going flat or uneven, especially on the south and west faces, is granule loss showing from the ground.
Shingle corners turning up mean the mat has dried and is losing flexibility. This is the stage just before cracking.
If your roof was already 8 or 10 years old when the panels went on, it is worth having someone look now rather than at the point where the answer is a full replacement.
If the roof under your array is already cracked through, leaking or structurally past it, treatment is not the right call and we will say so. At that point replacing it, panels off and back on, is the only honest option, and doing it sooner costs less than doing it after water gets in.
About half the roofs we assess do not need treating yet either. We tell those homeowners to leave it and check again in a couple of years.
Not installed yet? Read what to check before the panels go on, which is the cheaper end of this problem.
GoNano technology, as seen on CBC's Dragons' Den. Nano Shield Calgary is Calgary's certified GoNano dealer.
No. The treatment is applied to the exposed shingle around the array. Nothing is unbolted or disconnected and your system keeps generating while the work is done.
In Calgary, roughly $18,000 to $25,000 for the roof, plus $3,000 to $12,500 to remove and reinstall the array, plus $300 to $800 of lost generation while the job runs. That is $21,000 to $38,000 in total, on top of what the solar system itself cost.
They are shaded and sheltered from the UV and hail that drive shingle ageing, so they are not the part of the roof under stress. The exposed field around the array is where degradation happens and that is the area treated.
One day on a typical home. No tear off, no dumpster in the driveway, and no interruption to your solar generation.
Around $3,750 on an average 2,500 sq ft Calgary home. Larger or more complex roofs cost more. The assessment and the quote are free.
It adds 10 to 15 years of shingle life and comes with a written warranty. That puts the roof on roughly the same horizon as the panels sitting on it.
We come out, get on the roof, and tell you straight whether it needs anything. About half the roofs we look at do not need treating yet, and we say so.
NANO SHIELD