Kaitlin Campbell has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since February of 2025, when the roof and the solar array were bought on the same day. The roof was replaced first and the panels followed, both inside a week at the turn of February and March.
Three layers off, 1,600 square feet on
Most roofs on this site come off in one layer, and a fair number in two. This one came off in three. That means the original shingles had been covered over twice before anybody looked underneath, and it is a great deal more tear-off and disposal than the square footage suggests — 1,600 square feet of roof, three times over, into the dumpster. What went back on is a GAF Timberline HDZ system in Charcoal with a 50-year warranty, over deck protection on the exposed sheathing, with aluminum drip edge along 143 feet of rakes and eaves and a ridge vent along the peak.
Why three layers matters more when solar is coming
Every layer added to a roof adds weight and hides what is beneath it. A deck that has carried three courses of shingles has not been seen by anyone in decades, and it is about to have an array bolted through it for the next twenty-five years. Stripping to bare sheathing is the only way to know what those mounts are being fixed into. On a roof like this one, the tear-off is not the preliminary to the real work — it is the part that makes the rest of it defensible.
16 panels and 7.36 kW
Sixteen REC 460 watt panels came to 7.36 kW on IronRidge mounting, each with its own Enphase IQ8X microinverter rather than a shared central inverter, so a panel in shade or one with a fault takes only itself out of the day. JCP&L is the utility and the first year was designed for about 8,065 kWh.
Why the roof went first
An array is bolted down for twenty-five years and more, so shingles at the end of their life underneath one become a second job with a date already on them — panels off, roof on, panels back. On a house already carrying three layers that job was not hypothetical; it was overdue. Buying both together meant one survey, one set of drawings, one inspection schedule, and a roofing crew that knew where every mount was going before the first shingle went down.
Project Facts
- Location
- Middletown, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Panel Installation
- Client since
- February 2025
Solar
- Panels
- REC Model # 460AA-PURE-RX-DC
- Panels
- 16
- System size
- 7.36 kW
- Inverter
- EnPhase IQ8X-80-M-US Micro-Single
- Mounting system
- IronRidge
- Estimated first-year production
- 8,065 kWh
- Share of the home's electricity
- 71%
- Electric utility
- JCP&L
Roof
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 1,600 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Questions from Middletown homeowners
SolarHow much does shade from mature Middletown trees affect production?
Shade can materially reduce production, particularly when it falls during the highest-production hours. Module-level electronics such as microinverters and optimizers reduce the effect of partial shading, but they cannot create sunlight where there is none. Significant shade should be modelled before any annual production figure is quoted.
RoofingCan gutters help prevent basement water problems?
Properly functioning gutters and downspouts can help reduce the amount of roof water deposited near the foundation. They cannot correct every basement water problem. Groundwater, grading, foundation cracks and drainage systems may also be involved.
SolarWhat is a microinverter and why use one per panel?
A microinverter is a small inverter installed at or near an individual module, so each panel converts on its own channel. That gives module-level visibility and limits the effect one underperforming panel has on the others around it.