Kerry Camerer has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since December of 2023, when a new roof and the removal of an existing solar array were booked together. The roof was finished on 4 January 2024.
28 panels off, and not put back
The array here was 6.3 kW across 28 panels — 225 watts apiece, which places it in an earlier generation of modules. It came off as a removal rather than a lift and reset: panels, mounting system, inverters, disconnects, the exterior conduit and wiring and the meters, all away. The flashings and lag bolts were deliberately left in the roof for the roofing crew to pull out with the old shingles, so no fixing was ever removed from a roof that still had to keep the weather out.
6,400 square feet, and the awkward parts named
A single layer came off down to the sheathing. What went back on is a GAF Timberline HDZ system in Pewter Gray carrying a 50-year warranty, over deck protection, with aluminum drip edge along 698 feet of rakes, eaves and valleys and a ridge vent along the peak. The chimney was reflashed and four Velux skylights were fitted. Two things were written down as exclusions rather than left to be argued about later: the small metal roof areas are not part of this contract, and the low-slope section gets full edge-to-edge ice and water shield instead of ordinary underlayment.
Why the low-slope section is treated differently
Shingles shed water by gravity and they need enough pitch to do it. Below a certain slope, water moves slowly enough that wind can drive it back up under the courses, so the membrane beneath has to be the thing keeping the house dry rather than a backup to the shingles. Covering that section edge to edge, rather than only at the eaves, is the difference between a roof that works everywhere and one that works everywhere except the flattest part of it.
A satellite dish taken down while everything was open
The scope also included decommissioning and disposing of the satellite dish. It is a trivial line and it is the right moment: a dish is bolted through the roof like everything else up there, and taking it off during a tear-off means one more penetration gone for good rather than one more thing to flash around for the next twenty-five years.
When the array is older than the roof
Most roof-and-solar work runs the other way — new roof first, panels onto it. This is the case where the array has reached the end of its useful life at the same moment the roof has, and the honest question is whether what comes down is worth the labor of going back up. At 225 watts a panel the answer was no. The house is left with a properly covered deck, a 50-year system over it, four new skylights, one less dish and one less set of penetrations, and a clean start whenever it wants one.
Project Facts
- Location
- Branchburg, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Removal/Replacement
- Client since
- December 2023
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 6,400 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Roofing questions from Branchburg homeowners
Will gutter guards stop ice dams on a Branchburg home?
No. Ice dams come from snow melting on the warmer parts of a roof and refreezing at the colder edge, which is driven by attic heat loss, insulation, air leakage, ventilation and the weather. Keeping the gutters clear is worth doing, but it is not a substitute for the attic and roof design that causes the problem.
What is a starter strip?
Starter-strip shingles form the first course along roof edges and provide sealing protection for the first field course of shingles. GAF identifies qualifying starter strips as part of its complete roofing system and its WindProven eligibility requirements.
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.