Aaron Hoffman has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since January of 2024, when a new roof and the removal and reinstallation of an existing solar array were booked together. The roof was finished on 12 February 2024 and every panel was back on the house by 13 March.
10,300 square feet, two layers off
This is a large roof by any domestic measure, and it had been covered over once already, so two layers of old shingle came off down to the sheathing rather than one. Deck protection went over the exposed sheathing, then a GAF Timberline HDZ system in pewter gray carrying a 50-year warranty, aluminum drip edge along 821 feet of rakes, eaves and valleys, and a ridge vent along the peak.
112 panels off, and all 112 back
The array is 25.76 kW across 112 panels, which works out at 230 watts apiece and places it a good many years back. All of it came down — panels and mounting system both — and all of it went back up: the existing rails reused, the panels reinstalled, and new rooftop wiring run throughout.
New flashing, which is the part that matters
Every mount that holds a panel passes through the shingles, and the flashing is what seals it. Reinstalling an array on new flashing rather than putting the old pieces back is the difference between a roof that is genuinely new and a new roof with a hundred old seals in it. It is invisible from the ground, it is the sort of line that gets trimmed out of a quote, and it is the one place on this job where an economy would have quietly undone the 50-year system underneath.
Why this one came back and others do not
An older array on a roof that needs replacing raises a real question: take it down and put it back, or take it down and be done with it. What decides it is not the age of the panels but whether what comes off is worth the labor of going back up. Here it plainly was — 25.76 kW is a substantial system with years in front of it, and the roof it now sits on is rated for fifty. The panels went back onto a deck that had been stripped, seen and covered properly, which is the only condition under which putting an existing array back is the right answer.
Project Facts
- Location
- Medford, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Removal/Replacement
- Client since
- January 2024
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 10,300 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Roofing questions from Medford homeowners
How long should an asphalt shingle roof last in Medford, NJ?
There is no single guaranteed service life. Longevity depends on the shingles, the installation, ventilation, weather exposure and maintenance. New Jersey roofs face summer heat, freezing temperatures, snow, ice, heavy rain, wind, humidity and, in some areas, coastal salt. A properly installed architectural roofing system should be judged against the manufacturer's warranty and installation requirements rather than a generic life-expectancy number.
What happens on the day a roof is replaced?
Property and landscaping are protected first, then the old roofing comes off down to the deck. The sheathing is inspected and anything compromised is replaced. Then the leak barrier, the deck protection, the starter strips, the shingles or low-slope membrane, the flashings, the ventilation and the ridge caps, followed by cleanup and a final inspection.
Does a wind warranty with no speed limit mean the roof cannot blow off?
No. It is a limited warranty without a maximum wind-speed limitation for qualifying systems, and that is a statement about coverage rather than about physics. Storm damage remains possible and the coverage remains subject to the warranty's terms and exclusions.